FILM REVIEWS

Truth or Dare:

A Critical Madness

Reviewed By

AmandaByNight

Although Truth or Dare is an entertaining movie, the most compelling story is found in the featurette, which showcases how this movie, made renegade style, was lensed by a then 18-year-old Tim Ritter. A true labor of love, this low-budget potboiler makes the most of what is available to the ever-resourceful Ritter. The final outcome is a bit mixed, yet it remains a fascinating ride of violence, amazing stunts and of course, madness. After listening to Ritter discuss his passion for film, his troubles with distribution and the need to prove that he was more than just some teenager with a camera, makes this auspicious debut that much better.

John Brace is Mike Stauber, a guy with a 9-5 job, a housewife and a big, anonymous looking house. In short, he’s like any other breadwinner, except he’s still bounding back from a nervous breakdown he’d suffered a couple of years prior. He’s also just stepped in on his wife, Sharon (Mary Fanaro) and her lover (and his best friend!) in the middle of a game of hide the sausage. This sends Mike on a road trip (which is Ritter’s way of saying ‘he’s going ‘round the bend, folks!’) where he picks up a mysterious female hitchhiker who lures him into a potentially deadly game of Truth or Dare. Things get worse for Mike from here on in, but I won’t ruin any of the surprises.

Now knowing Ritter’s age, I find his level of adeptness regarding such adult topics as madness and infidelity fascinating. Since then, Ritter, who’s become a bit of an icon in the world of zero-budget filmmaking, has delved into these subjects again, including making 2 sequels to Truth or Dare. It’s also an homage to splatter films of yore, such as the original Toolbox Murders and The Zodiac Killer (both of which he references in the aforementioned featurette) as well as an interesting pre-cursor to mind-bending thrillers like Jacob’s Ladder. Though certainly flawed, Truth or Dare is a time capsule type glimpse of the world of 80’s guerilla style independent filmmaking and will probably be enjoyed most by fans of no budget genre pics.