Dead End (2003 film)

Last year's Christmas was great.  We took the Interstate! - Laura

So, here we have another film I originally saw on one of those multi-movie deals from Hollywood Video.  As you can probably tell, I love horror movies, and this one looked interesting, so we decided to give it a viewing (our opinion in those days was, if it was a bad movie, at least we weren't paying to see it, since it was included in the full rental plan!).  So, what was the verdict on the film?  First, the summary!

On Christmas Eve, the Harringtons (Frank and Laura and their son and daughter, Richard and Marion and Marion's boyfriend, Brad) are on their way to Laura's parents' place along a back road.  Frank decides to try something different than the usual Interstate route so he decides to take a shortcut.  Along the way, they all fall asleep... including Frank, who's driving... and almost collide with an oncoming car.  Completely rattled, Frank gets out to make sure there was no damage to his car.  Getting back in to continue driving, they soon find that the road is long... really long... and keeps going on and on and on.  And why are there suddenly no other cars coming?

Being made in France for $900,000, this film made that budget back and then some in DVD sales for $77 million.  I really enjoyed this film every time I've watched it.  I didn't even realize, before doing my research today, that the film was from France (not that that matters, of course, I embrace horror films from all over).  The lower budget doesn't come into play at all, it's got good makeup effects at times, a great cast, in my opinion, it really delivers.

As I said, a great cast is present, with two especially strong actors playing parents Frank and Laura.  Frank's played by Ray Wise, who's best known for Twin Peaks, but has also appeared on the series Reaper, and the movies Robocop, One Missed Call and X-Men: First Class.  Playing Laura was the great Lin Shaye, who's been in a number of horror movies, including Nightmare on Elm Street, Insidious (Chapters 1 and 2), Critters 1 and 2, and the 2001 Maniacs movies, as well.  There's also a cameo appearance near the end by Steve Valentine, the host of SyFy's old Fear Factor-style game show Estate of Panic (I miss that show!).

A good plotline, an excellent cast and a fun time all add up to a 5 out of 5 for me.  I really enjoyed this film, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in a really good, low-budget and seriously creepy film (which still supplies a good bit of laughs at times).  Take care of yourselves, everyone.  We're going to start delving into some classics next, with some reviews of some older films, including a pair of masterpieces of the genre.  Until then, as always, this is Red Hawk signing out!