The Dare was made in 2019- but is just seeing UK & Stateside release this year- not sure if this is because of the whole Covid thing, or just normal process of coming out.  It’s coming out as a digital download & DVD in the UK, so it’s a pity it’s not getting a cinema release here- as it’s certainly one of the better genre pics I’ve seen in the last year or so, but again this may be down to Covid. Anyway, the film was directed & co-written by Yorkshire man Giles Alderson- it’s his first feature-length film, and I must say he, for the most part, does a good job. With the shifts in setting & timescale done well enough, and the whole thing having a thrilling & pacy flow- with some effective moments of gruelling gore & intense violence.

The film is set in somewhere USA- and opens with workaholic Jay Jackson(Bart Edwards) putting his two daughters to bed, as he's arranging to go off for a few days for work. Next, he finds himself waking up in a  small damp & murky room- he’s chained to the wall, and around him are three other people- two men, and one woman. Seemingly known of them know each other, and none of them knows why they are there(hello Saw). Running alongside this we have the story of Credence( Richard Brake) and young boy Domnic- who we quickly find out has been kidnapped. Credence lives in an isolated house in the woods- this has on the back of it a rundown meat processing factory, where he haphazard deals with pigs. Credence is a clearly nuts & very unbalanced- as he liberally tortures, suddenly snaps, and belittles the boy. As we move on we start to find out the connection between the two stories- as well as meeting the basements captor- a masked & muscular man who throws the group raw meat to eat, and from time-to-time tortures the four. I won’t detail the story more- as I think there is certainly worth in the gradual reveal of what’s really going on.

On the whole, The Dare nicely twists & turns with both tension, mystery, and nasty-ness with sudden moments of fairly brutal gore & intense attacks. Brake is great as the unbalanced & unpredictable Credence- flipping between lulling southern sinister-ness, manically leering glee, and explosive aggression- it takes a real talent to play a believable madman, and Brake has this talent in spades really making a distinctive creation. Edwards as the workaholic family man does well in his role, and the others in the basement are good too. Special mention must be made to the children actors in the film too- who manage to make their terror & later cruelty seem very believable.

I’m reviewing the DVD release of the film which now out on Lionsgate- sadly the DVD features no extras other than trailer- it really would have been great to have a actors or directors commentary track, but I guess some times it just not possible or financially viable to do this.

I was keen to see the film as Brake was involved, and I  was more impressed with The Dare than I expected to be. In finishing if you like the idea of a blend of Saw & brutal coming of age horror- I think you’ll enjoy what we have here.