‘Blu-ray or Bust’ - BLUMHOUSE’S TRUTH OR DARE

‘Blu-ray or Bust’

BLUMHOUSE’S TRUTH OR DARE (UNRATED, 2018, 101 minutes, BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS/UNIVERSAL)

I keep waiting for a truly effective follow-up to 2014’s lovely little sleeper hit IT FOLLOWS.

So many of these “horror” films trying to recapture that same vibe—a simple premise made more complicated by the choices made by the protagonists as the story unfolds—fail because they either don’t stick to their own rules or because they are just plain stupid.  The latest from Blumhouse (known for the INSIDIOUS and THE PURGE franchises) sticks to their typical formula.  Remember UNFRIENDED (stupid), PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (became more progressively stupid), and SINISTER (oh Sweet Baby Hey-Zeus)?  Simple rules set up early on that are repeatedly broken by stupid characters (except for the PARANORMAL films, in which I don’t think even the writers knew what the hell was going on after the second film).

TRUTH OR DARE isn’t much of a different fare—it just has better acting, slightly better jokes, and slightly more intelligent kids getting knocked off.  There isn’t really anything scary going on for the viewer, besides a few creepy faces.  The premise, again, is a basic one: college friends on a vacation to Mexico get roped into a game of Truth or Dare that a malevolent spirit/demon forces them to play.  The stakes are their lives, and an hour and forty-one minutes of yours.

Surprisingly, that time goes by rather quickly.  Despite the fact that the movie breaks one of its main rules in the first twenty minutes, the story moves along at a brisk pace.  There is enough to keep the viewer entertained, and not as many “oh you stupid MORONS!” moments as there are in other films of this type.  All of the acting is on point; best friends Olivia and Markie, played by Lucy Hale (“Pretty Little Liars”) and Violett Beane (“The Flash”) respectively, are believable so far as chemistry is concerned.  The boys are mostly throw-away characters, including Landon Liboiron of “Hemlock Grove” fame; he played a moody werewolf there, and here he plays a moody a-hole.  Not much of a stretch, but he does a fine job with what he is given.

The score by Matthew Margeson (KINGSMAN, EDDIE THE EAGLE) is almost too good for the goings-on here, and the cinematography by Jacques Jouffret (THE PURGE films, unfortunately) is passable, although I was left wondering more than once if there was any other way to film that damn border-station sign.  Director Jeff Wadlow (you have him to thank for KICK-ASS 2) uses the usual genre tricks, and doesn’t offer up a whole lot of new material.  Which is what bothers me the most about this film, I suppose; he has an entertaining cast, a few great sets, and three other freaking writers that managed to help produce a script that doesn’t get too tangled up in itself.  There was potential here, and it turned out a bit…well, “meh” would probably be the best summation.

Not great, not horrible, just meh.

What really galls me about the release is the production company feeling the need to put their name in the freaking title.  Seriously?  Have egos grown that exponentially since your last release (which was the bag-o-poo titled INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY)?  Because that last one had a bigger budget and was magnificently stupid—not necessarily something that would make me confident enough to put the company’s name in front of the title for the next offering.  Then again, I’m just some geek on a laptop; every time I think I’ve got the Hollywood machinations figured out, someone goes and does something majestically idiotic to force me to start scratching my head again.

Then again, this is the same production company that also gave us SPLIT, and the forthcoming M. Night Shyamalan sequel GLASS.  Here’s hoping they don’t screw with anymore titles.

Film Grade: C+

Special Features: D (two docs, neither really all that interesting)

Blu-ray Necessary: I’m gonna go with noooooo

-- T.S. Kummelman