Diagonaldi Very well executed

Executscan Expected more

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

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.

jtindahouse I, like most people, absolutely hate it when you see posts on the IMDb message boards of people claiming they knew the twist in a film was coming. Now though, I have to be one of those people unfortunately. Very early on in this film I made a bold and emphatic prediction about how this film would end, and I turned out to be right. The main reason I think I came to that conclusion was because from the very early stages this seemed very much like a 'Twilight Zone' episode, and there is an episode of that show with a very similar story and ending. The surprising part though, was that despite having correctly worked that out, this was still one of the most enjoyable film experiences I have had in years.Wow, what a film! It caught me completely off guard how good it was. The very early stages had me worried. I feared I was in for a PG-13, run-of-the-mill and bland experience. Boy, was I wrong. It takes no time at all to get the story very much alive and kicking, and then from there it never eases up. Modern horror seems to have delved into basically how many jump scares they can fit into 90 minutes. 'Dead End' shows, like great horror movies tend to do, that jump scares are completely unnecessary, and that with share intensity you can captivate an audience and have them on the absolute edge of their seat for the entire run time.The other thing about this film is the incredible amount of layers it has. It works as a horror, a thriller, a mystery, a drama and even at times a genuinely funny comedy. Every one of those elements is done to perfection. I could not believe it when I came to IMDb to find that the two writer/directors Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa were complete novices, and what's more have barely worked since. How is this possible? These two should be being compared to Hitchcock, instead they seem to have almost vanished off the face of the earth. Very disappointing. I can't say enough good things about this movie. I plan to watch it again and also recommend it to a lot of people. I'm very glad I took the time to track down a copy of this film and go back and watch it. An absolute must-see!

Phil K I originally wanted to give this movie a 5/10, but there are a few attributes that make this film unique enough to bump it up, For one thing, it has a more traditional acting style, such as long takes, and dynamic psychological turmoil that the characters display. It also displays an ambiguity that gives the viewer a chance to think and interpret the film.Quoting someone on the forums, this film definitely feels inspired by David Lynch in both good and bad ways. There was a lot wrong with this film though, in my opinion. There is repetition, predictability and nothing 'spectacular' about it **outside** of Ray Wise who definitely anchors this film - that man is brilliant.

bowmanblue As a die-hard fan of David Lynch's surreal little TV spectacular, Twin Peaks, I do tend to watch pretty much anything with various actors associated with the series. Ray Wise was brilliant in the show and I always enjoy his performances. Here is no different. It's basically the Ray Wise Show (but in a car).Did I mention the entire of this cheap little horror movie is set in a car? I feel I better because it may put people off. Plus it's not exactly high budget. Like I said – one setting: the car. And the darkened woodland road it's travelling along.Dead End is about a family of five (Ray Wise – the dad, his wife, their two children and their daughter's soon-to-be fiancé). They're all (un)happily travelling to a relative's at Christmas – like they do every year – when they decide to take the 'scenic' route. This involves ditching the interstate for a cross-country road. Not a good idea.Basically, it's a horror film, so, without wishing to give anything away, bad things start to happen. I won't go into detail as it's such a fun little film that anything else may spoil things. Like I mentioned, the budget isn't too high, so don't expect hordes of Orcs rampaging through the woods or general destruction on a planetary level. Just expect some creepiness, mixed with witty dialogue.Yes, the dialogue. Whether you love or hate the film, I defy almost anything to dislike the banter between the family. Right from the start they bicker and berate each other and come across like they really have been making this depressingly traditional journey for countless years.But, no matter how good the cast are in general (Lin Shaye, I'm referring to you), it's Ray Wise's performance that carries the film through and through. He really is on top form, moving from hen-pecked husband to tortured soul and on to protective parent along the way.Dead End should really be a cult classic. It's not high budget enough to be particularly mainstream and doesn't have the big names associated with it to make it stand out. But I hope it finds an audience out there among people who like their horror films understated and creepy, rather than big budget and loud.Oh, and is it just me – but if you're a fan of Twin Peaks, try and spot the many references (besides the obvious Ray Wise association).