Review: Dead End

Dead End arrived in 2003 with little to no fanfare, which is a real shame for such a well-crafted, genuinely spooky horror film. It's the work of French writer/director duo Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa, who are largely inexperienced but very talented. The film centers around the Harrington family and their annual Christmas trip to grandmother's house. Frank (Ray Wise; Twin Peaks, Reaper) decides to forgo their usual route for a shortcut through some shady woods, which is never a good idea in cinema, and this instance is certainly no exception.

Along for the ride are his wife Laura (Lin Shaye; A Nightmare on Elm Street, Dumb & Dumber), son Richard (Mick Cain; The Bold and the Beautiful), daughter Marion (Alexandra Holden; The Hot Chick, In & Out), and her boyfriend Brad (Billy Asher; Big Nothing, Henry X). The cast is a little wonky, with the younger members delivering performances that are questionable at times, but Ray Wise and Lin Shaye both do consistently fantastic jobs that more than make up for it.

As if getting lost amongst the dark woods in the middle of nowhere isn't bad enough, things take a turn for the worse when the family picks up a stranded woman carrying her baby. Next thing they know, they woman vanishes with one of their own, and they soon find themselves at the mercy of an ominous black hearse that keeps roaring by at pivotal moments, and yet is nowhere to be found when they look for it.

Dead End thrives on a lack of information. It's one of those situational horror films where something terrible is happening, but nobody can make sense of it, which makes it all the more terrifying. These people are in real danger from an unknown force and nobody, not the characters or the viewer, has the slightest idea of what they should do about it. What can they do? Confront shadows and sounds? With nothing to fight back against, they keep driving in hopes of escape.

One benefit we hold over the characters is that we know this is a movie and that anything is possible. While the family may think they're dealing with deranged individuals, we know that it's something more, something completely inexplicable. The black hearse is more than just a car, though what exactly we don't know. In the entire film, the only thing we know for certain, that they may or may not know, is that they're never going to reach their destination.

The title is a bit misleading in that aspect. While they don't seem to be getting anywhere, the road is most certainly not a dead end. It continues, possibly forever, and it's that continuous drive that wears everyone down. The characters turn on each other. They scream and shout and sometimes they even hit each other. The car isn't a pleasant place to be, but it's definitely preferable to the outside, where the darkness surrounds them on all sides and holds certain death. Nobody is safe, anywhere, in this clever, atmospheric, and deeply haunting little gem.

Our guest writer, Dylan Duarte, is a horror buff and writer who writes about Halloween costumes for StarCostumes.com. He can be reached at dylnduarte@gmail.com.