Usually I'm pretty hard on films that borrow heavily from other sources, especially when the premise is almost identical to the work that inspired them. It's no secret that the 2006 After Dark Horrorfest selection Dark Ride bears more than a striking resemblance to Tobe Hooper's 1981 deformed slasher opus The Funhouse. According to the gilded rulebook I keep under my bed, that's a huge strike against any filmmaker, regardless of genre. After all, original ideas aren't that hard to come by, contrary to what countless struggling writers may tell you. All it takes is an active imagination and some talent.
Director Craig Singer, on the other hand, has crafted a fine example of how to take a familiar concept—in this case, a gaggle of friends hanging out in a carnival after hours—and do something a little different with it. Dark Ride is certainly not the greatest slasher flick you'll ever encounter, but it does what it does with a fair amount of style, something that simply cannot be said for most of the films which fall into that category.
Stop me if you've heard this one before: A group of friends decide it would be super wicked awesome to spend the night inside a small town carnival, one that has a history of violent crime. After sneaking into the park's "dark ride," this group of oh-so-witty individuals immediately get wasted and promptly screw around. These devilishly mischievous acts are followed by some mean-spirited horseplay, a few hurt feelings, and the discovery of a mutilated cadaver. Insert pre-recorded scream here.
Soon everyone is running around wildly, screaming like frightened sheep as they desperately try to find a way out of this living nightmare they've suddenly found themselves within. To make things more interesting, there's a plot twist so ingenious that you'll figure it out halfway through the film. Who will live? Who will die? And what in the hell is that fat kid from The Sandlot doing in a non-Disney movie?
See what I mean? Familiar concept. Minus the fat kid, of course. This kind of picture has been done a thousand times before, though the names, places, and dates may have been jostled around a bit to keep you from noticing the similarities. Dark Ride is certainly guilty of being painfully unoriginal; I doubt even Singer would disagree with that statement. The trick is to take something we've seen before and dress it up in brand new clothes from the mall, a kind of cinematic make-over for stale ideas. If you can accomplish this task correctly, chances are people like me won't crucify you for being a lazy writer. No offense, of course.
The coolest thing about this particular entry in the saturated slasher subgenre is definitely the atmosphere. Singer and crew have constructed a very spooky ride for these characters to hang out in. Since the camera never lingers on one set piece for too long, it makes you wonder if those bloody corpses and severed limbs are merely props or leftovers from the resident psycho's late night snack. It also helps matters considerably that most of the movie is drenched in shadow, sprinkled lightly with what I like to call "Argento Lighting." Very effective, very creepy stuff.
Article comments
1 - Gregory Conley
Glad to see you enjoyed DARK RIDE. Surprisingly enough, the director and writer of the film, Craig Singer, says that FUNHOUSE didn't play too much of an inspiration in the making of the film. He's from the Jersey Shore, which has all types of rides like the one in the film.
Craig appeared on my podcast, the Your Video Store Shelf Podcast, to promote the film. If you or your readers are interested, it's located here.
2 - T. Rigney
Dark Ride, to my surprise, was an enjoyable little genre flick. I'll be sure to check out your podcast sometime soon.
Thanks for reading!