Violett Beane and Tyler Posey in Bluehouse's Truth or Dare.Photo Credit: Peter Iovino/Universal Studios
- Truth or Dare
- Directed by Jeff Wadlow
- Written by Michael Reisz, Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach, Jeff Wadlow
- Starring Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey
- Classification 14A
- 100 minutes
- Opening April 13
Those who thought Blumhouse Productions’ Get Out would be a game-changer in the horror-movie biz are in for a disappointment with the company’s Truth or Dare, a low-budget kids-gruesomely-dying romp that is decidedly same-old.
In the film, a demon trickster asks a comely co-ed the classic sleepover-night question, “truth or dare?” After choosing truth, she is told “that’s not how this works.”
But wait a minute: Isn’t that exactly how the game works? Not if the game is rigged, which Truth or Dare absolutely is. Blumhouse may be known for Jordan Peele’s freaky Oscar-winner Get Out, but it’s also responsible for standard frighters like Ouija and Happy Death Day, to which the fun-free but scary enough Truth or Dare compares much more closely.
A spring-break trip to Mexico goes horribly wrong when a curse and a party game follow the college crew home. Truths are awkward, dares are deadly and it’s always fun until someone loses an eye. (Someone does!) The film has its moments and some things to say about honesty and selflessness, but the plot is manipulated and the ending is not an ending. Truth be known.
Brad Wheeler