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“I don't know how much movies should entertain. To me I'm always interested in movies that scar. The thing I love about Jaws is the fact that I've never gone swimming in the ocean again.” --- David Fincher ::::::::::::: MY CRITERIA FOR DISCUSSION ENCOMPASSES THE HORROR GENRE AND BEYOND, SO I USE THE TERM "NIGHTMARE MOVIES". SPOILERS CAN OCCUR WITH OR WITHOUT WARNING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Dead End

July 1st 2010 00:52
Dead End DVD cover art
It’s Christmas Eve. Frank Harrington (Ray Wise), his wife Laura (Lin Shaye), their son Richard (Mick Cain), daughter Marion (Alexandra Holden), and her boyfriend Brad (Billy Asher), are traveling to in-laws for the festive celebrations. For the first time in twenty years Frank decides to take a different route, the back way, because he was bored and feared he might fall asleep driving along the straight highway. But turning off the inter-state was a dreadful mistake.
Dead End Alexandra Holden
Alexandra Holden as Marion
Dead End (2003) is a curious nightmare. It’s a French/USA co-production shot in Los Angeles, but the movie never had a theatrical release in the States. French co-writer/directors, Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa, deliver a disarming pitch-black comedy with a genuinely creepy atmosphere and a few stand-out set-pieces. It’s the Twilight Zone atmosphere that lingers like the bad coppery taste of the night terrors clinging to the back of the throat. David Lynchian, but not as slick, Argento-esque, but not as surreal, Dead End is a little-known tarnished gem with a great cast, great dialogue, and a satisfying revelation.
Dead End Amber Smith and Ray Wise
Frank (Ray Wise) and the lady in white (Amber Smith)
Along the two-lane blacktop Frank has unwisely chosen as a supposed short-cut the night sky is a ominous blanket, the surrounding forest on either side of the road becomes a spooky embrace. A sign pointing onward to “Marcott” confuses everyone since it’s not on the map, and they’ve been driving for hours. Then there’s an encounter with a beautiful, but haunted woman in white (Amber Smith), who emerges from the woods, a cut on her forehead and clutching her baby. But not one encounter, several. And every time she appears, shortly after a menacing long black car approaches, like some kind of supernatural hearse.
Dead End Lin Shaye
Lin Shaye as Laura
Dead End Mick Cain
Ow! Richard (Mick Cain) loses his lip
The family bickers and joke in equal measure. “Are we there yet?” is the obvious question in everyone’s minds, but the hellish road goes on and on and on and on and … Tragedy strikes like a predatory owl descending upon a forest mouse. Slicing between the bitter horror are chunks of sweet irony; the screenplay is a terror-ifically tailored study in domestic dramatics and nightmare logic. Just the hell is going on? It feels self-indulgent, and yet operates perfectly. And this is what makes Dead End such a treat; it entertains while it creeps you out. It’s not an obvious comedy, neither is it a deliberately visceral horror. The supernatural edge lurks close to the action, the claustrophobia palpable, and there a couple of delightfully gruesome moments (one in particular involving a kiss and a torn lip is brilliantly realistic).
Dead End Alexandra Holden
Ray Wise is excellent as the father (despite forever being Leland Palmer in many people’s eyes), and his character arc and the arc of his daughter Marion become the focus of the narrative. The dark black car and the lady in white appear to be symbols, but their true meaning, revealed in the movie’s final scenes, makes the nightmare journey rewarding, as tragic as the events have been. It’s a puzzle, but not a hard one, with clues scattered regularly. A scene during the end credits has an exchange between two road work men and a found note of Frank’s which adds depth to the mystery, while a family photograph image after the last credit rolls adds poignancy.
Dead End note
Dead End is a small and brisk movie, but its low-budget doesn’t hamper its production values. The directors have ensured the right elements are in place, from the eerie birds-eye shots of the Harrington family car driving along the narrow road, its headlights illuminating just ahead, to the enveloping darkness that surrounds the family edging closer, squeezing its macabre clutches ever tighter. The realm of the living and the dead merge and dissolve. It’s a shame one of the filmmakers, Andrea, struggled to get a second feature green-lit after this (and has only made one other movie), whilst the other, Canepa, has made nothing else.
Dead End poster art


Here’s the trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews
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3 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

July 1st 2010 01:03


Film & TV on DVD
Sounds like an entertaining detour Bryn,

May need to be thrown in the rotation soon...seems to resemble the intentions of Dark Country.

Comment by Bryn

July 1st 2010 01:47


Horrorphile
Detour is an apt word JD ... and one well worth investigating.

Comment by David O'Connell

July 1st 2010 06:21


Screen Fanatic
Fantastic little film Bryn, agreed. Saw this on Foxtel 2 or 3 years back and thought it was a little undiscovered gem. Never quite knew where it was going.

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