There’s something about teen slashers that are just so damn enjoyable.
Whether it’s the formula (a bunch of pretty people being killed off one by one), the hilarious manner of death or the joy of jump-scares, teen slashers, even when they’re terrible, are always a good time.
Truth or Dare is no different.
From director Jeff Wadlow (Cry_Wolf) and prolific producer Jason Blum, of Blumhouse (The Conjuring, Insidious, Get Out), Truth or Dare takes the classic party game to a deadly new level.
A group of college friends head to Mexico for Spring Break, where a mysterious yet charming man leads them to an abandoned church for a game of Truth or Dare.
He later tells them that once you’re in the game, you have to tell the truth and complete the dare or you’ll die.
Refuse your turn and you also die.
It’s a simple concept which works like a mashup of the Final Destination franchise and 2017 thriller Nerve.
The game is designed to cause as much emotional – or physical – trauma as possible for its players.
The group of college kids is nothing out of the ordinary for this genre.
Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) is lead character Olivia, an uber-moral, volunteer type.
Teen Wolf’s Tyler Posey plays Lucas, boyfriend of Olivia’s best friend Markie (Violett Beane) – though you will spend half the movie trying to figure out if her name is Margie or Markie.
Nolan Gerard Funk (Glee), Hayden Szeto (The Edge of Seventeen), Sam Lerner (The Goldbergs) and Sophia Ali (Grey’s Anatomy) round out the core cast.
Truth or Dare is a great time, with decent scares and a pretty decent reflection of society’s reliance on social media.
It’s certainly of greater quality that Wadlow’s debut film but perhaps doesn’t live up to other Blumhouse fare.
Movies like this are best seen in a cinema at night, as the audience reactions are half the fun – the sharp intake of breath before a jump scare, the gasp at an unexpected appearance and the laughter at a ridiculous death.
Truth or Dare is not a serious movie – and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
