Tim Hannigan's Dead End Movie Review

Just released on DVD last week from Lion’s Gate, "Dead End" tells the story of a family driving to their grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve. Instead of taking their usual route on the highway, the father, played by Ray (Swamp Thing, Jeepers Creepers 2) Wise, decides to take a short cut down a back road. Falling asleep at the wheel, he almost causes a head-on collision with another car.

As the family travels along the road they encounter a woman in white holding a baby. They give her a ride and take her to a small house along the side of the road where they try to find a phone. The "lady in white" disappears, along with their daughter’s boyfriend. An old black hearse drives by, with the boyfriend in the back screaming for help as the hearse disappears down the road. The family gives chase, and they find the body of the boyfriend horribly mutilated in the middle of the road.

The family tries to find help, but the road seems to lead to nowhere. There are no crossroads, no other vehicles, and no signs of life. They see a sign for a town ahead which does not appear on any map. As they try to find their way back to civilization, they disappear one by one, carried away in the mysterious hearse.

This film has an interesting premise, and some better than average acting. You get the sense, however, that the budget for the film was quite limiting. Most of the film is shot using "poor-man’s process" with the actors sitting in a car with a light flickering above them and a slight rocking motion to give the sense that the car is actually moving.

You also feel that the filmmakers are working very hard to stretch the concept into a feature length film. It would have been an excellent short film, but then again who actually sees short films? The characters take turns responding to the situation with varying degrees of psychological distress – from catatonia to delirium. They also take turns making random declarations of family secrets to fill the space between plot points.

Not that it is a bad film. Overall it is fairly entertaining, and worth the rental price. The scenes with the characters being taken away in the hearse are creepy, and the filmmakers develop a great atmosphere of isolation. There are some genuine laughs, and a couple of good scares.

Anyone who is a fan of the genre will see the surprise ending a mile away, and will have the whole twist figured out within the first fifteen minutes. An interesting first flick from French filmmakers Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa, who co-wote and co-directed this movie. There is a lot of promise in this film, and I expect we will see good things from them in the future.

Grade: C -