Dark Ride (2006)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Craig Singer

Writers:

Robert Dean Klein (writer)
Craig Singer (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The Last Ride You'll Ever Take...

Plot:

A group of six friends on a road trip stop off at an amusement park attraction named 'Dark Ride', unaware that a psychopath who brutally murdered two girls, has just escaped a mental institution and is seeking refuge there.

Plot Keywords:

Road Trip | Amusement Park | Psychopath | Twin Sister | Pirate Flag

Cast

Jamie-Lynn Sigler	...	Cathy
Patrick Renna	...	Bill
David Clayton Rogers	...	Steve (as David Rogers)
Alex Solowitz	...	Jim
Andrea Bogart	...	Jen
Jennifer Tisdale	...	Liz (as Jennifer Kelly Tisdale)
Brittney Coyle	...	Colleen
Chelsey Coyle	...	Samantha
Dave Warden	...	Jonah
Jim Cody Williams	...	Ticket Taker
Erin Dawson	...	Pretty Hippie
Jack Doner	...	Old Man
David Ury	...	Attendant #1
Atticus Todd	...	Attendant #2
Steven Mattila	...	Homeless Man
Damon Standifer	...	Officer Reggie Burke
Julie Bickel	...	Teen Female #1
Jessica Lobaina	...	Teen Female #2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kirsten Maryott	...	Hippie Girl
Daniel Bickel	...	Cop #2 (uncredited)

Directed by
Craig Singer

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert Dean Klein		writer
Craig Singer		writer

Produced by
Daniel Bickel	....	producer
Peter Block	....	executive producer
Jennifer Booth	....	co-producer
Lorena David	....	co-executive producer
Sam Figler	....	co-producer
Stephen Hays	....	executive producer
Steve Marlowe	....	associate producer
Michael Q. Martin	....	co-producer
Mark A. Roberts	....	co-executive producer
Michael Urbanski	....	executive producer
Chris M. Williams	....	producer

Original Music by
Konstantinos Christides		(as Kostas Christides)

Cinematography by
Vincent E. Toto

Film Editing by
Sam Bauer

Casting by
Ferne Cassel

Production Design by
Fred Andrews

Art Direction by
Russell M. Jaeger

Costume Design by
Meta Moise

Makeup Department
Rocky Faulkner	....	makeup department head
Saul Gallegos	....	special makeup effects artist
Patrick Magee	....	key prosthetics
Jen Nudelman	....	key hair stylist
Jennifer Nudelman	....	key hair stylist
Zena Shteysel	....	key makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tim Brown	....	first assistant director
Jordan Brendan Finnegan	....	second second assistant director
Rosser Goodman	....	first assistant director
Steve Marlowe	....	second second assistant director
Dawn Stewart	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Melissa Poussard	....	storyboard artist
Elizabeth R. Rosenbaum	....	on-set dresser

Sound Department
Chris David	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chris David	....	sound supervisor
Christopher Eakins	....	dialogue editor
David Esparza	....	supervising sound editor
Shawn Kennelly	....	foley mixer
Laura Macias	....	foley artist
John Marquis	....	sound effects editor
Chris Navarro	....	adr recordist
Vince Nicastro	....	foley artist
Eryne Prine	....	foley editor
Terry Rodman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark Sayfritz	....	sound designer
Eric Thompson	....	adr mixer

Special Effects by
Fred Apolito	....	special effects technician
Royce Hager	....	special effects technician
Josh Hakian	....	special effects coordinator
J. Michael O'Brien	....	sculptor
Hill Vinot	....	mold maker: Renegade FX

Visual Effects by
Ines Baumgartner	....	compositor

Stunts
Jim Hart	....	stunt double
Spiro Razatos	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Berglund	....	camera operator
Bernard Cistrunk	....	electrician
Owen Foye	....	electrician
Owen Foye	....	grip
Bryan Gilbert	....	best boy grip
Jerry Gregoricka	....	best boy electric
Trevor Houghton	....	gaffer
Paul Lambiase	....	key grip
Frankie Martinez	....	electrician (as Francisco Martinez)
BJ McDonnell	....	Steadicam operator
Rick Peebles	....	grip
Joseph Ruiz	....	dolly grip (as Joe Ruiz)
Lacey Terrell	....	still photographer
Amanda Treyz	....	electrician
Alpheus Underhill	....	grip
Santiago Yniguez	....	camera loader

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Summer Ramsey	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Joshua Duncan	....	first assistant editor
Lance Spindler	....	color timer

Music Department
Mark Sayfritz	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Eli Lozano	....	driver

