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The Task Review

From 2000 to 2002, MTV produced a reality television show called Fear. In Fear, five or more contestants are taken to a haunted location – whether it be an abandoned hospital, military base, camp, prison, etc – and they are left in a safe house at that location. Their goal is to work together, along with several strategically placed cameras (and one actually strapped to them), to document any signs of paranormal activity. To increase their chances of witnessing a paranormal occurrence, cast members complete a series of horrifying or daunting tasks that would anger any spirits in the area. Any contestant who makes it through the night without quitting was awarded anywhere from $3,000 to $8,000 based on new or modified rules. Also, in 2006 VH1 aired their own version called Celebrity Paranormal Project, which was the same concept but with Z-List celebrities.

This is pretty much the entire premise of The Task. Six strangers, all representing a horror stereotype, are kidnapped as role play and taken to an abandoned prison. They must complete tasks while searching for paranormal phenomenon, and any player who survives the night without quitting will receive $20,000. Not too difficult, right? Can you guess where everything goes horribly wrong? The warden, the man who single-handedly executed, raped, tortured, and murdered hundreds of inmates, still haunts the prison…and he’s not happy to see visitors.

The Task is the latest film to blend together horror elements with reality television. Other examples of this new emerging subgenre include Halloween: Resurrection, Killer Movie, Kill Reality, and maybe even Blair Witch Project. I may be slightly biased because I enjoyed MTV’s Fear, but I really felt that The Task is the best representation of something I’ll call “Horroreality.” It truly reads like you’re watching a feature reality show, produced on a bigger than life budget, and then it flips it all on its head. Maybe calling The Task a horror film isn’t the best word to describe it; supernatural, psychological, suspense-thriller would probably sum it up the best. The gore is very minimal, almost nonexistent, but it keeps you terrified and engrossed in different ways.

Texas Battle is the only star in The Task that horror fans will recognize. We’ve seen him in Wrong Turn 2, Final Destination 3, and Hydra. Other noteworthy cast mates include Alexandra Staden (Vanity Fair), Adam Rayner (lead actor in Mistresses and Hawthorne), Tom Payne (lead actor in Waterloo and a character ark on MTV’s Skins), Marc Pickering (Sleepy Hollow), Ashley Hulheron (Lesbian Vampire Killers), and many others. Everyone involved did a really remarkable job, both cast and crew. I was really impressed with the actors skills in performance as well as the production team’s almost flawless film making.

What was even more impressive to me as a guy partly in the industry is that The Task is one of the most recent After Dark Originals. Both the After Dark Films and After Dark Originals are usually produced on a budget of only $2,000,000. So, if that is the case with The Task, I’m very impressed. The Task is out on DVD, but currently, you can order it On Demand for only $4.99. I encourage you all to go and watch it if you have some free time. As long as you know exactly what you’re viewing based off this review, I think you’ll be pleased.

Michael DeFellipo

(Senior Editor)

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