Truth or Dare (2017 film)

Truth or Dare
Promotional poster
Written by	Thommy Hutson Ethan Lawrence
Directed by	Nick Simon
Starring	Cassandra Scerbo Brytni Sarpy Mason Dye Harvey Guillén Alexxis Lemire Luke Baines Ricardo Hoyos Christina Masterson Heather Langenkamp
Music by	Nima Fakhrara
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Paul Hertzberg
Producers	Lisa M. Hansen Lisa Riley Brian Tidmore German Michael Torres
Cinematography	Kevin Duggin
Editor	Don Money
Production companies	CineTel Films Angel Cake Truth
Original release
Network	Syfy
Release	October 8, 2017 (2017-10-08)

Truth or Dare is a 2017 American supernatural horror television film co-written by Thommy Hutson and Ethan Lawrence and directed by Nick Simon. The film stars Cassandra Scerbo, Brytni Sarpy, Mason Dye, Harvey Guillén, Alexxis Lemire, Luke Baines, Ricardo Hoyos, Christina Masterson, and Heather Langenkamp. The plot focuses on a group of eight college students who rent a house haunted by a vengeful spirit who lost a game of truth or dare several years earlier. The group decide to play the game and are forced to follow through or face deadly consequences. The film premiered on Syfy on October 8, 2017, and was met to generally positive reviews. As of February 2019, the film has grossed $3,417 from DVD and Blu-ray sales.

Premise

For Halloween, a group of eight college friends rent a house supposedly haunted by a vengeful spirit who lost at a deadly game of truth or dare several years beforehand. When the group decide to play the game, they are forced to answer each humiliating truth honestly and act upon each increasingly alarming dare asking them to do violent acts to themselves and each other or risk death by the spirit.

Plot

In 1983, Donna Boone tells her friend Johnny to jump off the roof to complete the game of Truth or Dare. He rolls off to his death before completing the dare. Horrified, Donna returns inside the house to find writing on a mirror telling her to pour acid on her head. After first covering her head in a paste of baking soda and water, she does so, completing the dare.

In the present day, a group of eight friends - Carter, Maddie, Tyler, Alex, Jessie, Addison, Holt, and Luke - go to a house Carter has rented for a Halloween outing. Carter tells the group that the house became haunted after seven teens played Truth or Dare in 1983 and all but one died horribly. He persuades everyone to play Truth or Dare. Alex is dare to make out with Maddie, which they do. Afterwards, Maddie is asked if she’s slept with Tyler, Alex’s boyfriend, and although she initially tries to lie, a mysterious group text forces her to tell the truth. Tyler’s dare is to put his hands on a hot stove and is told to 'do the dare or the dare does you', and although he attempts to quit, a chair moves by itself and trips him onto the stove, severely burning his hand.

An old-fashioned TV displays a warning that the group has 48 hours to complete three rounds of the game. They try to leave, but the doors and windows close, trapping everyone in. Jessie is dared to eat Tyler's burnt skin from the stove, then Holt is dared to grab onto exposed wiring, electrocuting himself on wires hanging from the ceiling after a chandelier broke off. Luke is dared to smash his knee, which Carter eventually does. Addison is asked if she’s an addict, and she lies that she isn’t and then tries to leave the house. A mysterious force shoves her off of the porch and onto an exposed pipe, killing her.

At the hospital, the group tries telling the police what happened, but are met with skepticism. The next day, the ghost of Addison appears in Carter's dorm room and dares him to hang himself, with a noose falling out of the ceiling. Carter attempts to leave, and the ghost and noose capture him and hang him. After being sent a livestream of the dare, Alex, Maddie, Tyler, and Holt race to Carter's room, but are unable to open the door in time. The four friends see a message that Round Two is beginning. Meanwhile, Alex research into the haunted history of the house leads her to Donna Boone, the lone survivor of Truth or Dare back in 1983. Donna tells them that the ‘demon’ running the game feeds on fear and pain, and that they will have to finish the game inside the house in order to survive. She also suggests sharing their dares to outsmart the demon.

