End of the Line

I really want to see what Maurice Devereaux will come up with in the future. He's got a lot of great ideas in this film and I'd like to see what he's capable of with a good set of actors and a decent budget. I really enjoyed this; it's got so much heart and does all the right things but, as it stands, it falls a bit short of its potential. It's a great low-budget horror film but it tries to be more than that and doesn't quite make it.

The storyline and plot are both excellent and, while not wholly original, are miles ahead of the cookie cutter garbage that passes for "horror" these days. This is definitely a "horror" film in every sense of the word - plenty of scares, a supernatural undercurrent, impending doom and a strong religious theme. A special note should be given to the atmosphere in this film. Even with low production values, the director created an apocalyptic world that felt like it was closing in on you. The results are pretty horrifying.

Basically, a group of people on a late night subway train find themselves stranded when the power goes out. As the passengers wait, a prominent cult leader contacts his followers and tells them that the rapture is imminent. He orders them to "save" (translation: kill with crucifix daggers and sabres) all the non-believers around them.

Many cultists are on the train and begin slaying people but a group of passengers manage to get away and find refuge in a nearby service point. Cell phones, radios and TVs are all of no use and we find out later that the cult leader has taken over a TV station and is broadcasting the mayhem going on in the city and around the world.

From the start there are scenes that are designed to make you jump and lots of strange occurrences that begin to make sense as the movie progresses. Unless you're really perceptive, I doubt you'll get everything on a first viewing, probably because you'll be busy trying not to sh!t your pants during the first 15 minutes.

All this mystery would be fine if this was a more straightforward movie but I still had questions after watching it a second time. Not major questions just little things that nag me as I write this review. The ending was good, though, and I think I got it. The director did say that he wanted to leave it open so that people would discuss the movie and he definitely succeeded.

If you can put up with the amateur acting and are willing to invest some thought into it, this is a great little horror movie.

Prior to "End of the Line," the only thing I'd seen by writer-director Maurice Devereaux was a satirical short on PMS, done in the style of a '50s educational film (look it up on YouTube). Needless to say, this guy is a versatile talent worth keeping an eye on. Like many low-budget, independent horror films, "Line" begins fairly awkward, with wobbly performances, questionable makeup effects, and bizarre camera choreography. But after a deliberate buildup followed by an incredibly chilling segue into cold-blooded violence, "End of the Line" goes off and running to its own rhythm and tune, with near-total disregard for political correctness and moral scrutiny. The plot wouldn't seem so intensely button-pushing if we hadn't been inundated (especially in the wake of 9/11) with a rash of films that failingly attempt to rationalize and justify contemptible actions (on both sides) in the midst of warfare and natural disaster; Devereaux's 'monsters' are members of an expansive (and apparently global) religious sect, led by a Jim Jones type foretelling the impending apocalypse. Armed with crucifix daggers, strong belief, and Sunday Smiles, these zealots are the stuff of nightmares (proving once again what George Romero established in "Night of the Living Dead"--what a zombie does to a person is nothing compared to what the human survivors do to themselves). Beginning on a stopped subway car (where the PA crackles with cryptic, incoherent messages) and progressing through the subterranean tunnels below, a disparate group of survivors attempt to find their way to safety while being stalked by the murderous sect. The location is one of "Line"'s key strengths: the dimly-lit, desolate tunnels provide a thick, claustrophobic sense of desperation and isolation that only ratchets up the terror of the situation. Similarly, the performances by a cast of Stateside unknowns improves considerably as the film progresses, to the point where the viewer aligns his own survival instinct with that of the characters, and the desire to see them make it out alive. But like Romero, Devereaux isn't content with Happy Endings, and leaves us on an admirably ambiguous note that would do Dante Aligheri proud. "End of the Line" is a triumph for the genre.

Horror movies can be fun, can be exciting or can be something to think about. This tries to check many boxes. And depending on how open you are and if you care for certain things (and also the fact you have to keep record and think for yourself and what certain things mean) ... it'll play out one way or the other for you.

So either you'll have a good experience watching this or you won't. The director himself says, you decide what it means, I won't tell you. Not that he doesn't have an opinion or hasn't layed out clues. But again, that's not everyone's cup of tea. So this is decent and has good horror moments, but the over the top acting (some may feel this is an exaggeration) will alienate some viewers ...

I just saw EOTL at the Palm Springs film festival, and I'm very pleased (the guy above would be also be pleased to know that this version was shortened to 95 minutes). It was the rare horror movie that did the fundamental thing right: made you care about the victims. Everyone, even the crazy cultists, was given layers and dimensions beyond surface stereotypes and caricatures (no token black-nerd-ditzy blonde-tough guy-final girl lineup here) This is also probably the only movie I've seen that's actually scary along with having graphic gore. The gore scenes themselves aren't scary, but they are intense, because they are happening to people that you've invested some emotion in. I'm also glad that the demon effects were used sparingly; Devereaux knows that real live crazy people can be much scarier. The atmosphere contributed greatly to this; I've always found scenes of people standing alone in those subway stations pretty creepy (best example: the scene with the Asian girl and the train. Those who've seen the movie will know what I'm talking about) The acting was top-notch across the board, my palms were actually sweating because I wanted at least most of the main cast to make it out alive. The special effects were not-surprisingly excellent; look for a nasty half-decapitation as a great example. Like I said before, it was good that the demons were rarely seen, but when they were, they were very well-done (aside from a few CGI ones, but they had to be in order to pull off certain stunts) Overall, I can give End of the Line the best praise for a horror movie: it does what it meant to do.

And I thought the Mormon missionaries were relentless! This movie takes place at night on a subway train where a crazed religious cult has decided that it's the "end of days" and starts killing everyone with crucifix daggers to "save their souls". It ends up being kind of a claustrophobic "Night of The Living Dead" knock-off, and quickly begs the question of why there would be so many members in a fringe cult group, and why they would waste so much time going after a handful of passengers on late night subway car. There is an interesting twist at the end based on strange and truly terrifying visions the heroine has been having, but they kind of fumble it.

This movie is definitely effective in places, but it suffers the typical problems of modern day horror movies. There is not enough character development before the killing,for instance, to make you care much for any of the characters, and the movie often tries to be shocking and outrageous simply for the sake of being shocking and outrageous. There's one pretty tasteless scene that does the Sharon Tate murder one better (and I don't mean the Tate murders, I mean the actual murder of Tate herself). On the other hand, there is some pretty clever black comedy like the way the cult members mindlessly chant, "God loves you," as they stab people to death (as the Manson Family reportedly did). And the filmmakers seem pretty horror literate, paying homage not only to classics like "Night of the Living Dead", but also much more obscure films like "Who Can Kill a Child?". But much like Jesus, this film is just alright with me.