We all love masked killer movies…when they’re good. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite feeling this trio from my Tubi watchlist. Let’s find out why.
TRUTH OR DOUBLE DARE (2018)
This film runs only 62 minutes long, and all I can say is what a relief. And no, it’s not a sequel to any of the Truth or Dare movies out there already.
For the first twenty minutes or so we meet a bunch of high school kids that look like they are 30, and none of their interactions help make any of them memorable or likable. Although, there are some unforgettable man bods.
Finally, it’s ten years later, and they all get invited to a reunion party. In between more dialogue, there are some completely disjointed death scenes. Characters are killed by someone in a mask and hoodie, yet we never learn who the victims were or why no one questions their disappearance. There’s even a quick scene in which a woman comes across a gutted body and then we never hear another thing about it.
29 minutes into the movie, a woman singing “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” gets chased and stabbed by the masked killer in the woods as the people at the party start talking about playing truth or double dare. In familiar fashion, a mysterious voice on a tape machine warns them they must play the game or die.
Dirty secrets come out, they all turn against each other, and people die. The most exciting part is that one guy admits to his girlfriend that her father performed oral on him.
The old school, Scream-esque killer reveal and motivation monologue at the end is as generic as it gets. This is a bland, lifeless film with no thrills.
BEHAVE (2024)
This film is 79 minutes long, and I kid you not when I tell you every kill happens within a 1-minute span in the last five minutes. I don’t even really need to say more, but if you’re curious, here’s what you get.
In the opener, we see a girl encounter a masked figure after leaving her class. We don’t see any kill.
The other kids in class go to a mansion to relax and are taught etiquette by an influencer. There’s lots of talk and a creepy caretaker who is clearly a red herring. The biggest “scare” we get is a jiggling bedroom doorknob at night.
There’s a brief partying montage 50 minutes in.
53 minutes in the killer appears behind someone.
64 minutes in one girl has a nightmare about the killer, but at least another guy gets a formaldehyde cloth over the face a few seconds later while sleeping.
69 minutes in the killer chases everyone—basically from one room to another, and kills them all.
PREY FOR THE BRIDE (2024)
I’ll say one thing for this movie. It starts strong, with a young woman trying to fight back when someone in a cool wolf mask invades her home.
Next, a group of girls contemplates a bachelorette party after the tragedy concerning their friend. Of course they use the old “she’d want us to party” argument.
A bachelorette party at an isolated home with a wolf masked killer? Sounds awesome. There is a brutal kill early on, as well as some killer POV, and even a male stripper montage, but this turns into more of a home invasion flick combined with a typical concept of the group being forced to reveal their dark secrets, leading to them turning on each other (sort of like Truth or Double Dare). It’s really not very exciting at all.
