The short-lived television series MTV Fear [2000-2002] which would have about five contestants set at an allegedly haunted location with the participants complete dares. Hence fast forward to 2011, and this British flick (primarily filmed in Bulgaria) directed by Alex Orwell, written by Kenny Yakkel (Dead Air [2009]), which was produced by Christopher Milburn (An American Haunting [2005]) and Courtney Solomon (Husk [2011]), and released by Lionsgate Entertainment

Dixon (Texas Battle (Boggy Creek [2010])), a presumably street wise fellow makes the dreadful mistake of putting his back to the rear doors of a park van before being suddenly kidnapped all because his eyes were focus on a pretty girl, soon he and six others are handcuffed together and delivered to a remote location. They were to be part of new reality-based show, hosted by Taylor (Adam Rayner (Steel Trap [2007])) with each being able to pocket $20k a piece for completing a series of tasks, i.e., the name of the show. One person, Pisser (Rob Ostlere) backs out quickly as he stands by the Pennyville State Prison knowing what the prison represented not a paranormal entity rather murderous intent. After a brief introduction via film interviews of the cast they enter to the depressed state penitentiary leading the group is Angel (Antonia Campbell-Hughes (Storage 24 [2012])) who is sister to Stanton (Tom Payne (Imaginary [2024])); the overly flamboyant Randall (Marc Pickering (Sleepy Hollow [1999])), who is later called the white queen due to a selected chess piece; and rounding the group Shoe (Ashley Mulheron) and lastly, Toni (Amara Karan (A Fantastic Fear of Everything [2012])). The first part is to reach the Warden’s office in one piece, as they run amazingly no one fell, rehearsal well. An evil clown (Jonas Talkington (Shark Zone [2003])) on a monitor tells them about the cruelty of Warden Clem Harvess (Valentin Ganev (The Abandoned [2006])) who was sentenced to death for murdering inmates. The first task went to Randall, who fears religion, hence he’s sent to the chapel to read The Lord’s Prayer backwards (which he did correctly) all in a means to summon any evil entity. Meanwhile, outside the film crew monitors the camera among them Connie (Alexandra Staden), Big Daddy (Victor McGuire (The Woman in Black [2012])) and Snow (Sean McConaghy). Of course, it isn’t long before the camera begins to malfunction and Sclezi (Sam Stockman (Hollow [2011])) is sent in to fix them but gets an eyeful of the Warden.
Connie and her team witness a stranger on the set, shirtless and bald locking the contestants into different sections of the prison, but assume the network inserted them. Toni is selected to wear a gas mask and is strapped into the gas chamber with Stanton whose job is to save her by fixing the switch valve except the Warden isn’t playing. Connie’s concerns grow and send more staff personnel into the prison instead of calling for authorities, as the situation becomes dire and spirals, she calls on Angel to escape. Yes, the twist does happen however, it falls flat never achieving the same level as the classic April Fool’s Day [1986]. It was no twist, stereotypical characters’ fears would become their ultimate downfalls, poor script planning forth experienced horror fans. The plot holes are numerous though the simplistic storyline allows for a shrug to seamlessly move along. One knows for the reality tv aspect the characters should seem relatable, but they must also make one sympathize for them, which is absent.
The Task overall is a standard slasher with the dullest ghost warden killer, wrapped in the reality television a subgenre. A simple watch, with a good premise but missed opportunities as it lacks eventful killings and deeper psychological tortures likely due to budgetary constraints. This just lumps the film into the same category as countless others; one must attempt to keep the audience in mind when striving for something shocking. Sadly, nothing like that exists in the movie. Here is the new challenge for filmmakers, revitalize and reinvent the slasher subgenre, Kevin Williamson did it with Scream [1996] but that was 30-years ago it is time for something new, are you all up for that Task?

TAGLINE: The Audience Isn’t The Only One Watching.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1621446/

IMDb Rating: 4.2/10

Baron’s Rating:  4.0/10