Truth or Dare - Movie Review

Truth or Dare

Year of Production: 2012

Director: Robert Heath

Genre(s): Horror, Mystery and Thriller

Brief Plot Outline:

A group of teenagers play a game of truth or dare at a house party but the game gets out of hand when they start to pick on a boy named Felix. A few months later they turn up to a house party at Felix’s house to be invited in by his brother. When they are at the door, Felix’s brother tells them that Felix committed suicide but the party will carry on. When they enter the house Felix’s brother tells them they will play a game of ‘truth or dare` to which they soon find out that each dare is a form of torture which could kill them.

Which Two Scenes Impressed You The Most? Why?

The party scene at the start of the film was the most interesting scene because it did not challenge any of the stereotypes and has a few small parts to make the audience laugh. The stereotypes in this scene are normal for a horror film where you get young teens smoking drugs, drinking and having sex. My favourite scene was when Felix’s brother gets tortured because it makes you feel that the female survivor has turned into some sort of psychopath but she is really getting justice for the loss of her friends. The use of body horror in this scene is interesting because when the female survivor pours acid on Felix’s brother’s face, it is a mixture of restricted and non-restricted narration.

How Has Watching This Film Helped You Understand This Genre Of Film-making? Which Features On The Genre Check-list Did You Spot In The Film? When? How?

Watching this film has shown me that you don’t need a lot of gore to make the film interesting. The key feature in this film was the cabin in the woods which gave a creepy sense to what was going to happen through its use of an enclosed location. Felix`s brother fit the psycho killer stereotype because he looked like he was enjoying the sight of torturing the teenagers. The female survivor in this movie was also the heroine because in the end, she kills Felix`s brother and drives away. A feature was challenged in this movie because the heroine was the girl that was always trying to have sex throughout the movie and the sweet uni sexual blonde girl was the one who was killed.

Which Aspects Of The Film Would You Like To Include In Your Own Trailer? Why?

The whole concept of using a children’s game to torture people has made me want to include the idea into my own trailer. I like this idea because I feel like people are more scared by the fact that they are watching something that they have had a lot of memories with being used to kill people. It’s much like contrapuntal music. It goes against the happiness we expect, and so this makes the events more shocking to watch.

Which Aspects Of The Film Would You Like to Avoid In Your Own Trailer? Why?

I would avoid using a disability for one of the characters that makes them unable to do anything. In Truth or Dare, Felix ends up in a wheelchair after he failed to commit suicide which links to the end of the film when he is wheeled into the room and killed with his brother and i feel that some viewers may find this offensive much like the use of the disabled Franklin in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1973).

 What Was The Best Aspect / More Enjoyable Moment In The Film? Why? Can You Recreate This In Your Own Trailer? How?

The death scenes are acted really well in this movie and I will try and use a children’s game to make the narrative more interesting. The game “21 dares” is the main game that I would like to use because it is the easiest way for someone to get a dare to torture someone.