I remember viewing this movie back when it came out in 1998 and thought that it was fine, it had an interesting concept and had a very late teen 90's horror vibe to it, despite being more of a teen thriller. I do remember that it got unfairly branded as a 'Scream' knockoff (maybe because Matthew Lillard was that also) and quickly became obscure. Several years later I got the chance to view this again and found it quite enjoyable with its dark and twisted humour, cool storyline, manic plot twists and interesting yet loathsome characters.
The plot focuses on two college roommates Tim (Matthew Lillard) and Chris (Michael Vartan) who plot to kill their other roommate Rand (Randall Batkinoff) and make it look like suicide and use the scam that if you're roommate commits suicide, then the college is obliged to offer straight A's.
I do like the fact that the urban myth of the plot point always comes into play throughout the story. The twists and turns that feature throughout were mind-blowing and unpredictable especially towards the last act. The cinematography is decent with some impressive camera shots and the movie is shot well with an almost dark yet mesmerizing feel to the production.
But there are quite a few flaws that prevents this from being truly great, firstly none of the characters are likeable at all, with nobody to root for, especially when things gets more revealed towards the end. There was also a lot of cringey scenes and dialogue with uncomfortable levels of cruelty from the male cast towards the female characters. Matthew Lillard being so in your face and over the top that he almost becomes unwatchable. Michael Vartan as the male lead was a little stiff in his performance and lacked that extra wow factor to make certain scenes pop.
Overall 'Dead Man's Curve' or 'The Curve' as its sometimes called is an enjoyable little flick that just needed a few tweaks to the script and polish that could have made this even better.
The plot focuses on two college roommates Tim (Matthew Lillard) and Chris (Michael Vartan) who plot to kill their other roommate Rand (Randall Batkinoff) and make it look like suicide and use the scam that if you're roommate commits suicide, then the college is obliged to offer straight A's.
I do like the fact that the urban myth of the plot point always comes into play throughout the story. The twists and turns that feature throughout were mind-blowing and unpredictable especially towards the last act. The cinematography is decent with some impressive camera shots and the movie is shot well with an almost dark yet mesmerizing feel to the production.
But there are quite a few flaws that prevents this from being truly great, firstly none of the characters are likeable at all, with nobody to root for, especially when things gets more revealed towards the end. There was also a lot of cringey scenes and dialogue with uncomfortable levels of cruelty from the male cast towards the female characters. Matthew Lillard being so in your face and over the top that he almost becomes unwatchable. Michael Vartan as the male lead was a little stiff in his performance and lacked that extra wow factor to make certain scenes pop.
Overall 'Dead Man's Curve' or 'The Curve' as its sometimes called is an enjoyable little flick that just needed a few tweaks to the script and polish that could have made this even better.