Dead End

We've all been there - it's Christmas Eve; Mom, Dad, and the kids (in this case teenagers, a brother and sister, Richard and Marian, and her boyfriend, Brad) get in the car and head off to Grandma's. Mom has the obligatory chocolate and pumpkin pie ("smells like ass", Richard offers.) Mom likes to sing songs during car trips and offer coffee to her husband who refuses to let anyone else drive. Richard is at the stage where everything his parents do embarrasses him and he escapes into his Marilyn Manson CD at every chance. No one escapes Richard's wrath, especially his sister's boyfriend, Brad, whom, Richard is convinced, is gay. Marian, the sister, is not as mouthy or disillusioned as her brother, and she can still find it fun to sing songs in the car with her parents. Dad is Richard in 30 years. Dad is disillusioned and frustrated and sick to death of Christmas Eve at his mother-in-law's house. He has probably fallen out of love with his wife for many years now, but stays with her because of the children. When he snaps at his wife, he immediately feels remorse and most times his apologies take the form of just changing the subject to something else. Brad, the boyfriend, is new to this family and tries his best to be upbeat and pleasant, after all, he is very much in love with Marian, and he even takes Richard's gay remarks with a grin, at first. Things soon quiet down, and as they drive through the star filled sky everyone begins to doze off , everyone - including Dad. He closes his eyes for a moment but that is all it takes. Suddenly a car horn goes off, his daughter screams, and he awakes abruptly to oncoming head lights. He barely misses colliding with the oncoming car. Or does he?The world doesn't make sense after their near collision. They are continually confounded by the never ending road, strange noises coming from their radio, cries for help from the cell phone, abandoned ranger's shacks, the appearance of a baby carriage in the road, and the inexplicable black car that seemingly kidnaps one family member after another. And the woman in white.I have watched this movie several times now and it seems to be like the movie "A Christmas Story", only if it was written by Stephen King. The humor is wicked and brilliant, and the chilling moments are truly creepy. It took several viewings to really listen to the dialogue in the beginning and realize how it relates to the revelations of each family member by the end of the movie. Intelligent stuff. One of my favorite lines:"Darling, is the phone not working?""No, Laura, I forgot the number for 9-1-1."The mother is played by Lin Shaye, who is incredibly funny and talented and versatile in this. The father is played perfectly by Ray Wise. Richard is played by the hilarious and cute, Mick Cain. Marian is played by Alexandra Holden, and Brad is portrayed by Billy Asher. Great performances by everyone, great screen writing, and truly chilling. I recommend this one highly.

Movie employs Holiday Theme to set the tone of the movie. Small cast full of excellent character actors you'll be asking, "Where have I seen this person before?" It shows the power a simple iconic character with one or two lines in another movie and the actors performance.

A small cast on a road from hell. Laura and Frank start out on Christmas eve to go to her parents, with their children Richard and Marion, and her future beau, Brad. Frank, after 20 years of going on the Interstate, decides to take a back road, and it turns out to be a very bad idea. During the trip, tempers flare, and everyone seems to get on each other’s nerves. The road seems to go on forever, and they only meet one car, and that is not one a car wants to meet. One by one, the group gets smaller, and not in a good way. Things get very tense, and unpleasant truths are brought out. There are some of the old tried and true fall backs, such as the road being straight, and no matter how long one drives, they don’t get far. One drives, and one gets no where. One stops, and someone dies. And their watches stopped at 7:30 PM. There is a strange woman with a dead baby that shows up, but there really is no explanation for what is happening. A person will get immersed in the bickering of the family, so that is a plus for the script and the acting. A spot of humor is when Laura totally flips out. But no, there is not new ground plowed, nor even new ideas for what is happening. Just interesting performances. The ending seemed out of place.

I should have turned it off but I like horror movies and wanted to give it a chance. All the actors are super annoying and unbelievable, doing things that people wouldn't do. I wouldn't consider it horror or comedy, it is not scary or funny. Of course there is a reveal/twist at the end but you kinda see it coming and it doesn't save the movie at all from being corny bad waste of time. Boo, thumbs down.

