The truth is you’ll wonder how the producers of Happy Death Day and Get Out dared to release this rubbish.

There’s an near gleeful stupidity at the heart of “Truth Or Dare” that you almost don’t want to look away just to see what audaciously moronic twist its going to try next. Almost.

Persuaded to go on one last Spring Break vacation, Olivia (Lucy Hale) meets a guy on the last night of the trip who tells her of a secret after-hours party. She manages to convince her friends to come along and the group find themselves in an abandoned and derelict chapel on a remote hillside. Once there, though, instead of a happening party, there’s a cooler of beers and a circle of chairs for a game of ‘Truth Or Dare’. But the whole thing is a trap and the game is real: if you don’t play, you die. If you pick ‘dare’ and don’t do it, you die. If you pick truth and tell a lie, you die.

It’s with this tedious predictability that the film trots out its demonically possessed version of the game, spinning it into a cut-price “Final Destination” knock-off as each unlikable and uninteresting character meets their maker in preposterous, convoluted circumstances. Never scary, rarely even so-bad-it’s-funny, “Truth Or Dare” compounds its lack of invention with an ending that’s breathtakingly brazen, unearned and, arguably, more malevolent than the demon who survives within a game yet tries as hard as possible to kill off all the players. It’s a narrative Hail Mary pass in the hopes of getting a sequel the film really doesn’t deserve. If your idea of terror is a malfunctioning Snapchat filter picking off a bunch of bland, stupid people then, by all means, check this movie out. Go on. I dare you.

truth or dare review
Score 2/10


Hi there! If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up to get new posts sent straight to your inbox?

Sign up to receive a weekly digest of The Craggus' latest posts.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

logo

Related posts

Alien Resurrection (1997) Review

Alien Resurrection (1997) Review

An Adventure 200 Years In The MakingIf you copy something over and over again, you're bound to end up with an unexpected mutation or two. That seems to be the metatextual theme at play in Alien: Resurrection, the fourth entry in the Alien franchise, a film that splices together...

More Tribbles, More Troubles

More Tribbles, More Troubles

Star Trek: The Animated Series S1E05 - More Tribbles, More Troubles.The Animated Series boldly goes where Star Trek has gone be-fur, bringing back those pernicious plush pests the tribbles. In More Tribbles, More Troubles, The Animated Series recalls David Gerrold, the mastermind behind...

John Dies At The End (2013) Review

John Dies At The End (2013) Review

John Dies At The End ReviewThe word ‘unfilmable’ is a bit of a cliché when it comes to describing novels being adapted into movies. David Mitchell’s ‘Cloud Atlas’ was thought to be unfilmable, although I thought the Wachowskis did a pretty good job; “Ender’s Game” was also described by...

Saint Maud (2020) Review

Saint Maud (2020) Review

Unable to achieve ascension, Saint Maud finds a home in cinematic purgatory.Rose Glass’ feature debut is a strikingly stark psychological horror, powered by two mesmeric central performances and a stylishly bleak aesthetic. Claustrophobic and intimate to the point of intrusive, it’s...

The Christmas Chronicles (2018) Review

The Christmas Chronicles (2018) Review

Here's my surprisingly thirsty review of cinematic Christmas cocktail The Christmas Chronicles.So cheesy and corny it’s almost the movie equivalent of cinema nachos, “The Christmas Chronicles” is a good old-fashioned magical Christmas fable, the kind it feels like they don’t make any...

Assassination Nation (2018) Review

Assassination Nation (2018) Review

Check your privacy settings before you wreck your privacy settings.A screeching, graphic howl of incendiary exasperation, “Assassination Nation” adds its voice to the growing chorus of furious condemnation of a society dominated by toxic masculinity, religious hypocrisy and venal...