Dead Stop

It's like they had a list of stereotypical characters and ticked them off; the outsider, the old people, the bad guy, the good girl, the token and the hero. Still, I did finish it and despite the horrid sepia filter, the fact that being lost is hard when you are camping next to POWER LINES that are so frequently shot that I started thinking they were taking the piss, I did enjoy the ride. If (and that's a big if) you can forgive the many plot holes, obnoxious characters & their stupid choices.......it's not that bad ride of a movie.

This is something that bothered me that probably won't bother many other people watching this movie. They are headed to Mammoth Lakes and somehow wind up lost deep in the Mojave Desert somewhere. I have been to this area many times. It's difficult to convey just how stupid you would have to be to head out for Mammoth Lakes and wind up on a dirt road somewhere in the desert like that.

Beyond that bit of nonsense, this is an okay monster movie. Some people get lost and wind up in the middle of the desert. They decide to stop until daylight and do some drinking. The next day, their car won't start because movie. They are stuck in the desert with almost no food or water. That night, they see some headlights of some other people who are out here for some reason or other. Then the headlights vanish. The monster attacks. The rest of the movie is them trying not to get killed by whatever this thing is.

Th cast of this is pretty good for a low budget monster movie. It's pretty well shot and looks good. The monster is okay though they don't do anything really creative or interesting with it. It's just a monster that kills people because it's a monster that kills people. The plot is passable if generic but they do throw in a lot of pointless relationship drama stuff early on that doesn't really add anything and is dropped as soon as the monster starts attacking. It has a twist ending that they should have just left off. That knocked a couple of points off.

A well made film, with attractive visuals, keen acting, likeable characters and an atmosphere that at times has one thinking they're in a Clint Eastwood western. There is an earnest and intimate effort here to provide a thought provoking and emotive experience. The only thing is, and it's quite a significant thing, is that it's not as scary as it indeed should be, billing itself to be a horror. But in saying that the scenes are done with careful consideration and all round it's a good effort. The story itself is not an original one, it's been done before many times, the stuck in the middle of nowhere with some gruesome creature hunting them down scenario, but what many other horror films lack, unlike Dead Stop, is creativity and attention to detail. You could do a lot worse if you're looking for an aesthetically effective film, even if it's not particularly spooky there's still portions of this to appreciate.

Let's just start with what another reviewer called an unnecessary sex scene. This occurred when a woman who was too drunk to walk was groped and then straddled by her friend's boyfriend as she said "no, we can't do this." What a lovely way to introduce our 2 main protagonists. This is followed by our male protagonist being extorted for more sex by a third character. But she assures him that she is a "better lay than drunken Barbie," so I guess there's nothing wrong with this situation either. This was made in 2011. What the hell is wrong with these people?

Everything else is as stupid and bad as every other review described. Cheap sets, terribly unbelievable dialogue, awful acting, offensive plot points, weak terrible characters, and criminally bad score and sound mixing. Cinematography was bad. Lighting was bad. Everything was bad, with no redeeming quality. Still, does not come close to being "so bad it's good." This is "so bad I hate it."

Seven idiots are in a van in the desert, one of whom is a child. Also, in this universe, a Zoology professor lives and dresses like Indiana Jones, except that his girlfriend is a trashy druggy.

Don't waste your time. A mid-day nap is more worthwhile than this horribly conceived atrocity.

This actually progressed well for a horror film. I'm not into horror, and appreciate the science fiction and character aspects more.

For horror fans, this should have top appeal, though, complete with the formula horror ending.

The characters here find themselves stranded in the desert with an unseen monster.

The characters are all fairly likable with their human faults. The young boy shows the most "cool" of the group, and he's the most likable from the onset.

That's actually one disadvantage for those of us who don't care for formula horror. We know some likable characters are going to be killed. Even the least likable character here is not one worthy of death.

The dialog isn't the best, but dialog doesn't matter when you have good actors. Real actors can make any dialog work. That's called "acting", and this group does it well. When all the actors perform well, you know you have a good director.

Could have been much better. It really progressed well until the final five minutes when we got the usual Hollywood negativity, probably to sell to the Beavis and Butthead audience.