Dark Ride DVD Review

Predictable, Dull and Cheesy are just a couple of the words that pop into my head when I sit down to try and sum up this movie. I bought Dark Ride the other day on DVD thinking that it was going to be a ‘cool' homage to the 80's slasher movies that I grew up watching when I was younger. Whilst in a couple of places it did just that, for the main part Dark Ride was just a dull, thoughtless and overly predictable film that relied on a couple of brutal murder scenes and gratuitous shots to keep viewers entertained. This coupled with more than a few similarities to Tobe Hooper's 1981 slasher flic ‘The Funhouse' meant that it was all just beginning to feel like one big letdown.The film begins (as these movies so often do) with a group of teenagers off on a road trip. Along the way they stop at a gas station and spot a flyer for the planned reopening of an old abandoned carnival which houses the infamous ‘Dark Ride' a ghost train in which several murders took place years ago. Of course after much drug taking and ‘wild' ‘crazy' behaviour *yawn* the kids decide to pay a visit and explore the ride for themselves... cos that would be like So totally fun! Little do they know that Jonah, the strange, crazed psychopath (who oddly also seems to have some kind of superhuman strength) behind the previous murders has just escaped from the mental institution and is lurking in the midst of the ride to resume his old pastimes. Armed with a mighty big knife and a silly little mask that looks more ‘cute' than creepy he waits for his next victims... The main lead of the movie is Jamie-Lynn Sigler who is probably best known for her role in The Sopranos which I loved her in. I even thought that she was reasonable in this film but lets face it, she wasn't exactly given the best dialogue in the world to work with was she? The rest of the cast is made up of various unknowns and a couple of people who looked vaguely familiar to me but in all honesty I just couldn't be bothered to go and look them up properly, maybe I'm missing out on some great up and coming talent but I'll take my chances thanks! So, after much running around inside the Dark Ride and lots of murders and screaming amidst the dry ice and cheesy props from the ride we are treated to what is supposed to be some big shock ‘Saw' like ending. In actual fact it was blatantly obvious ALL the way through exactly what was going on and so when all was revealed I almost let out a sigh of relief that the film was actually nearly over! Needless to say that if you are looking for a complex dark and twisted horror movie then this definitely isn't what you get with Dark Ride. What you do end up with however is a rehash of various slasher movies with no plotline and some really genuinely annoying characters. It might be worth a look if you are stuck for something to watch for a couple of hours one night but don't make the same mistake as me and go out and buy the movie, at least rent it and save yourself some money for when something better is released!