Reel Advice, by Steve Anderson

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 now, and now I give them the credit that they're due. One of their newest films, "Dead End," is a quality package that bundles plenty of atmospheric scares than the competition.

So what we have here is the story of a family going on vacation, and the horror their trip turns out to be.

I have to say, this takes real balls. The back of the box has a three line long plot synopsis. I supply it here for the purposes 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 and just use three lines of text.

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 by themselves to make me interested. Alternating between mysterious sightings, the singing of Christmas carols, and near-miss vehicle collisions, it's a wonderful mix of the mundane and the spine tingling. 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, for reasons on 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 out the guess right now at the twenty minute mark, my credibility on the line, that the Harringtons died back in the beginning during that "near-miss vehicle collision" I mentioned. And, 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 forests, 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 the 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 sort of springs up by surprise.

The special features just plain old 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 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.

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Caught with her pants down?

(From The Devil's Panties. Click on image to see full-sized image.)

Ah, this episode brings back memories. I remember my first comic convention. Actually, my only comic convention, I've not been able to afford another one (or more specifically I've not been willing to spend what little money I have without a regular income coming in). It was ComicCon in San Diego, CA, in 2002. And naturally enough I procrastinated everything.

I bought my plane tickets the day before leaving. I didn't have a hotel room or anything, and hoped, no prayed that I'd find something out there. About the only thing I actually did ahead of time was have my tickets for ComicCon itself (which ended up pissing off half of Keenspace because they didn't realize they qualified under "professional" status and could get into the convention for free *evil grin*) (back then Tangents was an actual webcomic instead of the review site I have up now - and I'd been updating so apparently it was enough to get in the doors).

Fortunately I was able to find a room to crash (among the other Keenspacers, I paid cash for my share and slept on the floor). It was a grand time. I met Maritza Campos... hung out with David Willis (someone brought a Playstation with them and he spent half the time there playing it), watched as Glych and Steve Troop cuddled... oh, and there was the convention itself! *grin*

Jennie regularly writes about her travels to various conventions. Heck, sometimes I wonder how she manages to find time to actually live. But it's a bit of fun watching each convention in turn, watching her get high on sugar, becoming a total fangirl when she meets someone she thinks is especially cool, and so forth. And it's also amusing watching the frantic race to prepare for the convention.

I mean, girl, you've been doing these conventions for how long now? You'd think you'd have gotten some sort of clue on what to do by now. Oh well, I suppose the panic is part of what makes this comic so enjoyable.

As an aside, The Devil's Panties has been Spotted - Keenspotted, that is. I wonder if she'll be hanging out at the Keenspot table this year at ComicCon. *sigh* Wish I could afford to go to it. Though considering Maritza and Pete Abrams are both not going to be there, I suppose missing it this year won't be too bad.

Besides, maybe in a year I can convince Eric Burns to head out there and we can set up a Critics Table or some such. *grin* At the very least I’m sure Jennie will be there, frantically trying to prepare for the flood gates to open.

Enjoy!

Robert A. Howard
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