Truth Or Dare?: Critical Madness(to give the film it’s full title) was the second full length feature from US horror film geek & metal fan Tim Ritter. The film was directed & written by Ritter when he was just 17, and while it has a few pacing issues here & there- it’s an impressive second film from a young director, and it easy to see why it’s become a cult classic over the years- due to the inventive kills, unbalancing blend of tone, and generally feeling that anything can & will happen.

The film opens with suited geek Mike Strauber, coming home from work early, to find his wife Sharon in bed with his best friend Jerry. This pushes his tittering sanity over the edge & he descends in a madness of self-mutilation, murder & mayhem- all based around the game of Truth Or Dare that he played as a child. What follows is a fairly deranged SOV( then transferred onto film) trip where the lines between reality & madness blur- along the way we get some fairly impressive & at times bad taste gore effects- take in limb cuttings, tongue cuttings, head explosion, baby & mother hit ‘n’ runs, chainsawing of little league players, attacking the elderly with medieval maces.

Throughout the film, Ritter really packs in so many nods towards his favorite horror movies- yet never overtly rips-off instead he twists them around to his own deranged & distinct brand of lo-fi horror. I won’t go onto to detail the plots often strange & unbalancing twists ‘n’ turns- as that really would take away from the ride that Truth Or Dare is- but trust me if you enjoy creative low budget horror you need to see the film.

This recent reissue of the film takes in a handful of extras first-off we have a really interesting, down-to-earth, and fact-filled commentary from Mr. Ritter himself. Quite often when you get these director commentaries they can either be stilted or full of pretension- the track here is pacey, always rewarding and fascinating throughout. With Ritter coming off very down-to-earth & honest about the film- and often praises & thanks to the films long time fans for keeping it a cult classic for thirty plus years. We get trailers for the Truth Or Dare sequels- so far Ritter has released three follow-ups, and the fifth film in the franchise is out soon. We also get a gallery of posters, stills & related connected to the film.

Truth Or Dare is wonderfully punchy & often unpredictable slice of 80’s low budget horror. And I strongly recommend it to genre fans- as Ritter really does manger to put his own distinct twist on the proceedings. And the great new commentary makes this worth picking this up for those who either have seen it already, or own it in its original VHS form.