Friday, September 24, 2010

"Truth Or Dare: A Critical Madness" DVD (director: Tim Ritter)

This low-rent Michael Myers knockoff from 1986 has been advertised as being some sort of lost "classic", and to it's credit, there are some memorable and gory scenes that compare favorably to the B-grade slasher flicks of the era.

"Truth Or Dare" is the tale of a middle-class businessman who finds his lovely wife in bed with another man. This sets him into a tailspin of self-destructive impulses, and increasingly sadistic homicidal outbursts. Impressive are the real auto stunts (and explosions), gratuitous gore, and several titillating breasts. So score a few points for these trash-cinema staples.

Still, some of the acting and dialogue is flat (the "scientific" speak of the therapists is just laughable), and there are some major plot fallacies and unexplainable scenes. For example, the murderous protagonist steals a car and somehow manages to come up with a chainsaw, a medieval mace, and a machine gun soon thereafter. Eh? Sure, the back seat of my car is well-stocked with weaponry, too. Hah!

It's not an altogether awful flick, but there are far too many problems here to make this one worthy of the "lost classic" tag. And the closing theme song is a tragically overwrought 80's-style power ballad. Ewww! Talk about closing with a whimper. (Sub Rosa Studios via MVD Visual)

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