The Dare (2019, Bulgaria / USA / UK) Lionsgate UK DVD Review
Directed and co-written by Giles Alderson, The Dare could easily be dismissed as a copycat of the movies that led to the mid-2000s resurgence of the splatter subgenre; unfortunately labelled “torture porn” by film critics and horror detractors. James Wan and Leigh Whannell’s Saw (2004), and Eli Roth’s Hostel (2005) are both seen as the pinnacle of the subgenre; the first to be labelled “torture porn” due to their emphasis on extreme violence and sadism, and never surpassed by the countless thrillers that followed. But despite a certain familiarity, The Dare breathes new life into the art of splatter.
