Blumhouse's Truth Or Dare Review

PG-13: Violence and disturbing content, alcohol abuse, some sexuality, language and thematic material

Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions

1 Hr and 38 Minutes

Dir: Jeff Wadlow | Writers: Michael Reisz, Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach, Jeff Wadlow

Cast: Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Hayden Szeto, Landon Liboiron

I can’t help but imagine that with every project Jason Blum produces, the results are the equivalent to him blindly throwing darts at a wall to see which ones make it on the board. Sometimes he would hit the bullseye with films such as “Get Out” and “Whiplash”. Then, there are movies you’re surprised hit the dartboard to begin with, like “Happy Death Day” and “The Visit”. Beyond that, you get the movies that are so far off the dartboard that the dart lands square in the back of someone’s head (with that someone symbolizing you as an audience member) with movies such as “Jem and the Holograms” and “The Gallows”. So, basically you never know how a Blumhouse movie will go. Now, we have the latest Blumhouse horror film, “Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare,” an MTV-styled movie who’s dart doesn’t hit you at the back of your head, but the bottom of your ass.

 

A harmless game of Truth or Dare among friends turns deadly when someone -- or something -- begins to punish those who tell a lie or refuse the dare.

THE BAD

Did teenagers really need their own “Final Destination” diversion because they’re not old enough to watch “Final Destination”? Because it really feels like it with “Truth or Dare”... Sorry... I meant, “BLUMHOUSE’S Truth or Dare.” They were so confident attaching their name onto the project that they had to say “BLUMHOUSE” before the actual title itself. But the reason I bring up “Final Destination” is because the majority of this movie follows nearly the same premise as those movies; the only thing that is different is the fact that this bears the PG-13 rating which devoids the film from taking any risks it wants to take. When people die in this, it is both absurd and grotesque but, since this is PG-13, there’s no blood. And with no blood there is an empty feeling to be had because it doesn’t raise any stakes or emotion. People get shot and you don’t even get the natural appearance of blood that should obviously come with it. Teenagers nowadays love to see movies with blood and gore. They’re twisted like that. Taking away the most horrific element from a horror movie just makes the film dull as a whole.

The cast is pretty decent. They’re not good by any means, but they all hold their own, especially Lucy Hale and Violett Beane. Hale and Beane are the only ones who actively deliver a consistently good performance that keep you on your toes. What destroys that, though, is the unlikability of any of these characters. Every one of these college kids are terrible human beings, even the central character Olivia. Olivia is a pushover, Lucas contemplates cheating on his girlfriend and he’s an idiot, Markee constantly cheats on her boyfriend, Penelope is a drunk, and the list goes on. The only person you care about is the gay kid because he is the only one who doesn’t get on your nerves. He doesn’t do anything stupid except play the game he’s forced to.  But, the one who gives the most insanely over-the-top performance is none other than Tyler Posey.

For many years, Tyler Posey has been the face of MTV’s “Teen Wolf”. With this being his first major transition from TV to the big screen, I hope this is kind of his last. I truly have a love/hate relationship with his performance where he’s unnecessarily going over-the-top while delivering his lines so mundanely, but the times Posey goes hard, he’s hilarious in the most unintentional way imaginable. Right in the beginning he overacts his ass off. When the group is playing the game for the first time, one of the guys exposes Olivia for being in love with her best friend’s boyfriend (Lucas, played by Posey). Instead of calmly saying something normal like, “Dude shut the hell up,” he gets so worked up and starts yelling “WHY ARE YOU TELLING THESE LIEEEES!” while his veins are near to popping out of his head. Honestly, how can you not laugh at something as absurd as this? Moments like these with Posey go on for the rest of the movie and it’s amazing. It is nearly on the same level as friggin Tommy Wiseau in “The Room”.

The biggest thing that “Blumhouse's Truth Or Dare” fails to accomplish is creating an identity. The reason why “Happy Death Day” worked was because it knew what it wanted to be and maintained consistency with it’s tone and premise. A majority of the positive elements came from the script which was written by one person. Here, you have way too many cooks in the writing room kitchen that devoids the film from knowing what it wants to be. At first, the film tries to be a comedy. Then, it tries to be a thriller. And then it tries to be a horror and then a convoluted mystery. As a result, the film comes across as both generic and obnoxious. It doesn’t have the guts to embrace its stupid premise due to the four writers who can’t keep a consistent flow with the tone of the movie. You can definitely tell that this film was rushed to completion for it was only shot in 20 days.

THE GOOD

Though the film barely has any ounce of a brain, admittedly there is one well-crafted sequence of a dare a character has to do. Since every dare plays on each of the characters’ personalities, the best one comes from the girl who’s an alcoholic, where she has to drink an entire bottle of liquor as she walks across the roof while her friends try to make sure she’ll have a safe landing if she falls. This is the only sequence that is intense because it can go either way. It was the only time that it felt like director Jeff Wadlow was doing something interesting with the project.

If there is one thing that I can commend “Blumhouse's Truth Or Dare” on it’s the fact that it’s really entertaining. The movie isn’t entertaining for the right reasons at all, but it is quite that baffling enough.

THE RENDY

As I said, this is one of the dumbest movies I’ve seen this year, but I was enjoying it on an ironic level. From the terrible over-the-top performances to the weak and unnecessarily convoluted story, I was having a blast. But then the ending happened. Not even the climax, but the resolution and the ending itself happened and, believe me, it is nearly the equivalent of the cast and crew giving you the finger and saying “FUUUCK YOU!” “Blumhouse's Truth or Dare” has an ending so unbelievable that it leaves you so flabbergasted, then angry. Right when I was giving the movie the benefit of the doubt and so close to claiming it as one of the best worst movies of 2018, the film ends abruptly on an incredibly sour note that it just has to be called one of the worst movies of this year in general.

LAST STATEMENT

Devoid of any thrills, chills, or anything fulfilling to any horror fan, “Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare” is a hollow horror flick riddled with a terrible plot, poorly written characters, and an awful conclusion that truthfully isn’t worth the watch.

Rating: 1/5 | 25%

Super Scene: Penelope’s drunk dare.