For many of us, Truth or Dare will always refer to the 1991 Madonna documentary. The title gets re-used for a 2018 horror flick, also called Truth or Dare.

On vacation in Mexico with friends, college student Olivia Barron (Lucy Hale) meets a man named Carter (Landon Liboiron). After he “rescues” her from annoying fellow student Ronnie Wakowski (Sam Lerner), he convinces Olivia and her pals to go visit an abandoned mission with him.

On this site, Carter initiates a seemingly innocent game of “Truth or Dare”, but he soon reveals an insidious twist. They must play to completion of very bad things can – and do – happen to them.

Will audiences ever tire of the sight of painful violence inflicted on attractive young people? Apparently not, as Dare yanked down a pretty decent $94 million worldwide, a tidy profit based on its miniscule $3.5 million budget.

Perhaps Dare would’ve done even better had it mustered a smidgen of creativity. Alas, the film feels stale and predictable, without any real form of inspiration on display.

I guess the main concept of the deadly Truth or Dare contest comes with some potential. Even though other films have followed similar paths, the basic conceit boasts opportunity for thrills.

Unfortunately, the end result feels so trite and tedious that it never manages to exploit its basic positives. One interchangeable character after another falls into one interchangeable fate after another – later, rinse and all that.

Perhaps if the producers didn’t wimp out and opt for a “PG-13” rating, then Dare might have at least given the gore lovers out there some meat. Instead, the more “family friendly” rating ensures that graphic violence remains absent, so the film can’t even provide much from that point of view.

As noted, Dare comes with an attractive cast, and they do their best with the material. They can’t redeem it, though, or even manage to create much to differentiate the various roles.

Invariably, Dare goes with characters we’ve seen many times in the past. Expect a slew of stereotypical participants with nothing new to them.

And expect a movie without anything special or fresh to deliver. One can certainly find worse horror films than Truth or Dare, but that doesn’t act as an endorsement of this flat, forgettable effort.

Truth or Dare appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a generally appropriate presentation.

Overall definition looked fine. Interiors tended to be a little soft, but most of the movie offered good delineation. No signs of jaggies or moiré effects appeared, and I saw no edge haloes or print flaws.

As usual, the palette opted for heavy doses of orange and teal. The hues looked fine within those constraints.

Blacks were fairly deep and dense, while low-light shots delivered acceptable clarity. This was a more than competent image, albeit not a great one.

With the movie’s horror action, its DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack offered a few moments to shine. Some of these brought out a pretty good sense of different elements and added zest to the proceedings.

Much of the track stayed with creepy ambience, and the mix also used music well. The score spread to the various channels in a vivid manner that worked nicely.

Audio quality satisfied, with effects that appeared accurate and rich, with deep low-end response. Music seemed warm and full, while speech remained concise and distinctive. This turned into a reasonably positive mix.

The Blu-ray includes both the movie’s “PG-13” theatrical version (1:40:01) as well as an Unrated Director’s Cut (1:40:32). I only watched the longer edition, so I can’t comment directly on the changes.

That said, I suspect the “Director’s Cut” included a little extra violence that didn’t make the “PG-13” version. Given that the DC lasts a mere 31 seconds longer than the theatrical release, any changes clearly seem to be minor.

Next we go to an audio commentary from director Jeff Wadlow and actor Lucy Hale. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, editing and deleted scenes, photography, action, music and connected domains.

On the positive side, Wadlow and Hale provide an energetic chat, and they bring us a reasonable assortment of production insights. However, they also give us a whole lot of praise for all involved, and those moments get old. Still, we learn enough about the movie to make the track worth a listen.

Two featurettes follow. Game On runs six minutes, 49 seconds and includes notes from Wadlow, Hale, producer Jason Blum, and actors Violett Beane, Landon Liboiron, Sophia Ali, Tyler Posey, Nolan Gerard Funk, and Hayden Szeto.

“Game” looks at the project’s roots and development, story and characters, cast and performances, and thoughts about the “Truth or Dare” game. This becomes a fairly mediocre piece without much substance.

Directing the Deaths lasts four minutes, 15 seconds and features remarks from Wadlow, Hale, Beane, Blum, Posey, Szeto, Ali, and Funk. This one looks at the movie’s various killings, and it does so in a passable manner at best.

The disc opens with ads for Thoroughbreds, Strangers: Prey At Night, 7 Days in Entebbe, Breaking In and Unsane. No trailer for Dare appears here.

If you want a vivid, exciting horror tale, look somewhere other than Truth or Dare. The film offers virtually nothing clever or involving as it plods toward its conclusion. The Blu-ray brings largely positive picture and audio as well as a smattering of supplements. Dare delivers wholly mediocre moviemaking.