Dark Ride

Competently made yet awfully dull, Dark Ride follows a group of college students, including Jamie-Lynn Sigler’s Cathy and Patrick Renna’s Bill, as they arrive at a desolate haunted-house attraction for a night of partying and debauchery. Their fun-loving exploits come to a swift end once it becomes clear that they’re not alone within the ride, as the demented killer who grew up within the expansive structure has returned home to brutally dispatch the unwanted intruders. There’s little doubt that the exceedingly familiar manner with which Dark Ride unfolds plays a significant role in its downfall, as the film often seems to have been fashioned directly from a slasher-movie template – complete with two recently-broken-up characters looking to mend their fractured relationship and a masked maniac on the loose after a brutal escape from the loony bin. And while the movie is actually fine for what it is, the lack of creative kills (with one notable exception) and the interchangeable central characters inevitably ensures that the whole thing comes off as a tough slog indeed. That the protagonists are separated and forced to stumble about in the darkness during the movie’s incredibly repetitive third act only exacerbates Dark Ride‘s various problems, and – while the movie is certainly a cut above the majority of low-budget brethren – it’s impossible to envision all but the most indiscriminate horror fan finding much here worth embracing.

*1/2 out of ****