Other crew
Michael G. Cruz	....	assistant location manager
John Goodwill	....	assistant production coordinator
Rena Hanover	....	production assistant
Josh Holden Hume	....	set production assistant
Linda Leifer	....	script supervisor
Jessica Lyons	....	production secretary
Clark McCutchen	....	production attorney
Richard 'Mercury' Melendez	....	set production assistant
Matthew Myers	....	production consultant
Don Napoli	....	key production accountant
Mason Sturgill	....	production assistant
Tanya Renee Wirth	....	key set production assistant
Matthew R. Zboyovski	....	assistant to actor
Chris Stiles	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Thanks
Andy Ross	....	thanks
Max Velez	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• My2Centences
• Blue Omega Entertainment

Distributors

• Lions Gate Films (2005) (USA) (all media)
• After Dark Films (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Lionsgate
• Sunfilm Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Renegade Effects Group (specialty props)

Other Companies

• Blue Omega Entertainment  funding
• 120db Film Finance  funding
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies
• Wilshire Stages, The  ADR recording facility

MPAA:

Rated R for strong grisly horror violence and gore, sexuality, nudity, language and some drug content.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | UK:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (www.videoezy.com.au/default.aspx?page=detail&itemId=46437) | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

My2Centences

Trivia:

"Dark ride" is an old term used in the carnival business to describe rides that involve getting in a cart or buggy and traversing a dark, enclosed building designed to have characters or props appear at intervals, designed to surprise or entertain.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When they pull away from the college to begin their road trip, there is a suitcase left in the street that you can see as the car speeds off.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Colleen: Looks like it's closed.
Samantha: Don't be such a wimp. The guy's right there.

Movie Connections:

References The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Campy And Formulaic Horror Flick, Similar To Tobe Hooper's "The Funhouse".

Part of the popular After Dark Horror Film Festival (which included the remarkable horror film, "The Abandoned" among seven others), "Dark Ride" is a weirdly entertaining little slasher film heavily reminiscent of Tobe Hooper's "The Funhouse". The story follows a group of college friends who decide to go on a trip during spring break. While driving through New Jersey late one night, they have a bizarre encounter at a gas station, and later pick up a ditsy hitchhiker with a good stash of drugs. The kids decide to stop at an amusement park to check out the "dark ride", a horror ride that was closed down for years after two twin sisters were murdered there in 1989. The murderer is now institutionalized, but for these unlucky teenagers, he has escaped within the past two weeks. As they enter the ride and decide to spend some time messing around in there with all of the scary props and whatnot, they aren't aware of the real horrors that await them.

While this film was very obviously inspired by Tobe Hooper's slasher film, "The Funhouse", it honestly is nowhere near as good. But would one expect it to be any better? Nah, I don't think so. Besides this, "Dark Ride" is still an enjoyable little blood-soaked horror flick. The plot is beyond derivative, and the script is pretty jammed full with typical horror set-ups and clichés - we've seen it all before, plenty of times. Not much originality here, but oh well. While the story does lack any uniqueness or originality, it makes up for it with some good thrills and a full plate of some cheap (but clever) scares and violence. It's a pretty gory film, but I think that's what it was going for anyway so it works. We have plenty of gruesome stabbings, slashings, head-splittings, and a grossly clever decapitation that could likely become of cult status (I won't explain, you'll know it when you see it for sure). The sets inside the horror ride were really nicely done, and appropriately spooky. Amusement rides like that have an eerie thing about them anyway, so I love the setting.

The acting in the film is so-so. Jamie Lynn-DiSalca (of TV's "The Sopranos") is the heroine, and is just alright - not anything mind blowing, but passable enough with her performance. The male stars are actually the better actors in the film though, I'm sure some of you will recognize Patrick Renna of the '90s Disney film, "The Big Green", I knew I'd seen that face before. The rest of the cast isn't bad, but the performances were overall no more than average (if not a little below). When considering what type of movie this is though, the acting quality is almost irrelevant. The killer in the film is creepy, not because of his physical deformity, but more so because of his child-like porcelain mask that he wears throughout the film. I thought the 'twist' in the end was actually pretty good, it came totally out of nowhere for me, so I have to give that some credit because the writing there was pretty good.

Overall, "Dark Ride" is an enjoyable little slasher fest that isn't much more than that. It's formulaic, clichéd, and predictable in quite a few ways. But it still manages to be entertaining and fun aside from it's downfalls. Hardened horror buffs will know exactly what to expect, and will feel like they've seen it a hundred times. But if you enjoy a good old corny slasher flick, this weird little throwback to '80s style splatter pictures might be an enjoyable find. It isn't a great movie by any means, but I have to give it a half-and-half rating at least because it was pretty entertaining for what it was. 5/10.