Scare Tactics

I had such high hopes for this series. It seemed like it had high production value, solid financial backing, and the premise of putting unsuspecting people in situations so bizarre and otherworldly and then capturing their visceral, unfiltered reactions all seemed to point to this turning out to be great content.

It couldn't have turned out worse! As others have mentioned, the show will spend time building out a great concept, the actors play their part well, and the target is perfectly primed for a potentially fantastic reaction; yet JUST as the fun begins, the show's team almost immediately reveal it's all fake without letting the climax of the scene play out. The premature reveals are frustrating and make you scratch your head, because of all the effort that was put into the build up.

I also think most of the outros and transitions prior to or between bits are extraneous and poorly executed. They come off as corny, and not in an endearing or fun way. Also, the show's "AI host" is just distracting and adds nothing in terms of substance. Do yourself a favor and skip this, because if you're like me, you'll find yourself getting increasingly frustrated because this really could have been great if well executed. Watch Prank Encounters on Netflix instead, they achieved what this show did not.

1 star!

I've always loved Scare Tactics. Over the years the show has gone through a lot of different hosts, networks, etc. But it has always kept the same premise. A sadistic person puts their unsuspecting friend in a frightening situation with actors and sets/props and production scares the living stuffing out of them.

The newest version (2024) seems to be a complete revival with a big name like Jordan Peele attached to it. I'm unsure how much he's actually involved, my guess is minimal at best. While this current rendition sticks to the formula, there feels like something is lacking.

After watching the first two episodes, I'm not sure this show hits the same as the older ones. The easiest way I can express this is that the actual scary moments happen so suddenly and end so quickly that you are left wondering, is that it? I'm not sure why the scary moments are so abrupt, maybe there's worry about safety or something who knows. But they pretty much get one shock moment and then immediately stop, "you're on Scare Tactics!"

I'll keep watching the show to see if anything changes, but so far all I want to do is go back and rewatch the old ones. Even the Netflix show Prank Encounters was better than this. At least they dragged on the scary moments and got more juice out of each scenario. Unfortunately I don't think this new one will last, because it's just not memorable enough.

Reboot is a huge disappointment. The pranks are unimaginative and lack buildup. They're abrupt and feel like cheap gags you'd see on a daytime talk show Halloween segment, like Ellen. The original scares stood out for their creativity and gradual escalation, drawing the marks deeper into the scenario until they reached peak terror.

The new setup relies too much on open spaces, leading to predictable outcomes where the targets just scream and run away. In contrast, the original often made marks feel trapped. While they couldn't legally lock doors, the actors' performances and set designs convinced them they were truly stuck. This reboot lacks that edge.

This reboot show is not as good as the original!

As soon as someone gets scared they just end it and say "no no it's okay, you are on scare tactics" back in the day they would keep it going for so much longer and it also had better story lines.

I loved the original show, it's just so nostalgic. I saw every episode and got so excited when I found out about the reboot coming out but it's definitely a let down. I enjoyed the first episode especially the one about the "fine dining experience". They need to make the scares last way longer and maybe definitely come up with some better scary segments.

Not what you're used to seeing you'd be better off going to YouTube I really wish they would have mirrored the original and made some good quality content however this is pretty horrible and time wasting. I love the original and I like the idea but this appears to be made by a 10-year-old without vision. The original version and Fear Factor and a lot of similar shows turned out well and were properly done sadly this is not the case for this series and I really wanted it to be because there's not a lot of shows like this I'm kind of sad to see Rick Castle's daughter playing a role in it after her Stellar performance in Castle.