Sep 08, 2023, 14:16 pm
When we say we’re riffing a movie called Truth or Dare your mind might go to the black & white documentary full of naughty images of Madonna and her backup dancers. Hey, get your mind out of the gutter! And into the totally different gutter that is THIS Truth or Dare.
The truth is, this is the kind of movie most people would only watch on a dare. It’s grimy, puzzling, and accidentally pretty damn funny. However there is at least one person who’s happy to watch it of his own free will: superstar actor Elijah Wood! He has loved this movie ever since he somehow saw it at age 5 – we’re not kidding, there are interview clips about it. Look ‘em up!
The hallucinatory story begins when Mike Strauber comes home from work to find his beloved wife cheating on him with his best friend, who is also her boss. He reacts the way any man would: running away and playing a bloody game of Truth or Dare with an imaginary hitchhiker at a family campsite. You see, Mike Strauber had some kind of childhood trauma involving the game truth or dare that resulted in his mom telling him to find better friends. Now, broken and confused, he wanders in and out of mental health institutions in an endless game of truth or dare that leaves some people injured, but mostly himself. He’s just a self-mutilating lovable murderous goof!
This really is one of those “there’s nothing else like it, and maybe that’s for the best” kind of movies. The original title was Truth or Dare? A Critical Madness, and it’s easily one of the best Critical Madness films we’ve ever seen.
One more enticement: the film features a young Backstreet Boy, A.J. McLean, as little Mike Strauber in the flashback scenes! Honestly, how much more star power could you need?
Join Mike, Kevin and Bill as they settle in for a deeply unhealthy game of Truth or Dare!
Written by Mike Nelson, Conor Lastowka, Sean Thomason, Jason Miller, and Zach Shatzer
The truth is, this is the kind of movie most people would only watch on a dare. It’s grimy, puzzling, and accidentally pretty damn funny. However there is at least one person who’s happy to watch it of his own free will: superstar actor Elijah Wood! He has loved this movie ever since he somehow saw it at age 5 – we’re not kidding, there are interview clips about it. Look ‘em up!
The hallucinatory story begins when Mike Strauber comes home from work to find his beloved wife cheating on him with his best friend, who is also her boss. He reacts the way any man would: running away and playing a bloody game of Truth or Dare with an imaginary hitchhiker at a family campsite. You see, Mike Strauber had some kind of childhood trauma involving the game truth or dare that resulted in his mom telling him to find better friends. Now, broken and confused, he wanders in and out of mental health institutions in an endless game of truth or dare that leaves some people injured, but mostly himself. He’s just a self-mutilating lovable murderous goof!
This really is one of those “there’s nothing else like it, and maybe that’s for the best” kind of movies. The original title was Truth or Dare? A Critical Madness, and it’s easily one of the best Critical Madness films we’ve ever seen.
One more enticement: the film features a young Backstreet Boy, A.J. McLean, as little Mike Strauber in the flashback scenes! Honestly, how much more star power could you need?
Join Mike, Kevin and Bill as they settle in for a deeply unhealthy game of Truth or Dare!
Written by Mike Nelson, Conor Lastowka, Sean Thomason, Jason Miller, and Zach Shatzer
