Dark Ride
Review by Peter Syslo

As I’ve said before, I am still kind of “up in the air” about the After Dark Horrorfest films. But, I think that I am starting to like them more and more; they are a nice collection of ORIGINAL, yes ORIGINAL horror movies that I think are worth a second look. Now, when I say original, I mean that they are not remakes – they are derivative in some of the ideas, but the scripts are original. Not to say that all original scripts are good, but anything that takes the effort to not be a remake takes a step in the right direction. One of these films, DARK RIDE, is a step in the right direction and after viewing it a second time, I realized that I overlooked it – it is a quality film that deserves some attention.

DARK RIDE (2006) is directed by Craig Singer and is co-written by Craig Singer and Robert Dean Klein. It stars Jamie-Lynn Sigler (of “The Sopranos”), Patrick Renna, David Rogers, Alex Solowitz, Andrea Bogart, and Jennifer Kelly Tisdale. The film is about a group of college kids that are on their way to the Jersey shore. One thing leads to another and they stop in Asbury Park to spend the night in an abandoned funhouse (the funhouse is one of those that you ride through in a car, hence the name “dark ride”). The funhouse was closed down because twin girls were murdered there in the late 1980s and the murderer was committed to a mental hospital, where he is st ill alive. Unbeknownst to the college gang, the murderer “Jonah” escaped two weeks earlier and has found his way to the funhouse. From this point on, he stalks and kills the co-eds and it all culminates in a classic slasher ending…with an interesting twist.

I felt that this was a really fun movie and although it is derivative, it is derivative in a good way; it plays with all of the slasher conventions but it does so in a fun and fresh way. In fact, it seems to “celebrate” 1980s slashers like BEHIND THE MASK does – you see the influences of movies like FUNHOUSE, FRIDAY THE 13th, HALLOWEEN, etc. and it all turns out to be very entertaining.

The killer, Jonah, was great and the “mask” that he wore was really frightening – it was part of a mannequin’s face. The kills were all pretty gory and over-the-top, which was a good thing – it definitely reminded me of FRIDAY THE 13th kills. For example, you have a girl beheaded while giving head, you have a policeman’s head split into two, and you have an orderly who is killed by a flashlight. Yes, I said “killed by a flashlight” – Jonah drives the flashlight right through his chest - and I thought that I had seen it all when the supposed Jason Vorhees killed a man by putting a road flare in his mouth. All of this, coupled with the very effective scares/stalking of the killer really made for a fun time and it had that “inventive” quality that makes you think that the filmmake rs wanted to show you something you have seen before, but in a different way.

The acting was typical for a slasher film, with everyone in the traditional slasher roles – the jerk guy who just wants to get lucky and is condescending to his sidekick/friend, the slutty sorority girls, the stoner guy, the sensible heroine, and the introvert who just wants to fit in and is constantly ostracized. The standout of the film was definitely Patrick Renna, who played the introvert; the most annoying of the film was definitely Jamie-Lynn Sigler who was a constant “wet blanket” – I know it was part of her character, but she just got on my nerves after awhile. Aside from that, the camera work, sets, and visual effects all looked pretty good and the music fit the subject matter (carnival themes interspersed with rock songs).

Final thoughts: I think that DARK RIDE is one of the better films in the After Dark series. This is the second time that I have watched it and I have to say that it really has grown on me. Yeah, I know that it’s “cool” to say that these movies suck but I honestly don’t think that they do – yes, some of these films have their problems but I think that they deserve a chance. DARK RIDE was executed really well and kept me entertained for the running time (I felt that some of these films just dragged and should’ve been cut down). It’s not a masterpiece and it’s not a completely new idea, but it is an original script that should give a slasher fan some enjoyment.