Dark Ride (2006)

Director: Craig Singer

Writer: Robert Dean Klein, Craig Singer

Tagline: The Last Ride You'll Ever Take...

Actors: Jamie-Lynn DiScala (Sigler), Patrick Renna, David Clayton Rogers, Alex Solowitz, Andrea Bogart, Jennifer Tisdale, Chelsey Coyle, Brittney Coyle, Dave Warden

Runtime: 1h 34m

Category: Cannibal, Horrorfest, Killer, Slasher

Synopsis: A group of college students leave campus on a road trip. They decide to stop at the legendary Asbury Park “Dark Ride”…where, back in 1989; two twins were savagely disemboweled and murdered. The killer, Jonah, instead of getting the death penalty, was sent to a maximum security mental institution. But now, eighteen years later, he has escaped and wishes to continue his little massacre. The college students decide, as a joke, to stay the night in the old attraction to save money. Weird things start to happen as they realize that they are not the only ones inside the building! With an ending that will leave you speechless this is definitely a Dark Ride.

Review: I really did not know what to expect from this film. Knowing almost nothing about each of the After Dark Horrorfest movies, I have to keep an open mind. But with this movie, that wasn’t necessary. With a compelling story, believable acting and all the gore you can handle, this is definitely a movie not to be taken lightly.

The story was really, really good. Apart from the fact that it was very predictable (as most slashers are), it was very well thought out. Being locked in a horror attraction of any kind, with the kind of past this one had, is enough to scare even the most hardened of horror fans. Add a seven foot psychopath with a taste for blood and a bad attitude and you got a great movie! As I stated before, the only thing about the story that bothered me was its predictability. I wish the ending would have shocked me more, but as a seasoned vet of the horror genre I saw it coming a mile away. Very good concept though.

The acting bothered me at first. I thought that the actors were just unknown, immature dill-holes who failed acting class. But as the movie went on, and I thought about it more, I realized that the characters they were portraying were exactly that; immature, and stupid. They were acting like college students! Just what they were supposed to do. The acting was actually dead on with the characters and they made them believable.

The gore…oh the gore…was absolutely wonderful. It’s been a while since I’ve seen gore of this caliber. Each scene including gore was very well shot; like the scene in Jonah’s room at the loony bin with the strobbing TV and the big fat guy. Just plain brilliant. The only thing that bothered me was that they didn’t make Jonah’s face anything special. I was hoping to see some grotesque-looking facial deformity, but all I got was black face paint under the eyes. That disappointed me. Apart from that, the rest of the gore and effects were top-notch.

Rating: 22. Though I liked the concept, story, acting, and gore, it was just too predictable. The fact that I was hoping for Jonah’s face to be messed up does not affect my rating. A killer’s face does not need to be creepy looking for him to take out those idiotic, college twerps. Overall, it was a great movie with some great kill scenes and a couple hot chicks. Catch this one. (22of25).