Frank is driving his family through the night to his in-laws for a Christmas dinner, but he decides for the first time in over 20 years to turn off the highway and take a short cut through a forest back road. But what a fatal mistake it was with it turning into a terrifying nightmare, which seems to get weirder and weirder with every stretch of the road they travel. Along the way they come across a lady in white with her baby, a baby carriage and an eerie black car that seems to be only thing travelling the road. All of this madness starts to get to the family and the endless road makes it one hellish Christmas Eve.
What an admirable little low-budget flick! This one isn't trying for anything big and it shows. The novelty plot is simple and basically a one-idea concept, but it plays to its strengths by focusing on its tight and blackly humorous script, a cast that turns in good performances and its bizarre imagery. More so then ever the dark humour is the film's lasting imprint, but that doesn't mean it isn't remotely creepy. Actually, it's incredibly unsettling. The atmosphere that's belted out from the vacant back road and the surrounding forest is incredibly brood and relentless in awe. When the exhilarating tension was put forward it does get the heart pumping fast and some of the grisly deaths are just plain trippy and malicious. Although it's not overly violent with it going for goosebumps in it's psychologically gripping visuals and tautly elevated plot that knows how to get under your skin. But the shocks still do have a full-blooded nastiness to them even if the humour does go over-the-top in its knowing attitude. Sadly it did pay a price for it's simple origins with it all getting a bit too repetitious after the hour mark and the ending I just couldn't help but feel cheated by its tact on conclusion. From what has occurred up until that point, it does cop out by taking the easy way out and provides us with small cryptic symbols and messages being answered. These twist endings are just becoming so predictable, and that's the case here. It's not all that hard to figure out the outcome, but hell the film's other worthy features make up for that glitch. One being we see and feel such a purely genuine chemistry amongst the family. With their hilarious bittering and sarcastic responses. It's hard not to raise a smirk at the family's interactions with each other. But when things start getting peculiar the panic of the situation takes hold. One by one they start losing their sanity with stunning revelations being brought up, because of the shock and stress of this unbearable nightmare.
Ray Wise, as the father Frank is hugely amusing and he was the high point in the performances. Amber Smith is quite good as the strange woman in white that has an enchanting spell over you. Alexander Holden, Mick Cain, Lin Shaye and Bill Asher who made up the well-rounded family were also rather competent in their deliveries. For such a low budget production it looks naturally crisp and it brands some inventive stylistic brushes. There were very impressive camera shots on show and the soundtrack had a mellow feel about it that breeze along in such an unnerving manner. The eerie sound effects too, just knock you off balance with the dense activity created within the wood's nightlife, like that of the chirping crickets.
'Dead End' is a juicy dialog and character driven film with the odd sudden jolt and dose of suspense that's built around an atmospherically charged setting. Out of the recent crop of horror, this one is well worth a look.
What an admirable little low-budget flick! This one isn't trying for anything big and it shows. The novelty plot is simple and basically a one-idea concept, but it plays to its strengths by focusing on its tight and blackly humorous script, a cast that turns in good performances and its bizarre imagery. More so then ever the dark humour is the film's lasting imprint, but that doesn't mean it isn't remotely creepy. Actually, it's incredibly unsettling. The atmosphere that's belted out from the vacant back road and the surrounding forest is incredibly brood and relentless in awe. When the exhilarating tension was put forward it does get the heart pumping fast and some of the grisly deaths are just plain trippy and malicious. Although it's not overly violent with it going for goosebumps in it's psychologically gripping visuals and tautly elevated plot that knows how to get under your skin. But the shocks still do have a full-blooded nastiness to them even if the humour does go over-the-top in its knowing attitude. Sadly it did pay a price for it's simple origins with it all getting a bit too repetitious after the hour mark and the ending I just couldn't help but feel cheated by its tact on conclusion. From what has occurred up until that point, it does cop out by taking the easy way out and provides us with small cryptic symbols and messages being answered. These twist endings are just becoming so predictable, and that's the case here. It's not all that hard to figure out the outcome, but hell the film's other worthy features make up for that glitch. One being we see and feel such a purely genuine chemistry amongst the family. With their hilarious bittering and sarcastic responses. It's hard not to raise a smirk at the family's interactions with each other. But when things start getting peculiar the panic of the situation takes hold. One by one they start losing their sanity with stunning revelations being brought up, because of the shock and stress of this unbearable nightmare.
Ray Wise, as the father Frank is hugely amusing and he was the high point in the performances. Amber Smith is quite good as the strange woman in white that has an enchanting spell over you. Alexander Holden, Mick Cain, Lin Shaye and Bill Asher who made up the well-rounded family were also rather competent in their deliveries. For such a low budget production it looks naturally crisp and it brands some inventive stylistic brushes. There were very impressive camera shots on show and the soundtrack had a mellow feel about it that breeze along in such an unnerving manner. The eerie sound effects too, just knock you off balance with the dense activity created within the wood's nightlife, like that of the chirping crickets.
'Dead End' is a juicy dialog and character driven film with the odd sudden jolt and dose of suspense that's built around an atmospherically charged setting. Out of the recent crop of horror, this one is well worth a look.