''Dark Ride'' is a 2006 American

slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...

directed by Craig Singer and written by Singer and Robert Dean Klein. It was selected to play at the "

8 Films To Die For After Dark Horrorfest (also known as "8 Films to Die For") was an annual horror film festival featuring eight independent horror movies, sometimes with "secret" bonus films, all distributed by After Dark Films in the USA. The first HorrorFest ...

" film festival, as one of the first eight films to be featured in the festival's series. The film revolves around a group of friends who are terrorized by a crazy masked murderer at a

dark ride A dark ride—or ghost train when horror themed—is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain Animatronics, animation, sound, music and Special effect#Live spe ...

Asbury Park Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a dec ...

Plot

Twin teenage girls, Sam and Colleen, enter the mysterious Dark Ride. Sam, who is tough and competitive, gets annoyed at Colleen because she is anxious and scared. The killer kidnaps Sam and slices her stomach, then brutally kills Colleen. Ten years later, Cathy (

Jamie-Lynn Sigler Jamie-Lynn Sigler (born May 15, 1981) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' from 1999 to 2007. Early life Sigler was born in Jericho, New York, on May 15, 1981, the daughter ...

) and Liz ( Jennifer Tisdale) are getting ready for

spring break Spring break is a vacation period at universities and schools that includes the Easter holiday, and takes place in early Northern Hemisphere spring. Introduced in the U.S. during the 1930s, spring break has been observed in Europe since t ...

. They decide to take a road trip along with three of their male friends, Bill (

Patrick Renna Patrick Maxwell Renna (born March 3, 1979) is an American actor and film producer best known for his role as Hamilton "Ham" Porter in the 1993 baseball film ''The Sandlot''. Some of his later projects include ''Bad Roomies'', his first film as a ...

), Steve (

David Clayton Rogers David Clayton Rogers (born October 21, 1977) is an American actor, writer, and film producer. He has co-starred in films such as '' Sublime'' and ''Dark Ride''. Rogers began his acting career in the made-for-television film '' Bloody Sunday'' ...

), and Jim (

Alex Solowitz Alexander Joshua Solowitz (born December 15, 1979) is an American actor, composer, singer, dancer, and producer. Early and personal life Solowitz was born in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California to a large Jewish family. He has a yo ...

). The friends embark together in Jim's van, and meet a hitchhiker named Jen (

Andrea Bogart Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ref ...

). While at a gas station, Bill wanders around trying to find the bathroom. When he rejoins the others, he claims to have found a pamphlet about the Dark Ride re-opening after many years of being closed. The group decides to make a detour to the amusement park and spend the night in the Dark Ride attraction. Once they arrive, Cathy decides to stay in the van while the others go into the ride. Unbeknownst to them, the killer, named Jonah (Dave Warden), has escaped from a mental hospital after killing two orderlies. Liz, Steve, Jim, and Jen find a door inside. Jim switches on the power, which illuminates the lights and launches the ride, as well as its scary theatrical effects. The four then sit and smoke

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

. Bill tells them about the two girls that were killed ten years earlier and reveals that they were his cousins. After some initial skepticism, the others eventually believe him. Jen and Steve wander into the hallway to fool around. Jen sees something and notices Cathy's fake

corpse A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a li ...

sitting in a chair with her throat slashed. The prank was meant to be pulled on Steve, who is livid due to the trauma. Cathy argues with him, and they both stop fighting when Bill breaks it up. Steve, angry about the prank, wanders off by himself. The others are moving along when the power goes out. Jim goes to the basement to fix it, and Jen follows him down and starts fellating him. Jonah slides through a hidden entrance on the floor and cuts off Jen's head. Jim tries to run but hits his head on a pipe and knocks himself out. Meanwhile, Liz, Cathy, and Bill start trying to find their way out of the ride when they stumble upon Steve's mutilated corpse. Frightened, the girls run one way, and Bill goes another. After Cathy finds Liz's body, a policeman arrives and tries to help her, but Jonah slashes his head in half with a machete. Cathy jumps out of an opening and gets into the van. Jonah attacks Jim with a hook, but Cathy drives the van into the building, impaling Jonah on a wall of spikes, killing him and causing her to pass out. Bill appears and reveals that he and Jonah are brothers and stabs Jim. Bill thanks Cathy, who runs out of the Dark Ride and falls to her knees as she hears sirens approaching. The film ends showing what appears to be Bill wearing Jonah's mask.

Production and release

Filming began 25 October 2004 and finished 19 November 2004. The film saw a limited release on November 17, 2006, at the

After Dark Horrorfest After Dark Horrorfest (also known as "8 Films to Die For") was an annual horror film festival featuring eight independent horror movies, sometimes with "secret" bonus films, all distributed by After Dark Films in the USA. The first HorrorFes ...

, an event in which movies "too graphic" for theaters are finally shown to the public for one weekend only, across several states in the US. The DVD was released on March 27, 2007.

Cast

as Cathy *

as Bill * Jennifer Tisdale as Liz *

as Steve *

as Jim * Andrea Bogart as Jen * Brittany Coyle as Colleen * Chelsea Coyle as Samantha * David Warden as Jonah * Jim Williams as Ticket Taker * Erin Dawson as Hippie * Jack Doner as Old Man *

David Ury David Brian Ury (born September 30, 1973) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, YouTuber, and Japanese translation specialist. Early life and education Ury was born and raised in Sonoma, California. He graduated from Sonoma Valley High Sc ...

as Attendant #1 * Atticus Todd as Attendant #2 * Steve Mattila as Homeless Man * Damon Standifer as Reggie * Julie Bickel as Teen Female #1 * Jessica Lobaina as Teen Female #2

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Ride (Film) Lionsgate films 2006 films American slasher films 2006 horror films American serial killer films 2000s slasher films Films set in amusement parks 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language horror films