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TRUTH OR DARE: A CRITICAL MADNESS
Written, Produced, and Directed by Tim Ritter
Edited by Jack Behrend
Director of PhotographyMike Strauber - John Brace
Sharon Strauber - Mary Fanaro
Jerry Powers - Bruce Gold
Guard #2 - Joel Wynkoop
Everybody has to start someplace, and TRUTH OR DARE: A CRITICAL MADNESS is the freshman effort from Twisted Illusions, Inc. and filmmaker Tim Ritter. Like the great Sam Raimi before him, Tim was shooting 16mm before he was 20 years old. Only Tim had less than a fourth of Sam's Evil Dead Budget.
Like many of Tim's following efforts, TRUTH OR DARE is a socially relevant film dealing with the problems of bureaucracy in institutional systems. Whether you like his work or not, you can't argue that the man doesn't have something to say. His films are reminiscent of the early b-filmmakers from the 1950's and 60's, while their work was exploitation based, plots were grounded in the topics of the day.
This first film in the TRUTH OR DARE series takes place over 2 ½ years and tells the story of how Mike Strauber becomes the Copper Masked Killer. Filmed in 1986, during Ronald Reagan's second term in office, a time when spending on military excess caused funding for public works to be shortchanged. TRUTH OR DARE deals with what came next, the under-staffing and overcrowding that occurred in all forms of publicly funded municipalities including schools, jails, and hospitals. *
As a child, Mike Strauber was traumatized by the game Truth or Dare. Encouraged by the other children, he would end up mutilating himself. Years latter, we find Mike well adjusted in a good job with a gorgeous wife named Sharon. Since marital infidelity plays a major theme in Tim Ritter's work, it's of little surprise when Mike finds his wife having an affair with his friend Jerry.
Unable to cope with the thought of his wife with another man, Mike finds suppressed memories surfacing and he soon starts to hallucinate. Hours later a park ranger finds Mike cut and mangled on a beach, he had spent most of the evening playing Truth or Dare with an attractive, imaginary hitchhiker.
Fast-forward thirteen months and we find Mike released from an insane asylum due to lack of space. His first thought is to enact revenge on Sharon and Jerry with the biggest piece of cutlery he can find. Tim Ritter doesn't like to write about weak-willed women and Sharon is no exception. With Jerry dead she can only rely on herself to defeat Mike.
Soon Mike is back in the mental institution, this time his hallucinations are unending. It's during this stay that Mike finds himself donning the Copper Mask and after another 13 months of incarceration he decides it's time to get some fresh air and make another escape. He needs to finish what he started and take out Sharon. Completely detached from reality, Mike kills as many people as he can on his way home.
During the final half an hour there are some truly disturbing kill scenes. Two stand out, the first involving a hit and run with mother and her newborn. Mike, thinking he didn't do a good enough job the first time, throws the car into reverse for good measure. This scene figures prominently into the third and final film in the series. The second is something I can honestly say I've never seen before, the drive-by chainsawing of a little leaguer on his bike. Call me sick, but I had to rewind and watch it again.
While there are moments of shocking violence, TRUTH OR DARE is actually a slow paced film. The violence is used to punctuate Ritter's points. They add definition to long, drawn out moments of calm as well as scenes with interaction of the supporting cast. It's the large supporting cast that undermines the film. The cast is far too large and sprawling. A little tightening would have improved the pacing and many of the points the film was trying to make. Many of the supporting characters only have a line or two and essentially useless. Of the supporting characters that do matter, most are never fully developed. Case in point is a set of policemen who figure prominently into the final act. They come out of nowhere and their only purpose is to foul up, thus allowing Mike to make his way closer to Sharon. They should have been dropped entirely or fleshed out more fully over the course of the entire film as there was very little point for their presence in the film. The same can be said for many of the doctors, perhaps a blending of those characters would have helped.
TRUTH OF DARE is as flawed as any first feature, but those flaws don't limit it. TRUTH OR DARE is well worth viewing just to see where an important figure in the micro-budget realm started. It might not be as refined as his later work, but it's a good indication of where Tim Ritter wanted to go as a filmmaker. Check it out.
*Note-what many people don't realize is the economy moves in cycles and takes years to correct. This epidemic was the end result of the recession that took place during Jimmy Carter's Presidency. In 1986, Ronald Reagan's "Trickle Down Economics" had yet to reach these specific municipalities. The only flaw in TDE is that the excess funds ended up last where it was needed most. Reagan received much flack over his high-tech spending and corporate tax breaks, but it's those very same issues that 15 years later have given us the wonderful economy we have today that Lying Bill Clinton takes all the credit. The recession was officially over when George Bush was ending his term in office; Clinton had nothing to with it. Oh, how the media loves to distort the facts (see TRUTH OR DARE 3). But this is not a political forum and I digress.