TRUTH OR DARE

(a.k.a. TRUTH OR DARE? - A CRITICAL MADNESS)

Mike (John Brace) drives home one sunny afternoon to pick up some blueprints needed for a works meeting. Once home, he makes his way to the bedroom only to find his wife Sharon (Mary Fanaro, DEMON QUEEN; ANY GIVEN SUNDAY) having sex with his with his best friend Jerry (Bruce Gold).

After an unintentionally hilarious reaction - all painful gurning accompanied by a stock music library score - Mike races off for a drive, mulling over all the times in the past that his wife has clearly been lying to him (following up whispered phone conversations by telling him the caller had the wrong number, etc).

Mike ends up at the beach where he takes a stroll to clear his head. Luckily for us, Mike ends up getting more and more angry, and finally reaches boiling point when he recalls a gory failed suicide attempt he made as a child. Mike resolves to return home and kill the cheating couple.

On his way, however, he picks up a slutty hitch-hiker (Kerry-Ellen Walker) and takes a detour with her. They end up at a campsite and decide to stay the night.

Camping in the woods together and chatting around a campfire, Mike and the hitch-hiker engage in a game of truth or dare. The game culminates in the hitch-hiker goading Mike into slashing his chest and chopping his finger off.

The scene ends as it transpires that the hitch-hiker is in actual fact a figment of Mike's imagination (oh, did I mention he's recovering from a previous mental breakdown?!), and he believes she has dared him to go and kill his wife!

But first Mike must get his wounds seen to at the local hospital.

Upon his release from hospital, Mike has graduated to full-on insanity and attempts to kill Sharon. Following the failed attack, Mike ends up in an asylum where he gratifies himself by playing violent games of truth or dare with his fellow inmates.

Eventually (and bafflingly), Mike is released and then the fun really starts as his killing spree ensues.

TRUTH OR DARE works on a miniscule budget, benefiting from decent performances, a steady and occasionally stylish direction from Tim Ritter (KILLING SPREE; CREEP - not the Brit flick, but the awful "sequel" to DERANGED), and some decent moments of minor gore.

Mike's scenes of self-mutilation lend the movie a darker, more disturbing edge at times too.

Overall, TRUTH OR DARE is moderately enjoyable no-budget 80s horror fare, with a few moments of inspired violence. The script strives to be plausible, and - other than a few odd plot advances (such as the questionable release of a mental patient who encourages people to hack their own limbs off) - pulls it off for the main.

Scream House's disc offers the film uncut in it's original full-frame aspect ratio. While the image is rather old-looking (not much better than VHS), it is reasonably clear and bright.

The 2.0 English audio is better - loud and clear.

Animated menus include a Scene Selection option allowing access to the main feature via 12 chapters.

In terms of extras, this is a typically sparse Scream House release. First up are two trailers - REALM OF BLOOD and CHINA WHITE SERPENTINE. Oh, and then there's the Scream House Promo Reel, which is listed as an extra feature but is actually a default two-and-a-half-minute intro to the disc, showcasing various gory scenes from other Scream House titles.

Most bizarre though, is the "short film" EVERYBODY LOVES KAMI. This amounts to just over a minute of a hot girl in a black bikini cavorting in a large bathtub! Strange, but nice all the same.

Not a bad early effort from Ritter, and although the image quality on the disc isn't great, it's probably as good as can be reasonably expected. Worth a look.

Review by Stu Willis