TRUTH OR DARE (2017) **

I liked Would You Rather and Netflix recommended this to me, so I figured what the hell.  Like that film, Truth or Dare is about a killer version of a kid’s game.  It has a similar structure and set-up, but it’s nowhere near as effective.  

Eight friends go to a supposedly haunted house for a night of drinking.  Apparently, thirty years earlier, a group of teens died while playing a game of Truth or Dare.  They get the bright idea they should do the same thing.  At first, the dares are easy, but once an evil spirit takes control of the game, the challenges get more demented and deadlier as it goes along.  If the teens refuse to play and don’t do the dare, the vengeful entity makes sure “the dare does them”.  They then must learn to work together in order to survive the game.

This was adequate at best.  Director Nick Simon gets a moderate amount of efficiency from the (mostly) single location, simple premise, and low budget.  I can’t say it works particularly well as a whole, but it’s certainly watchable enough.  

It’s fun seeing A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Heather Langenkamp popping up late in the game as the sole survivor of the previous game.  Unfortunately, she isn’t given much to do besides provide a gratuitous exposition dump.  It is cool seeing her in Freddy Krueger-type burn make-up, which is a nice switcheroo.

Most of this is predictable and weak, but we do have a moment or two that prevents it from being totally forgettable.  The scene where the teens are forced to pull out their own teeth has an undeniable kick to it, as does the dare where they must hack off parts of their own body.  Say what you will about Truth or Dare, this is the only movie I can think of in which someone voluntarily cuts off their own elbow, so there’s that.