Truth or Dare?

A million dollars... A million dollars... I could have made a better slasher flick with the Blair Witch budget! I was having a pretty peachy day when I found out that my favorite bad movie cost approximately one million dollars to make. What kind of idiot gave this guy a million dollars? And to make thing worst he made two sequels. It is the best worst movie of all time, but it was a lot better when I thought an amateur adult film director made this flick with about the same amount of money his past projects cost. Sorry if I have insulted anyone, but after all my pick for the worst film of all time is not even on a single list.

My review was written in July 1986 after watching the show on Peerless video cassette.

"Truth or Dare?" (subtitled "A Critical Madness") is a subpar horror film aimed rather crassly at the gore market. Though touted as a feature made expressly for home video, "TOD" features 16mm lensing not much better than video-lensed forerunners in the genre, such as "Copperhead" and "The Ripper". It certainly isn't interesting or professional enough to warrant a theatrical release.

John Brace overacts portraying a man whom we learn via psychological mumbo-jumbo to be suffering from a childhood trauma traceable to the kids' game Truth or Dare? In which he imagines an alternate reality and is given to both self-mutilation and dishing out ultra-violence to other folks. Opening scene of him catching his wife (Mary Fanaro) in bed with another man triggers his craziness.

Film derails quickly via poor continuity and no credibility generated by Tim Ritter's script. Driving away from home angrily, Brace picks up a voluptuous hitchhiker (Kerry Ellen Walker) and improbably decides to go camping with her, tent and all. Around the campfire she insists on a game of Truth or Dare? And dares him to cut off his finger after she has poked out her own eye.

Brace is hospitalized, but typical of the film's sloppiness he has all his fingers undamaged for the rest of the picture. Conversely, when he goes on the rampage at a mental home with a hand grenade, survival knife, chainsaw and even a machine gun, it seems as if these are fantasy items but they turn out to be real. Where'd he get them?

Nonsensical episodes are just an excuse for gore footage, some of it left mercifully off-screen but also incorporating poorly done explicit violence. Filmmaker Yale Wilson botches most key scenes, such as making the simple finale of Brace versus his shrink needlessly confusing. Tech credits and supporting cast are weak, particularly the monotonous synthesized musical score.

Truth or Dare is one of those films that you'll never see anything else like it. Everything is completely over-the-top. The gore, action, comedy - the extremely catchy synth score - Everything is done in a way that's a complete parody within itself, but Ritter doesn't do it in an obvious form. He's poking fun at the film, but does it in a serious way. (Is that a paradox?) Nevertheless, this is an experience you'll likely not forget very soon. I'm sure Ritter was working out some hidden feelings or agenda's during the time this film was released. I had no idea that Ritter was only around 18 or 19 when he made this film - MAking a competent film at 19 - Hitting the top of the video rental chain - All before he was 20. I'm not sure how JR Bookwalter gets all the credit for revolutionizing indy film making. Tim Ritter certainly deserves more credit in regards to the straight to video market that kick started home entertainment.

I'm not saying Truth or Dare is a masterpiece, but what it is is a competently made horror film (now a cult classic) that was virtually written and directed by a teenager! Luck may have had something to do with it, but craftiness (not only in the directing department, but craftiness in the marketing department) has made his name a very welcomed sound to the old school horror fan.

BTW, the old man who played one of the mental patients deserved an award. At times, I'm not so sure Ritter didn't actually have the guy cut off his hand. Of course, I'm an idiot, but after one grasps how young the director was, they'll gain a whole new appreciation for this movie.

WOW.....I knew this was a low-budget trash film, but going into it, I had no idea just how completely inept TRUTH OR DARE? A CRITICAL MADNESS would turn out to be in every possible way. Claiming to be one of the first films ever produced strictly for the video market (big accomplishment there guys...so you're basically saying that you knew right off the top that no one would pay to see this mess in a theater, right?...) - TRUTH OR DARE? has more problems, plot holes, inconsistencies, horrible acting, atrocious music, juvenile Special FX (except for the few explosion scenes - those are cool...), and all around poor overall execution than any single film I've ever seen. Writer/Director Tim Ritter attributes many of these issues to personal problems between himself and the financiers and 2nd Unit Directors - who he claims all failed to film or support whole sections of the plot that should have made the final product make more sense. But unfortunately, that's pretty much the same as me saying that I set out to paint the Mona Lisa - but due to personal problems, all I came up with was a stick-figure. As the Writer/Director of this mess, I hold Ritter responsible for his work and can only review the final product - not his unfulfilled "vision". Now that all being said - TRUTH OR DARE? does have a strange charm and entertainment value for such a fundamentally flawed feature, that does keep it from being a TOTAL waste of time. It's relatively fast-paced and there are some pretty amusing moments...

Mike Strauber is a guy who's had it pretty rough. He was picked on as a kid, had a nervous breakdown as an adult, and just when things start to look up for him - he catches his wife boning some joker in his bed. This causes Mike to crack, and he goes on a nice little drive to clear his head. Along the way he meets an imaginary hooker that he takes camping (!?!). She talks him into playing truth-or-dare, and cutting his finger off and pulling his tongue out (?!?!). this lands mike in the loony bin for a while - but he's released 13 months later (with tongue and finger mysteriously intact...). He immediately goes and kills his ex-wife's lover, and attempts but fails to kill her too...which lands him back in the psych ward. Somehow, Mike sneaks in two knives and a hand-grenade (???) and plays a hilarious and bloody game of truth-or-dare with two wackadoos that he's locked up with - culminating in some gory but goofy self-mutilation and head explosion. Mike manages to escape the facility, steals a car, and "magically" has access to assault weapons - all while wearing a retarded looking bronze mask that he made in machine class at the psych facility (as I'm sure that most respected psychiatric treatment facilities offer top-notch machining classes which gives mentally disturbed patients the opportunity to play with heavy and dangerous machinery...). On the loose - Mike goes on a rampage: running down a baby, chainsawing a kid, machine-gunning innocent bystanders - basically being an all-around nuisance - all while avoiding the "best" efforts of the local cops to catch him. One such attempt results in one of the brighter cops mistakenly immolating an innocent man, and is immediately allowed back on the street by his superior to join in the investigation (????????). Eventually the police chief sets Mike up and brings his violent spree to an end...

Unbelievably, this film actually spawned two sequels which I haven't yet seen, but judging from the trailers, would venture to bet that they're equally, if not more lacking (if that's possible) than this entry. But again - with all the ridiculousness that goes on in this film - TRUTH OR DARE? A CRITICAL MADNESS is still pretty entertaining and may be worth a look to low-budget 80's-style horror fans. If the director is to be believed from his commentary - this film seems to have a pretty big "cult" following - and may even be able to be classified in the "so bad it's good" category of films. I can't say that I enjoyed this one that much due to the glaringly obvious problems that seeped their way into every pore of this work's production - but I'll settle on a 6/10 for what it tries (and often fails miserably) to accomplish...6/10

After reading the other reviews of this film, it seems many people measure quality by the amount of money that went into a production. Go figure... Truth or Dare? - A Critical Madness was indeed made on a shoestring, but writer/director, Tim Ritter displays more imagination in 5 minutes than any of today's big budget horror films can manage in 2 hours. Ignore the naysayers and see this little gem from the 80s. Serious horror fans need only apply.