Dark Ride - After Dark Horror Fest (2007)

Nearly a decade after two young girls are brutally murdered the monstrous killer Jonah escapes from a mental institution and returns to his familiar killing ground the theme park attraction "Dark Ride." His unfortunate victims this time are a group of college kids on a road trip that inevitably leads them to the Dark Ride where their night of youthful fun becomes a nightmare. The killer who is mimicking the sets within the attraction makes sure this is a "ride" audiences will never forget.System Requirements:Run Time: 94 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 031398183877 Manufacturer No: 18387 Product Description

Generic Slasher

Dark Ride
Dark Ride was a part of the After Dark Horror Fest. I was under the impression that these films were supposed to take us where no other horror films have taken us. This, however, is just a generic slasher. I would suggest looking at any of the other Horror Fest movies before this one.

Our cast of characters are a bunch of stereotypical college students. All they care about are drugs and sex. They all seem to have drama going on in their lives, but nothing important to the plot of the movie. Only one character stands out, but he stands out way too much. This makes the ending of the movie extremely obvious.

These students plan on taking a road trip for Spring Break. Along the trail they decide to stay at an abandoned Amusement Park. The Park was shut down twenty years ago after two young twins were brutally murdered. Regardless, they decide to settle down for the night like any normal idiotic person. It just so happens that the killer, named Jonah, has escaped from a mental institution and is on the loose again. Jonah returns to his former killing grounds for some fun.

Dark Ride features a good amount of gore. Only a few moments seem too over the top. Overall I felt the gore factor was just right in this movie. However, check out the deleted scenes for more extreme moments.

Jonah is a fairly interesting character. He is a child stuck in a super human's body. He is supposed to mimic the props he sees on the Dark Ride. However, he usually just slashes the person in an innovative way. The whole gimmick of him trying to mimic the ride only comes into play once or twice throughout the entire movie. One problem I had with the killer was that he had little motive. He just killed for fun. This is a key part of most generic slashers.

There is are a few shocks every now and then. Most of them are cheap though, and involve the Dark Ride props jumping out at you. Johan can be fairly disturbing, but actually came out fairly amusing to me. He always came of as an idiot having sick fun. This actually worked for me though. I doubt it will for everyone.

The ending is also a key part of all generic slashers. There is a huge over the top ending where the killer is finally put down. After this get a surprise ending...that you saw coming the entire movie. They should have put a nice twist at the end.

The extras are pretty good in this one. The commentary track is informative and a fun listen. Their are some worthwhile deleted scenes and a couple making of features. The deleted scenes contain some of the gorier portions of the film.

If you are looking for a quick slasher, you might want to try this one. I feel that there are plenty of better slashers out there though. If you want an After Dark Horror Fest experience, look into some of the other movies. August 26, 2008

Same ole Same Ole

Nothing new here in plot wise killers escaping from a mental hospital to return to there familiar killing ground surroundings.

The plot is in 1989 two twin teen girls where killed inside a ghost train kind of ride. The deal was that the guy who owned the ride adopted two sons, one normal and one disfigured. The disfigured one was left in the ride to live, and because he has the brain capacity of a 5 year old, the dummies inside the ride showing them killing and such is what he thinks if life. So he mimics what there doing because he thinks that is what life is.

After his first kill he is caught and sent to a nut house, now he has escaped and a group of teenagers break in expecting it to be a bit of fun and end up not being able to escape.

The plot sounds better then it is, take my word on that. It can be pretty much the same old thing you have seen over and over in horror movies, just this time set in an amusement park ride.

The twists and plots of this movie are way too predictable. They do not do a good job of hiding the end result from anyone, I predicted it very easily and did not feel it was even needed to be done for the climax of this film.

About the only thing I did find cool in the movie was the look of the killer who uses a mask from a doll, so it kind of looks like a smiling baby that makes a good costume for these kind of mask wearing psychos.

Rent it, but I doubt you will have the urge to watch it again. July 6, 2008

Great horror film

This was a great horror film. Lots of blood and gore, great pictures, and best of all the dude who played Hamiltom Porter in "The Sand Lot" and Zach in "Sun In Law" is back in this film all grown up as a some what possessed college student. Basically the plot of this movie is a New Jersey board walk horror ride known as "Dark Ride" was shot down in the early 1990's, because the person who owned it's oldest son was killing people who rode it. And a group of college students headed for New Orleans for spring break decide to make a stop in New Jersey to spend the night in the Dark Ride. But little do they know that the killer son of the person who owns this ride has just escaped from the mental institute and is also staying inside the dark ride.

This film gets 4 stars, because although the plot of it was very creative it still isn't the best thing to come out of A horror movie.

This movie also has great special features, I could tell allot of thought went into creating it. July 6, 2008

It was alright, but certainly nothing new

Dark Ride was definatly like watching an "R" rated, "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?" episode. It's not really the kind of movie you can get really into, and i found myself fast forwarding to the good parts. Even though the concept was cool and the acting was decent, there just wasn't anything new or memorable about it. Definatly not the best movie in the series, but worth seeing if you're with a hot chick! May 20, 2008

Dark Ride

Dark Ride is not unique or original in any way shape or form, it adds nothing to the slasher genre, but hey, how much could you possibly add anyway? That being said, Dark Ride is entertaining, it's a turn-your-brain-off-and-enjoy-the-blood movie. Nothing outstanding here, but it wasn't trying to be either. This movie wanted to be a fun and bloody ride, and it was. April 23, 2008

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