Truth or Dare is the latest horror movie from the successful Blumhouse production whose most recent hits include Happy Death Day and highly acclaimed Get Out.
Truth or Dare introduces us to a group of college friends who head off to Mexico for spring break. Olivia (Lucy Hale) is reluctant to go but get persuaded after her friends offer to help her out with her charitable work in exchange. In Mexico, she meets Carter (Landon Liboiron), a seemingly charming man who is happy to befriend her and her friends. After their night out, Carter suggest the party to continue at an old abandoned property. As soon as they arrive, Carter proposes a game of truth or dare – a game that unleashes an unimaginable evil.
Blumhouse has a very good track record of producing great horrors, sadly, Truth or Dare does not fall into the “great” category. The concept had a lot of potential and the film starts off strongly with an ominous opening scene while the initial suspense is built up well but things quickly take a turn for the worst after that.
In order to keep the story from going stale, the creators have ensured that not all the characters repeatedly pick truth as an easy way out, which also allows the story to flow easily and stops it from dying out very quickly. However, the dares assigned to the characters are far from scary and often bordering on the absurd and comical. There is a dare involving Olivia and friend Lucas (Tyler Posey) which had people laughing out loud at the premiere. The kills are tame and far from the quality Blumhouse has delivered in the past, especially with their recent releases.
You do get the sense that the creators are laughing along with us with certain elements of the film. The evil entity looks cheap and dated which even the director (Jeff Wadlow) recognises because it’s described as looking like a “bad snapchat filter” in the movie.
The plot is more intriguing in scenarios where “truth” has been picked as everyone has deep dark secrets that they have to reveal to all – even if it means ruining friendships and relationships. This aspect makes Truth or Dare a supernatural teen drama rather than horror because this movie is not even remotely scary.
The last quarter of the film is a major let down, it seems as though the writers wanted to have a spectacular reveal and battle but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. It ends up messy and lacking much sense. It also leaves it open for a possible sequel in the future. 4/10
Truth or Dare is in cinemas now
