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Member since:23.12.2003
Reviews:81
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DEAD END by Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa
I really don’t know why “Dead End”, is rate as a low-budget horror. Remember Leland from Lora Palmer’s Diary, a father who abused and killed his daughter in “Twin Peaks”? Well, that’s him, starring Ray Wise, in the film “Dead End”. At first it feels like an extended episode of The Twilight Zone, but on the other glance, it's chilling enough to offer some spine-creep surprises. This is straightforward horror movie, a Twilight Zone episode stretched out into a horror feature, without subtext. I think that it can be rate as a road move just as well, because it is happening on one dark and gloomy road.
It's the night of a Christmas Eve; Frank Harrington is driving his family to a Christmas diner at his family house. But his year, he's taking a short cut through the woods. A short cut that will become a decision they'll regret. A mysterious woman in white lurking out from the shadows of the creepy wood and sends the Harringtons family a spin into a dark, from which there
seems to be no escape. Unknown fear gets into them. A fear that never materializes, making a frustration becoming panic. A mysterious woman, in the back of their family car, becomes a walking dead, holding her baby, cut in the flash pieces. Slowly one by one, they’re getting consumed, chopped in pieces in the old fashioned run away car. Every time they stop, some of them die on a horrible unexplained way.
I think that this is a fantastic horror film. It is playing with your mind by mixing realism and the supernatural, throwing the viewer back into the real world, on the very unexpected way. A horror with all-necessary elements and unexpected twist in the tail, with details so chilling that in a one moment you think you’ll jump out of your skin. The relavation of the terrifying course of death it’s so original, even if you can predict the end. The psychological relationships between husband and wife, brother and sister, boyfriend and girlfriend are stretched to a breaking point, as the panic and horror arises. This is film blessed with originality, which is very hard when it comes to a horror genre. It’s a road trip to hell, with the devices of one good episode of The Twilight Zone. More to it, the audience with a passing acquaintance of this genre, will guess how the movie goes, but again will be surprised when it reaches its rather incomplete conclusion. The conclusion set this way on proposes. Conclusions that make you think of the process of how the human mind works at the point between life and death. So where does the film scores? In it’s canny exploration of familiar dynamics and a specific dark humor familiar in almost every good horror movie. Yes, it's entertaining and never dull. Teenage sexual impulses between their teenage children, which is typical for horror feature, is refreshingly left out, maybe because the film was written by two Frenchmen. But yes, there’s a detail charmingly mentioned when the son goes to the woods for a good wank, coming back alive, to be killed afterwards. There are an other unexpected confessions between characters, which is not so typical for horror. Laura Harrington, the mother, admits that she had an other man. But, is this enough to survive the nightmare they’re going through?
The acting is terrific. Film is blessed with a witty script and a good performance from Ray Wise. Ray Wise is still remembered for his role as Leland Palmer in “Twin Peaks”. Believe you or not, this is a character actor type, that is best recognized by playing roles in mystery and horror. Wise already have his iconic horror status, “Dead End” is the second of two recent horrors, to capitalize this talented actor. Ray now is creepy family man, which is put to a good use here. “Dead End” has a clear reference to David Lynch's “The Lost Highway” and the claustrophobia of “The Blair Witch Project”. Which is a great combination. It is also a truly horrifying film that manages to stay ironically hilarious at the same time. I must say that the filmmakers are evidently intelligent. The horror is, of course, just an excuse to explore family relations and ridicule the clichés of the genre. But this is not the film like “Scream”. It is apparent that the first European horror tapped in, taking a place to a very American genre. The film corrupts clichés, taking no prisoners. He who dares….
“Dead End” is avariable on DVDs £1.70 - via Internet. Of course it is not very suitable for children or even teenagers, because it has a little bit more family psychology relations in. And therefor, it’s not a cliché recognizable for teenagers.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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![Dead End Kids, Vol. 1: Junior G-Men [DVD] [1940] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/81433023.jpg "Dead End Kids, Vol. 1: Junior G-Men [DVD] [1940] [US Import] [NTSC]")
![Dead End [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78520524.jpg "Dead End [DVD] [2003]")
May 11th, 2004
very helpful by (95%):
helpful by (5%):
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