Reviewed by Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com
“Truth or Dare? A Critical Madness” (1986)
Directed By: Tim Ritter
Written By: Tim Ritter
Starring: John Brace (Mike Strauber), Mary Fanaro (Sharon Strauber), Bruce Gold (Jerry Powers), A.J. McLean (Little Mike)
I didn't know what to expect going into this movie but I overall enjoyed it for what it was worth. Truth or Dare? A Critical Madness? is a low budget movie from B movie director Tim Ritter. For its faults, the low budget camera work works in many scenes to bring out the atmosphere in Mike Strauber’s collapse from sanity to insanity. This movie is rather difficult to come by. The original VHS commands some money on the collectors market and was released on DVD in 2003 but has gone out of print.
The plot centers around a man named Mike who comes home one day to find his wife having sex with one of his best friends. The whole event sends Mike over the edge entirely to the point he goes on a killing spree as it triggers events from his childhood. This low budget movies goes for a psychological slasher fare and for the most part pulls if off. I am typically a fan of low budget movies and this one gave me mixed feelings. My biggest criticism is the movie is stretched to fit the 90 minute format when it could have been condensed shorter to make it work instead of padding the plot out.
John Brace as Mike Strauber keeps the movie interesting. Mike enters madness fairly quickly after discovering his wife having an affair. The best scene with him was his moment in the woods with a fire and he imagines a girl from his past playing a game of truth or dare with him. The dares aren’t small ones either as he begins to cut off body parts with no restraint. The surrounding atmosphere makes it a solid scene.
The gore in several scenes is quite good. The scenes inside the mental hospital where he challenges others in games of truth or dare the gore is pretty good for what it was worth. The other people there doing as he says severing their own body parts looks fairly realistic. The cheaper camera work added to the atmosphere in those scenes as well.
The biggest aspect reading about this movie that redeems it for me despite its shortcomings, the writer and director, was only a late teen was when he made this movie. Tim Ritter was only a late teen when this movie was completed and was sold on the VHS direct to video market. With all that in mind, he did a pretty good job at one of his earliest films for his age and what he had to work with.
This movie certainly won’t be for everybody due to the low budget and some of the scenes being stretched out for the sake of time. I overall enjoyed it for what it is worth. I give it 4 out of 5 stars for a solid first time effort. It has a 5.2/10 on IMDB.