In his bedroom, Luke receives a dare to rob a gas station, and a gun appears supernaturally on his bed. He pulls up at the gas station with Jessie on the passenger seat and attempts the robbery, but the cashier ends up killing Luke with a shotgun. Shocked, Jessie calls Alex to tell her that Luke was shot during the robbery, and Alex tells her to meet back at the house. Once Jessie returns, the group heads back to the house and Tyler receives a dare to drink a liquid poison. He shares the dare with everyone and they all first chug soda, then drink the poison and vomit it up. Maddie then receives a dare to pull two teeth out. With the help of Tyler, the two complete the dare. Alex then receives a dare to play three rounds of Russian roulette, with Alex surviving the first two and Tyler taking round three, fatally shooting himself in the head.

Holt then receives a dare to be run over by a car, and confesses to the others that he once paralyzed someone in a hit-and-run accident, but escaped without being disciplined. Jessie tries to start the car to run over Holt’s foot, but is unable to, and when Holt opens the hood to fix the starter, the hood slams on his hand. The car, driving itself, pulls him in reverse until he falls, then runs him over, crushing him to death. Alex realizes that the spirit is punishing them for their obsessions and sins. Jessie is dared to chain herself to a pipe in the cellar, but runs out of time and is devoured by a huge swarm of cockroaches. Then Round Three begins. Maddie receives a phone call instructing her and Alex to remove seven living body parts. Between them, they remove an eyelash, some hair, a fingernail, an earlobe, a finger, and a toe, then Alex chops off Maddie's foot with a cleaver. After completing the dare, they head to the hospital, but a message appears on the car’s GPS with Alex's final dare - "kill her". Maddie begs Alex to kill her, and Alex slams the car into a tree. After the screen cuts to black after hearing the crash, someone’s gasps are heard, indicating at least one survivor.

Cast

• Cassandra Scerbo as Alex Colshis
• Brytni Sarpy as Maddie Sotarez
• Mason Dye as Tyler Pemhart
• Harvey Guillén as Holt Thorne
• Alexxis Lemire as Jessie Havnell
• Luke Baines as Carter Boyle
• Ricardo Hoyos as Luke Wyler
• Christina Masterson as Addison Troy
• Heather Langenkamp as Donna Boone
  • Taylor Lyons as Young Donna
• Jonathan Mercedes as Johnny Milsner

Development

Casting

Scerbo was cast in the role of Alex after several auditions. She described the character as "smart, quick and driven.” Langenkamp was approached to play the supporting role of Donna. She had to have a life cast of her face made prior to filming and decided with the writer of the film, Hutson, that her character did jigsaw puzzles as a means to cope with the loneliness caused from her disfigurement.

Release

The film premiered on Syfy on October 8, 2017.

Reception

Timothy Rawles of iHorror praised the acting, direction, and special effects stating:

"Truth or Dare is fun as soon as it reels you in and that's pretty much from the get-go. I appreciated the brevity in some of the character development, the actors doing fine without a complicated backstory."

"Bloody, cringeworthy and fast-paced and body parts as collateral, the final 30-minutes of Truth or Dare is not for the squeamish. Director Nick Simon knows how to trigger viewers to watch with their eyes-through-their-fingers, and let's just say novices to the genre are going to have a rough time in the final bloody reel. Double-dipping into past genre storylines with characters to spare, Truth or Dare still satisfies thanks to good acting, piano wire tension and the conscious desire to find out how it all ends.

"...the finale is unusually intelligent for this type of genre, leaving open the wonderful possibility of a sequel or hopefully a successful franchise."

Rawles also praised Heather Langenkamp's performance in the film:

"Original Nightmare on Elm Street alumna Heather Langenkamp makes an appearance, this time it is she who is facially scarred. Her purpose is to give exposition on what needs to happen to beat the ghost at its own game. Her cameo left me yearning to see this understated actress in other projects."

The film has a rating of 5.2 stars on IMDB.

External links

• Truth or Dare at IMDb