Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Dark Ride’

Written by Scott Edwards

Playing pranks on people for fun is one thing but doing it as a form of revenge is another.  Needing to make sure that you will not hurt the person too badly and that they will forgive you is key to playing a good prank, but sometimes they are taken too far. If you want to keep your friends by being a jokester, it may be better to know how far you can take them before they break. There is nothing wrong with playing a good joke on somebody for fun, but if you are really looking to hurt someone, it may be better that you just avoid their company altogether. 

Getting ready to go on spring break, Cathy and Liz are discussing what has happened during the school year and Cathy is none too pleased. With her boyfriend Steve hooking up with another girl, she does not know if the relationship is over or not, but this trip will prove it one way or another. While Steve and Bill are getting ready for the trip as well, they are discussing the same thing and although Steve is sorry about what he did, he has not been able to catch Cathy’s ear about it and the two need to talk. With a great idea to head down to New Orleans this year to save money for food and drinks, the group is ready to roll on their adventure, but there may need to be stops along the way.

Stopping at a gas station to rest and fill up, Bill finds a flyer about the Dark Ride opening back up to the public. Knowing that it has been closed for many years, he thinks it may be fun to check it out and possibly hold up there for the night to save money on a hotel room. The group agrees and is ready to make a slight detour to see the amusement park's scary ride, and after picking up a pseudo psycho hitchhiker in Jen, they are ready to get their scare on. Seeing a rent-a-cop taking a look around the area will not deter the group from heading in, but all of the doors are locked. Being able to find away in, Jim sets up the ride for action and lets his friends in for a good time.

Choosing to stay back in the van, Cathy is still angry at Steve and does not want to be alone with him in the Dark Ride. While the group makes their way through the scary halls, they are able to locate a quiet portion of the ride to sit down and talk. As Jim starts to sober up, he remembers what he has heard about the ride and lets the group in on the history. With two little girls being killed on the ride years ago by a psycho killer, the ride was shut down since everyone was afraid of it happening again. Adding on to the story, Bill comes clean about living a town over and the girls that died were his cousins. Thinking that it is just a story, Steve gets ready to leave while Jen wants to take him someplace quiet. While checking out an empty room, Steve sees Cathy’s lifeless body against the wall and has a break down. But Cathy was fine and just wanted to play a joke on her soon to be ex-boyfriend. Leaving in a huff, the group does not hear from Steve when trying to get out of the building, but with all of the doors being locked from the outside, their night is about to get much more interesting. 

This movie may not contain the meaning of life, but it sure does have some great spatter value to it. I like this movie since it does not advertise more than it really is, and the characters are really fun in it. Just a teenage splatter film with some surprise kills, lots of screaming and a psycho with incredible power to carry out what he was born to do, kill. I liked how the story built up to the finale, with all of the legends surrounding the ride’s history, it was good to get the complete picture twice before seeing what could happen if the psycho was released back to his home. It is fun and has some good special effects that will leave you wondering what will happen the next time you take a ride through a Dark Ride. Stay Scared.

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