Dead End (2003)

REVIEW
Roger Ebert once remarked that when it seems like absolutely anything can happen in a movie, it becomes increasingly less interesting following what actually does happen; in other words, removing the structure and order that grounds the narrative also removes the very element of the story’s construction that would allow wild plot twists to really have any meaning or impact. This problem tends to hover like a black cloud over Dead End, a new horror film/black comedy that represents a promising debut for young French directors Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa (though a French production, the film is set in America and features a U.S. cast) – yet is ultimately rather unsatisfying in its aimless tail-chasing narrative experimentation.

The basic plot is “Twilight Zone” or “Night Gallery” high-concept spookiness as filtered through a David Lynch-like sensibility: the Harrington family – father Frank (the wonderful Ray Wise), mother Laura (Lin Shaye), and adolescent siblings Marion (Alexandra Holden) and Richard (Mick Cain) – take a detour while traveling to Laura’s mother’s house for Christmas Eve dinner, and wind up lost on an endless country road that leads nowhere - literally. Driving for miles and miles on a road (almost) devoid of other vehicles, the Harringtons encounter no towns or businesses, only creepy apparitions like a mysterious woman in white; eventually their nerves become frayed to the point of collapse.

It seems uncharitable to pick on a low-budget horror film that is admirably attempting something very different for the genre, and Dead End does succeed in establishing a sinister tone of dread throughout much of the running time. But Andrea and Canepa are never quite able to shape their gimmicky premise into anything more substantial than a repetitious exploration of the film’s simplistic central concept, and the predictable “twist” ending doesn’t lend the film any additional dramatic gravitas. And as the Harringtons’ road trip becomes increasingly more surreal and fantastic, it also becomes increasingly difficult for the viewer to have much emotional investment in the story – and the overly comedic approach often seems at odds with the story and overall tone (the character of the brother, for example, is among the most irritating and unfunny teens in recent horror film memory). Nice try, but Andrea and Canepa need something a little meatier for their next turn at the wheel.