Next up in the double feature is a pairing of 2017’s Truth or Dare and 2018’s Truth or Dare. The latter is an Extended Director’s Cut because that’s all Netflix has. Let’s check it out!
Truth or Dare (2017)
Director: Nick Simon
Cast: Cassandra Scerbo, Brytni Sarpy, Mason Dye, Alexxis Lemire, Ricardo Hoyos, Luke Baines, Harvey Guillen, Christina Masterson, Heather Langenkamp
Eight college friends head to a “Haunted Rental” for Halloween. But when they replay the game that made the house infamous, they awaken an evil spirit intent on stealing their souls. – IMDB
2017’s Truth or Dare is direct to video supernatural horror film which plays along the concept of a supernatural being in a house that gets unleashed when friends go there that chases them down for 3 rounds of Truth or Dare before leaving them alone. With a rather ambiguous sort of ending and a cast of part frustrating and part decent characters but some rather intense dare executions, Truth or Dare is an okay offering. Sure, there’s a lot of bad dialogue and one of the characters in particular were especially annoying to watch but there is an undeniable sinister vibe and a cameo of Heather Langenkamp as a previous survivor of one of these games.
Truth or Dare did have a pretty imbalance pacing. The beginning half was a lot of setting up the situation and getting the crew into this location which they soon realize is part of this “scary rentals” site which is never a good idea but they still go along with it. things spiral out of control really fast when their first dare is to make out with another girl or a truth about a secret, which brings up a whole lot of questions that they don’t seem to ask, and things from that point jumps up in intensity really quickly. Its all kind of a ridiculous sort of set up in story progression since the only thing that the previous survivor does is state the obvious but gives them pointers on how to make it out alive, which still leads to arguments about what needs to be done.
As much as it sounds like I’m hating on Truth or Dare, I’m honestly not. The characters are a little annoying and frustrating particularly the character Jessie and the dialogue in general is a tad uninspiring but the movie is sinister and the tension is effective enough plus some of the dares and how they need to be smart about sharing the dare to stay alive has some decent execution. Overall, some good some bad so an okay watch.
Truth or Dare: Extended Director’s Cut (2018)
Director (and co-writer): Jeff Wadlow
Cast: Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Hayden Szeto, Sophia Ali, Nolan Gerard Funk, Landon Liboiron, Sam Lerner, Tom Choi, Aurora Perrineau
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. – IMDB
Let’s put it out there right away that I haven’t seen Truth or Dare’s theatrical release but I did do a little research on the differences to the extended director’s cut which is the version currently on Netflix. Extended Director’s Cut includes a lot more of the rated scenes that was removed to fit a PG-13 rating. I’m sure that it does add to the experience since Truth or Dare is its best when its in the process of the truth or dare segments. One part of it I’m not a big fan and it’ll be talked about later.
Taking a quick moment to compare (seeing as I did watch this back to back), Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare is definitely a bigger budget with a lot more familiar faces like Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars), Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf), Landon Liboiron (Hemlock Grove), Hayden Szeto (The Edge of Seventeen) and Violett Beane (The Flash) and a story that gives this Truth or Dare a deeper lore to discover. There are more concrete rules and a set sequence for them to follow. It jumps between Mexico and US and a lot of different backstories and secrets from the characters. All of these things having their pros and cons.
The flow of the story is decent and the truth and dare segments are pretty decent as they have that cringe and tension of when its going to drop. It has a sequence of how the truth and dare rounds go and the mystery of whether the previous person went which gives the viewers more knowledge than the characters. The only issue with those segments is the possession phase where the characters all change into these creepy smiling faces with kind of distorted voices which for one, isn’t as scary as they think it is and second, gets overused so becomes more frustrating and predictable than effective by the end. At the same time, the jumping from Mexico and US is a little crazy because its like a trip to the grocery story with their frequency, not to mention at one part they have a gun and can cross the border, which seems absolutely ridiculous. The next point is some illogical scenes that just don’t really make a ton of sense. I know these movies aren’t meant to be dug into detail and watched really for their face value but some things are hard to ignore.
The only thing I do have to say that really made up for the 2017 is that the characters here are much more bearable. Maybe its the cast and it has to do with the characters while still being fairly one dimensional still have a certain level of back story even though its fairly easy to figure out who is going to die and whatnot. Plus, the ending is a kind of a fun opening for a sequel or something.
As a final note, for myself, I’m pretty done with Truth or Dare concept. It seems like after back to back years of Truth or Dare premise, it can be tucked away and really doesn’t seem like they can do anything more unique since both of these carry the same kind of execution of some possessed and cursed game where the characters pretty much have a slim chance of getting out. But who knows, right? Someone out there will find a twist for it somehow. It always seems to happen at some point.
That’s it for this Truth or Dare double feature!
Have you seen these two? Which do you prefer?
Tranquil Dreams 