‘Dead End’ is a Mind-Bending Holiday Horror Treat [Watch]
Tyler Doupe'
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Happy holidays, dear reader. It’s my great pleasure to bring you a recommendation that’s sure to put you in a merry mood before striking fear into your heart. Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa’s Dead End is the kind of festive film best enjoyed in mid-late December when you’re all alone, with all the lights out.
Dead End follows the Harrington family on their annual Christmas trek to visit relatives for a festive dinner, gift exchange, and various forms of dysfunction. Along the way, patriarch Frank (Ray Wise) takes a detour to help keep himself alert during the trip. That decision proves fateful as the Harrington clan is then subjected to unspeakable horrors on a desolate stretch of country road.
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This direct-to-DVD effort feels a bit like a lost episode of The Twilight Zone. It features a twisty narrative that gives the viewer every reason to question what the hell is happening right up until the credits roll. And it isn’t until a post-credits sequence that we truly get any kind of clarity regarding what we’ve just seen. And even still, the answers we’re given aren’t the definitive type, more so than suggestions. But those not averse to ambiguity are likely to find much to appreciate about Dead End.
The film gives the viewer precious little information regarding what particular brand of evil plagues this strange stretch of road. And that serves to make the proceedings that much more suspenseful. We know something is very wrong but we have very little to go off of. And that uncertainty is likely to make the experience all the more harrowing to potential viewers. The audience is just as in the dark as to what’s happening as the protagonists are.
The flick finds the family in a place of total isolation following their detour off the interstate. They are lost. They can’t get a cell phone signal. And they cannot escape the gloomy stretch of road they’re on, compounding the isolation with a sense of claustrophobia. For that reason, Dead End can be an uncomfortable film to watch. But that’s by design, as the unease this picture invokes serves to enhance the mounting tension.
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Additionally, the horrific events to which the family at the center of the narrative is subjected are intensified by their dysfunctional dynamic. None of the members of the Harrington clan seem to actually like each other. It’s clear they love one another. But the characters are at one another’s throats almost instantly. As such, there is a certain unease before the malevolent elements of the story are even fully present.
Dead End features a couple of familiar faces to fans of genre cinema. The great Lin Shaye and the legendary Ray Wise are smartly cast as Laura and Frank Harrington. They bicker endlessly and legitimately come across as if they’ve been married for 20+ years. Mick Cain and Alexandra Holden play the Harrington children and each is serviceable in their role. But it’s Wise and Shay that really steal the show. Shaye gets to go to some pretty zany places with her character and she does so in a way that feels very on-brand for the prolific actor. She vacillates between holding it together and becoming completely unhinged, sometimes even appearing to embody both extremes at the same time.
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All in all, Dead End is a harrowing and mind-bending ordeal that kept me guessing from start to finish. As of the publication of this post, the film is available to stream for free (with ads) on FreeVee, Tubi, and Plex.
If you want to chat more about under-seen and underrated films, feel free to hit me up with your thoughts on Twitter @FunWithHorror!
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