Dead End

2003 "Read the signs."
6.5| 1h23m| R| en| More Info
Released: 12 December 2003 Released
Producted By: Sagittaire Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Christmas Eve. On his way to his in-laws with his family, Frank Harrington decides to try a shortcut, for the first time in 20 years. It turns out to be the biggest mistake of his life.

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Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?
Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
rsvp321 This flick wasn't created to be compared to the best horror/suspense movies, but to entertain the audience - and it does!Low budget, a little cheesy, but definitely fun to watch.No political or social justice messages preached to the audience - a huge plus.
Some Guy Name I gotta admit: in the beginning, I got distinct B-movie vibes due to the weird dialogue from the brother, and the styling of the woman in white. I thought she was supposed to be a ghost, but she didn't seem that scary to me, so I thought I was in for a disappointment. Luckily, I was dead wrong. This is one of those movies where the less you know, the better. You have to go in as a blank slate and figure the movie out for yourself. Knowing the - extremely simple - plot is just going to suck the fun out of it. So, the spoiled story goes(yes, the entire movie is spoiled): a family of four and the daughter's boyfriend is driving on a highway through the woods, when the father spots a woman in a white dress. He stops the car and tries to help her and the baby she's presumably carrying. Chaos ensues. Each time they for whatever reason stops the car, one of them will be "kidnapped" by a mystery driver in a black car, and later found on the road horribly disfigured(and dead). The actors do what the movie demands, and I thought they were perfectly casted. The atmosphere is fitting, and I was so concentrated on what was going on at the screen that I for once didn't notice any music. The camera is fine; it's not trying to be an art movie, and neither should it. Action-packed movies rarely work when there's too much artsy angles to distract you from the fun. Some people have complained about the ending, calling it a cop out, or out of place - that they don't want the mystery resolved in such a bad way. While I think the execution was a little cheesy, I don't understand the rest of these complaints. It's like we were watching a different movie; wasn't the mystery driver revealed to be Death himself? It's literally the only thing that ties this movie together for me - otherwise it would've just been another mystery horror with an empty plot. The father was supposed to have fallen asleep while he was driving the car, so he crashed into another car with a woman and her baby inside. So, because there's a moment where they are between life and death, they all exist together on this purgatory-like never-ending highway, until Death comes and picks them up. When he is done, he leaves them on the road as they died(the brother burned up by car explosion, the mother due to a trauma in her head, the dad because of glass shards, etc.) and moves on to take the next life. That's why, at the end, Death leaves the daughter alone; she only got hit in the head, and didn't completely die, so she was allowed to leave. Sorry for the long explanation, but the ending is partially why this movie gets such a high rating from me. Why else would the movie in any way make sense? And not only was the plot increasingly scary to me as it progressed,(one of the few horror movies with actual horror) it even left me something to think about. Like how the family members were all confessing terrible things to each other and acting all hedonistic; in some way, those that were dying knew what was happening to them, so they were doing their last deeds, and saying their last words. It at least made sure that not all of this weird dialogue and actions could be considered for shock value only, and it made the movie seem less mean-spirited at the end than it seemed to me at the beginning(which is usually a good thing in a horror movie).The movie does lose a few points, however, for dragging out the off-screen gore a bit too much. As an example, the moment with the mother and her brain was creepy at first, but then she became a maniac and it lost the horrific feeling I was starting to get. Or the brother's loud jerking off... Not normally squeamish, but it didn't advance the plot at all. I also don't understand why the woman in white bit his lip off; the woman in white was supposed to be fleeing from death, too, with her dead baby in her arms... Why was she suddenly acting like Death's little helper? Why was she never found left for dead? It felt like they were trying to lead us on with a ghost story, and they created a plothole in doing just that. I think there were other ways they could've done that without losing it's integrity, so it loses a couple of stars for that, too.All in all, though, I can only recommend.
xposipx For the past 20 years, Frank Harrington has grudgingly driven his family to celebrate Christmas with his mother-in-law. This year, he takes a shortcut. It's the biggest mistake of his life: The nightmare begins. A mysterious woman in white wanders through the forest, leaving death in her wake. A terrifying black car - its driver invisible - carries the victims into the heart of the night. Every road sign points to a destination they never reach. The survivors succumb to panic, to madness; deeply buried secrets burst to the surface, and Christmas turns into a living hell.The gore wasn't the focal point in this, but there was a baby corpse, a lip bitten off, a painful leg shooting wound, and a head busted open. I possibly watched a version with some gore cut out, but either way it didn't really need much.The sound FX were the most impressive technical feature used in Dead End. Distant screams and ghost-like noises gave it some pretty good atmosphere and a somewhat creepy feel. The entire movie was really dark and that also created a pretty eerie feel. The music used was awful though. It was really distracting and pointless. I was hoping they only used it once, but they used it at least 3-4 times throughout. Overall the group acting was pretty solid and consistent. Ray Wise: Played the father Frank. He did a pretty good job as usual. He was probably the strongest of the group and had the most in-depth part.Alexandra Holden: Played the daughter, Marion. She didn't really have a tough role to play. Basically just act freaked out and be the most normal out of the bunch. She did it perfectly! She has been extremely busy in 02-03. Lin Shaye: Played the crazy mother Laura. Until the end I thought she was doing a really good job. Her character changed a lot and I don't quite think she made the best transition. Not too bad though. Look out for her in 2001 maniacs and the Hillside Strangler.Mick Cain: Played the annoying little brother Richard. He actually made me laugh a lot at the beginning. He is the comic relief, and does a pretty good job at it. I could see a lot of people hating him as well though.Final Thoughts: I'm sure most of you have seen the Twilight Zone before. If you like those types of movies or shows, then I think you should watch this. I've seen TONS of mixed reviews for this, but I assure you it's worth a viewing. It's not exactly horror, though, think of it more as a thriller/mystery with dark comedy combined throughout. It came to my attention that a lot of the people who reviewed this didn't quite get it AT ALL. This does not turn out to be just a dream. The biggest problem was the lack of creativity technically, and the story could have used a little more variety.
loomis78-815-989034 A dysfunctional family is traveling by car on Christmas Eve to a relative's house. Without telling anyone, the Father Frank (Wise) takes a different route on a long country road that seems to go a long way without any other cars around. His wise cracking son Richard (Cain) makes fun of everyone, most of all his sister's boyfriend Brad (Billy Asher). With the family fighting in the car Frank is distracted for a moment and almost has a head on collision. After this, the trip is cursed by strange visions on the road, a weird lady in white (Amber Smith) on the side of the road with a dead baby. One by one the family is picked off in bizarre ways and the remaining family members see an old black hearse driving the dead victim away which provides some real chills. Writers/Directors Jean-Bapteste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa run their horror film straight ahead for its short running time never moving off this premise. The long road goes nowhere and seems to lead nowhere so the family has no way to escape, so they keep moving forward even after the deaths begin. What could have been boring or tedious in the hands of lesser film makers, stays remarkably fresh and interesting from start to finish. The cast is way above average and makes this crazy ride a fun and entertaining one. There are a few good scares along the way but the simple script is true to its core and manages to be involving all the way to a nice twist at the end.