Deadline

After having my copy of Deadline sit around for over a year, and then finding out the film pick up it's 13th award (to date), I thought it was time to see what all the fuss was about...

And I can tell you, Deadline is worthy of all the buzz it's been generating. It's a mystery/ psychological thriller that succeeds on so many levels. It shows just what can be achieved on a limited budget, when a creative script meets a talented cast a crew.

The story-line is tight, and the acting sharp. The technical aspects of the movie, particularly the lighting and soundtrack choices, really help to increase the mood of the film. It's creepy!

Deadline doesn't boast a big name cast, and didn't blow it's budget on elaborate special effects, but the production value obtained does allows it to tell the story very well.

Overall, Deadline is much more than the sum of it's parts. If you enjoy these types of movies, you'll definitely appreciate the work that went into it, and the final product output.

Roll on the sequel...

Kyle and Sarah are starting a life together in a renovated house in Hollywood Hills, on the same property where the original house burned-down a decade earlier with its owner vanished...

There are any number of problems with this film. I could talk about the poor acting (especially from screen veteran Gary Hudson) or the poor effects. I could discuss the slow pacing of what could have been an exciting action or horror film. I could complain of the gratuitous nudity (the woman in the opening scene must have the world's dirtiest chest for how long she stands there massaging herself).

But, really, this comes down to one big problem: a script that has no narrative and no attempt at a linear plot. Is it a story about two corrupt cops? Is it a story about a couple who move into a house that was built on top of the ashes of a murder site? Somehow the story wants to be both, but actually tells us neither. By spending so much time on the cops, we learn very little about the haunting. And even with the cops, we never really get he full story on why they are corrupt (and how they do not get caught for such cavalier actions).

And why is the wife a best-selling author who is going to go on a book tour and has writer's block? She is never shown writing, nor does her job factor in to the story. Why are we shown murders of two random friends or the forensics guy and his wife? We could hear about the forensics guy, and the friends really did not matter at all. The forensics guy was completely miscast, by the way -- he looked far too young.

As I writing this rambling response to this film, I have in the back of my mind that the IMDb rating is 6.6 -- much higher than the average movie. This suggests to me that only the director's friends have rated the film and once the general public sees it, it will plummet to a 2 or 3. And somehow the movie won a few film festival awards. Sure, none of these are film festivals that actually matter, even among independent film junkies, but to win this means that the competition was even worse. God forbid those other films ever see the light of day.

Is this the worst film ever made? Far from it. That honor goes to "Hell's Threshold". And, to be fair, I have seen enough horror films to know that this is not even in the top 10% of worst films. But it is pretty bad, and I understand why it has waited two years to find distribution. I just wish it had stayed hidden -- no one can watch this and find any enjoyment in it.

Entertainment That Satisfies

I usually bore within the first 15 minutes of most movies from most genres , no doubt a by- product of being a movie addict. While I am always hopeful to be entertained, I am usually left wanting more -- like when you can't have that last bite of your ice cream cone.

But in this case, Deadline left me satiated. In fact, I was annoyed that I wasn't able to stop watching in order to catch up on my paperwork as I often do while watching movies.

Deadline fixated my whole attention span from start to finish. It was a bizarre, thought- provoking and very entertaining movie. To box it only into a single 'horror' genre is almost negligent. Deadline also delivers solid elements of: crime drama, suspense thriller, social commentaries regarding the homeless, drug lords/terrorists, prostitution, police corruption, drug addiction, animal rights, all interlaced within sexy romantic interludes and very cool special effects.

I couldn't even accurately describe this movie to my friends so I simply told them to watch it. I promised that Deadline would deliver full entertainment value.

To me, 'entertainment' should be the core objective of any movie. An entertaining movie can skillfully transport you into another world so that you don't even remember that you have work to finish, bills to pay, and worries to stress over.

Truly entertaining movies offer us the relief and freedom from our everyday lives and worries --- and I believe most of us need and appreciate that.

When a movie can offer me the level of escapism that stimulates my brain and generates endorphins, I not only get that last bite of the ice cream cone, I get the whole enchilada!

This movie is a ninety minute break from reality that gets you on on the edge of your seat at times while mixing in some laughs. The characters are developed just right without being overly developed...in this type of action/suspense flick I don't expect background details and the underlying psychology of each and every character to give me insight on reactions and motivations. I also really enjoyed the way the sounds and music added to suspense and tension; it reminded me of an 80's horror/suspense flick in that respect. The story line has multiple dimensions that blend really well together as well. Overall fun and entertaining..I would recommend it to any action/suspense fan.

I love movies, big budget and small. For me, there are times when the flash, bling, gadgets, explosions and CG just overpower a film and take away from the story line rather than add to it. To me Deadline was a pleasant surprise of what can still be accomplished on a shoe string budget given the right cast, crew and of course story line. When I first saw Deadline I really didn't know the cast that well. Low and behold shortly after viewing the film I started realizing that I have seen many of the actors on both the large and small screen. Two of them just recently went on to do the new TV series Chicago Fire Deadline does an amazing job of setting the viewer up right until the last minute. This movie sucked me into the plot as I became comfortable with the actors on the screen. Suspense, horror, a little bit of blood and shooting always get my attention when not just done for shock value. The solid performances by the actors and the addition of suspense kept me intrigued from beginning to end. The cast and crew did an incredible job of making a solid motion picture that will be enjoyed by the big blockbuster fans to the purists who prefer the indies. It will be interesting to see how the writer/Director does with his sophomore effort as there is plenty of room and reason to keep his cameras rolling.