Get Out, Split and Happy Death Day are just a few of Blumhouse's recent releases that have been hits with both audiences and critics. The production company started to become so confident with their reputation that they branded this film as Blumhouse's Truth or Dare. Weirdly, once the trailer debuted to a mixed reaction and reviews were overwhelmingly negative, Blumhouse detached themselves as much as they could from Truth or Dare. Unfortunately, the consensus is correct; Truth or Dare marks the end of Blumhouse's winning streak. This is a dull horror film without any scares. The promising concept is poorly executed by four different writers. Then again, multiple writers is rarely a good sign. 

I spent more time thinking about how much Lucy Hale looks like Selena Gomez than I did care about this group of thinly written characters. Truth or Dare reverts back to overused tropes within the horror genre; a group of dumb teen characters who have been somewhat updated to reflect modern society yet still resemble common stereotypes. There's Olivia (Hale) the morally correct 'good girl', Tyson (Funk) the jock/lad, Penelope (Ali) the jock's girlfriend, Ronnie (Lerner) the class clown, and then there is the hopelessly in-love couple, Markie (Beane) and Lucas (Posey). Olivia has a Youtube channel, Brad (Szeto) is gay and Markie had a traumatic past. We find little else out about these characters; they all have one distinct characteristic. It is to be expected that a film with an ensemble cast lacks thorough development of each character. However, I feel that the writers could have done a better job realising and fleshing out the characters of Truth or Dare. 

The film's concept is promising. However, early on it became clear that the writers did not have a creative direction to take the narrative. Instead, this is literally a 100-minute game of Truth or Dare, and as you would expect, it wears thin very quickly. Blumhouse made this same mistake with Ouija (an even worse film); a 90-minute film about a group of teens playing a board game is not enough to create a narrative. The writers do attempt to explain the significance of this game of Truth or Dare with an absurd backstory about a group of nuns who summoned a demon. This explanation could be seen as lazy as it lacks a thoughtful and rational approach, but it could also be seen as insane and mindless as it is an explanation that no audience member would think of. Truth or Dare even follows the same formula as Ouija; the characters play the game, things start to go wrong/people start to die, they seek help/advice from an elder who previously played and then they try to end the curse. The social commentary in Get Out and the self-awareness of Happy Death Day are lost completely in Truth or Dare; Blumhouse has regressed back to the trashy and generic film's they were infamously known for making. 

Another thing that Truth or Dare has in common with Blumhouse's lesser releases is that it relies too heavily on cheap jump scares that are rarely effective in frightening the audience; I think I jumped twice while watching this film. Truth or Dare fails at being a horror film...and I wouldn't even call it a thriller. The film is repetitive and dull. The audience barely cares about the secrets that are being revealed about each character because the script does not allow the audience to get to know the characters in the first place. Like in most formulaic slasher films, it is the unlikeable and underdeveloped characters that are killed off first and the most developed character(s) are the last to die. Without spoilers, Truth or Dare follows this formula; it is clear early on who will be present until the final few scenes. The film fails to create any form of tension; it is just dull. There are some brief moments of shock when each truth or dare is revealed. The characters' faces look like a "messed up Snapchat filter" when possessed by Calex; it's not just me who thinks this, the film admits it too. The audience giggled whenever the characters smiled demonically; I think this could have been effectively scary but something does not quite work (I'm unsure whether it's the tone, acting, visual effects etc).

Horror films with teen casts are known for terrible acting. This may be the one negative stereotype of the horror genre that Truth or Dare avoids. I did not hate the performances in this movie. When looking at the cast list, it is clear that most of the actors have a reasonable amount of experience under their belt and it shows. Aside from wishing she was Selena Gomez, I did like Lucy Hale's performance. Although she did always seem to have a worried and innocent expression on her face, I found her to be likeable and convincing. Olivia is a 'good' character; she is morally conscious and always strives to do the right thing. This did make the character annoying at times but Hale did the most she could with the blandness of Olivia. Tyler Posey, Hayden Szeto, Violett Beane and the rest of the cast all delivered decent performances. Even though they performed well as individuals, it hardly felt like they played a group of actual friends. There was little chemistry between the group and when a scene states the closeness of Olivia and Brad, I was surprised because I did not sense this friendship from the performances of Hale or Szeto. The script is mostly to blame for this lack of chemistry, but overall the cast members do a solid albeit forgettable job.

SPOILERS
The best thing about Truth or Dare is the ending. It is made clear that it will be impossible for the remaining characters to end the curse. So, what do they do? Olivia uses her aforementioned Youtube channel to post a video to the world explaining what has happened to them and ending it on one, final question: Truth or Dare? I was a big fan of this ending and it actually made me leave the cinema feeling much more positively about the film than I would have otherwise. Yes, this ending choice could suggest that the writers overcomplicated their own creation and could not come up with a believable solution. However, it also works as Olivia finally picks Markie over the world, which is their promise throughout the entire film and it makes logical sense as Olivia and Markie will likely survive for many years as the game will have to be played by millions of people before it is their turn again. This ending may leave doors open for sequels (which I do not want to see), but I liked it and found it [dare-I-say-it] quite clever.

There are some things about Truth or Dare that could be interpreted as missed opportunities and insensitive. Love, Simon, Blockers and now Truth or Dare are all currently playing in cinemas; three films that feature an openly gay character. This is great for representation. However, Truth or Dare uses coming out as a terrifying act. This is quite clever as this is probably one of the most daunting moments. However, the film does not follow through with this as the actual coming out scene is not shown to the audience. I found this to be a cop-out; the film is happy to show Olivia and Lucas having sex but not show a pivotal moment in Brad's life? I was also not keen on the representation of suicide in this film. Those who complained about how 13 Reasons Why depicts suicide should really watch Truth or Dare as this is a prime example of glossing over and sugar-coating suicide. Firstly, Markie reaches a point where she wants to take her own life. However, it takes just a 2-minute conversation with Olivia to stop her; this reduces the sadness and depression that those actually in this position feel. It is also revealed that Markie's father took his own life shortly after Olivia told him he would be better off dead. It is suggested that he only killed himself because of this interaction. Another offensive and distasteful portrayal of suicide and depression. It is clear that the creators of Truth or Dare wanted to jump on the cultural importance band-waggon but they failed miserably.

Truth or Dare is not an awful film. I have seen worse horrors in the past and I'm sure in 2018 alone there will be more horrific releases (in both ways). The best things about this film are the cast and the ending; Lucy Hale is likeable enough and the ending is a lot of fun.Everything else is either dumb, dull or tediously derivative. I will give Blumhouse the benefit of the doubt and call this a rare misfire. Truth or Dare is not scary whatsoever (it's actually laughable at times), it is as shocking as high-school drama. From 2009 til recent years, Blumhouse was known for making trashy, low-brow, often terrible horror films....in 2018, it looks like they're still making them. I dare you to NOT make a sequel Blumhouse.