Dead End
***
DVD
Directed by
Jean-Baptiste Andrea
Fabrice Canepa
Written by
Jean-Baptiste Andrea
Fabrice Canepa
Cast
Ray Wise .... Frank Harrington
Lin Shaye .... Laura Harrington
Mick Cain .... Richard Harrington
Alexandra Holden .... Marion Harrington
Billy Asher .... Brad Miller
Amber Smith .... Lady in White
Karen S. Gregan .... Doctor
Sharon Madden .... Nurse
Steve Valentine .... Man in Black
Jimmie F. Skaggs .... First Worker
Clement Blake .... Second Worker
R
84 mins
Somedays, I really have to question my place in things, and swallow my pride.
This
is one of those days. Behold in shock and wonder as I swallow my pride
right down and say that Lions Gate is in the midst of a turnaround.
How
can I say that, you ask? Simple. They've been putting out good movies.
Longtime readers have watched me tear new holes in the company for a
long time, and now I give them the credit they are due. One of their
newest films, "Dead End", is a quality package that bundles more
atmospheric scares than the competition.
So
what we have here is the story of a family going on vacation, and the
horror the trip turns out to be. I have to say, this takes real balls.
The back of the box has a three-line plot synopsis. I supply it here
for the purpose of review.
"It's Christmas Eve and like every
year, the Harringtons take a trip to their in-laws to celebrate the
holidays. Taking an unfamiliar shortcut, Mr Harrington makes the
biggest mistake of his life, leading his family down a terror-filled
road with no end."
All we get in the way of text is three lines
long on the back of the box. Normally, text on the back of the box can
be three paragraphs or more, and instead, Dead End decided to go this
incredibly daring route.
Of course, the pedigree on this
particular puppy looks pretty formidable: Best International Feature at
Montreal; Brussels gave it the Jury Price; creature-corner.com called
it "real white-knuckle fear" and bloody-disgusting.com gave it four
skull-and-crossbones.
The first seven minutes are enough to make
me interested. Moving between mysterious sightings, the singing of
Christmas carols, and vehicle collisions, it's a wonderful mix of the
mundane and the spinetingling. In fact, by the time twenty minutes have
passed, Dead End evolves into this incredibly terrifying film.
Disturbing and violent things happen to the Harringtons with alarming
regularity, the reasons for which we can only speculate.
And in all of this, the most disturbing development: every clock the Harringtons can see has stopped fast at seven-thirty.
Which,
sadly, suggests a plotline. I'm going to lay my credibility out on the
line at the twenty-minute mark that the Harringtons died back in the
beginning during that vehicle collision I mentioned. Indeed, that's
exactly what happened. It's sadly predictable, and yet somehow, it's
still worth your time to watch. There's a definite attitude of suspense
in here, just enough blood to frighten, and some twists that you won't
see coming.
This is what gets me. The plot is so tired that an
ending can actually be foreseen at the twenty-minute mark. The set
design is an incredible achievement in minimalism—it's a road and some
forest, with a few minutes in a hospital. We're spending an hour and
fifteen minutes on a road in the dark, and it's still one of the
scariest movies I've seen in quite some time. It's the incredible
performances turned in by the Harrington family that makes this a
chilling endeavor. They are so believable that they may well be your
own family on their way to Christmas at Grandma's House or some similar
archetype. And believability is the root of all horror—the scariest
things are things that could happen to you.
The ending is where
most of those twists are contained, and as twists go, they're pretty
fair ones—including one that springs up by surprise.
The special
features just plain-ol don't exist. There's not a preview or a subtitle
or an audio option to be had anywhere on the disc. Why even bother
putting it on DVD if not to take advantage of the massive storage and
potential for use?
All in all, though the plot is eerily
familiar, and the set design is as minimalist as they come. Dead End
manages to bring several dissimilar elements together to work in a
dread harmony that should leave you quite scared.
|
Some of our content may be related to gambling.    |