What it does, it does VERY well. There are plenty of creepy elements that keep a viewer on the edge, trying to guess what is happening to this poor family. There's just enough gore to give the story horror bona fides, without going over the top with it, and the gore that is there isn't generally gratuitous (there's one kind of icky scene toward the end I didn't find really necessary). A lot has been written about the disappointing ending, but if you look at it as being supernatural in nature, then it's not disappointing at all--how and where the characters end up are logical in terms of the story. I've seen worse horror movies that had far higher budgets. The only really disappointing actor was the one who played Richard/Michael. The rest were believable right down to the ground. I wish I could give a half a star, because it's more than a four-star movie but doesn't quite reach five stars for me.

For the past 20 years, Frank Harrington has driven his family to celebrate Christmas with his mother-in-law.This year, he takes a shortcut, and its a huge mistake.A mysterious woman in white wanders through the forest, leaving death in her wake. A terrifying black car carries the victims into the heart of the night.Every road sign points to a destination they never reach. The survivors start to panic, and deep secrets burst to the surface.Christmas turns into a living hell.Cruelly ignored on its initial release, Dead End is a wonderful little ghost story to watch on Christmas Eve, with all the lights down low.Its one of those movies that will never be the same after your first viewing, the film and is narrative is a huge red herring for the story, and the final reveal will leave a chill down your spine.But its laugh out loud funny in places, and as the tension rise, so does the family breaking down become more evident.The cast are great and put in tense performances. It should be an alternate Christmas favourite along with the likes of Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, but unfortunately it's been overlooked.See it, its a wonderful little movie.

This was an intriguing film that I saw on TV over 10 years ago. It was creepy & nightmarish at the time (sort of terror that one could easily experience in a bad dream). Took me years to track it down because I forgot the title! Anyway, I found it, and it was worth the search. Many years later, DEAD END is STILL creepy & nightmarish! The story is not totally original, but that didn't hurt it for me.Warning: this is a low budget film and 75% of it takes place in the car, with 15% taking place on the road through the woods. So, if your looking for a fast thriller with loads of special-effects, look elsewhere, but if nightmares fascinate you, this film could be just up your street.

A difficult film to evaluate, I'm not sure if I liked it or hated it. I get the underlying thread of dark humour but I just universally hated the characters and their unnatural reaction to almost everything that occurred in the film.There was some good spooky imagery; the blacked out car driving slowly past with the latest victim pressed up against the back window screaming but I balance this out by my nearly switching it off half way in because I was finding it a bit dull. The last quarter became more interesting, not necessarily in a good way and I like the concept of never ending roads, driving for hours in one direction and ending up right where you started. It's a curiosity watch. I need to watch it once more to decide either way though whether I like it or not I doubt it's gonna be a keeper.

Dead End (2003)A film about a family driving home at night on Christmas eve when the dad (who is driving) falls asleep and narrowly avoids crashing head on to an oncoming carThe swerve woke everybody and they ask where they are he tells them they have taken a short cutThey then see a young woman holding a baby on the side of the road that seemingly will not end naturally they offer this woman and her child a rideThe pull over to the next available stop leaving the woman her baby and a the daughters boyfriend in the car while the rest go and investigate realising the stop is abandoned there is a loud scream coming from the car they all stop what they are doing run outside to an empty car they then notice a black hearse rolling by and when it passes the daughters boyfriend bangs against the back window that is the imitate problemthe real problem is they want more!A low budget movie with a small cast keep that in mind while watching and you will enjoy it if you watch this movie and expect a blockbuster with amazing actors and special affects you'll be disappointed

This film whilst entertaining enough has got to take suspension of disbelief to new lows;people witness horrific events and yet a couple of minutes later everything's forgotten,and characters wander off on their own after said events have occured. The characters are unsympathetic especially the cretinous(literally) wanker of a son.Little is actually explained and don't get me started on the ridiculous ending.On the plus side,some of the comedic elements work and the ghostly car scenes are chilling enough.All in all an uneasy blend of comedy and horror that ultimately doesn't come off.I'd actually give it a two and a half rating if I could.