Day 5, kiddies, and would you like to play a game? A bunch of college kids did in the 2017 SyFy movie Truth or Dare (not to be confused with the other four movies or so with the same title). Led by Carter (Luke Baines), a group of college kids including Alex (Cassandra Scerbo from the Sharknado movies), Maddie (Brytni Sarpy), Tyler (Mason Dye), Jessie (Alexxis Lemire), Luke (Ricardo Hoyos), Holt (Harvey Guillen), and Addison (Christina Masterson) rent a house for a weekend. The house has an ill reputation, as in 1983 a group of students were gathered there to play a game of Truth or Dare, only to all end up dead. So, naturally, Carter convinces the group to play as well. But the house seems home to a malevolent spirit that enjoys the game a bit too much, leading to some nasty outcomes. 6.5/ 10 stars
Overall, the film makes for a fairly entertaining watch, and director Nick Simon (The Girl in the Photographs) does a nice job as to keeping us guessing who’s going to die next. The cast is decent, but no one character ever stands out as someone you want to root for, reducing them all to fodder for the deadly game. There is some suspense built up, and for a TV movie there are some suitable gore effects. There never is any explanation as to why this mysterious force in the house wants to force people to play the game, and while explanations in horror movies aren’t always a necessary thing, in this case it seemed a big plot hole. It ‘s a deadly game being played just to kill college kids, which leaves it feeling a bit hollow. Despite that, there is some occasional fun to be had here, and it’s worth a look if you’re in the mood for some bloody deaths. Now showing on Netflix.
