DVD Review: TRUTH OR DARE: A CRITICAL MADNESS (1986)

TRUTH OR DARE:  A CRITICAL MADNESS

Directed by:  Tim Ritter

Distributed by:  MVD Entertainment

Have you ever seen one of those movies that is so bad, it's good?  TRUTH OR DARE is a perfect example of that kind of film.  It is bad in almost every way, yet I still found myself really enjoying it.  Here is the basic plot of the film from the MVD website:

When an already unbalanced Mike Strauber catches his wife Sharon in bed with his best friend, the result is a rapid decent into insanity. Mike's revenge is masked in the form of the seemingly innocent child's game "Truth or Dare", but playing his demented and twisted version results in a bloodbath the likes that has never been seen before... with a trail of victims leading right back to his wife! This all time horror classic from 1986 includes a special performance from a young AJ McLean of The Backstreet Boys.

As stated before, this movie is pretty bad. The acting is pretty horrible by most every actor involved in this film, but especially by the main character, Mike, played by John Brace.  Mr. Brace's reaction shots (or I should say, over-reaction shots) are way overdone to the point of being comical.  Also, it is hard to take anyone seriously in this film, as being from 1986, it hasn't aged well in terms of the look of the people.  Big hair, bad suits, and huge eyeglasses are aplenty in this film, and it really takes away from the suspense of the film when you can't stop looking and laughing about some guys glasses.  Seriously, why did they make glasses so big in the '80's?  Anyway, back to the film. 

Don't get me wrong, there are some good things about this film.  Most notable are the great effects on display in this film.  There is some pretty good gore and most of it is really well done.  You won't want to miss the grenade-in-mouth exploding head scene!   Along with the good effects, there is some good camera work and some cool camera shots and angles on display, as well as some creepy images, such as when Mike wields the chainsaw and heads towards the house.

While the film does have a very '80s feel to it, that almost has a nostalgic feel to it while watching the movie.  It reminds you of the days of sneaking off to watch bad Horror movies on VHS.  I have to admit that this film is a new guilty pleasure of mine.  I know I should dislike this film, but I just can't.  Considering the director was only 19 at the time this film was released, and with a very obvious low budget, you have to appreciate what he has done with what he had.  This is one you will want to give a look to for sure.

Be sure to check out the trailer below...is it just me, or does the first 20 seconds of this trailer look like a bad Mentos commercial!

CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the DVD