End of the Line

I just watched this movie and I immediately knew it was going to be awesome when it made me scream like a little school girl in the first 5 minutes of the film. OUT LOUD! I am a huge horror buff and not much even makes me yelp! It was a pleasant surprise, as most of the crap my brother brings over for me to watch usually doesn't make much sense or is just too out there to enjoy. But End of the Line is a great Canadian horror flick. Who needs zombies when you have religious fanatics trying to save non-believers with a razor sharp crucifix, sending them to the Almighty!? Sounds corny, but why not? How many hard core religious followers would kill in the name of their God if they were told the Apocylpse was coming? Not too far fetched to believe. And stuck in a subway during the whole thing!? The artwork on the DVD cover was right, "does what Jaws did for the ocean". I'll probably poop if I am ever caught down in a subway system after dark in a big city after seeing this. If you like horror movies, give End of the Line a shot. The acting at times is a small amount cheesy, but the story is great, so are the monsters and many of the unexpected awesome scares that a true horror fan will appreciate!

Just (and I mean literally, just) saw this at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was preceded by a really creepy first-person handicam short film (The Eyes of Edward James), which had me shaking even before End started.

Suffice it to say, the film did not disappoint. It helps not to know much about the movie, but the key plot points are: * Death & * The Subway

Canadian viewers will get a kick out of the TTC and Montreal Metro shots (and have a fun time taking public transit home), and pretty much anyone will be freaked out about taking the subway after watching it.

The only complaint I would make is it was about 30 minutes and a few characters too long. There was a bit too much characterisation and conversation, and it slowed the plot down - though I'm quick to add that it never went too long before a scary/exciting part picked up again. If this is going to see major release though, they'll definitely need to cut it - anything over 2h is already too much, and this movie definitely didn't need that extra stuff.

One final warning: It is exceedingly gory. I have not seen so much blood and graphic violence in a long time. And it'll scare you.

Karen is a nurse at a psychiatric hospital whose been having nightmares of jump scares recently(and yeah, those do make a lot of appearances in this... but it does build a proper atmosphere, and is a very tense ride). On her way home, the subway train she's on stops suddenly, and she and a group of other regular people find themselves chased by a cult(who are genuinely and effectively creepy, throughout; they make this, in part, a zombie flick) out for blood, who claim that judgment day is coming(and that death is the better fate). Is this just a band of mad believers, or could they actually be right? This keeps it vague enough that you continue to ask yourself that question throughout, right up until the great ending. It goes into themes about faith(without it saying that it's completely good or bad), religious fanaticism(how far will they go?), hypocrisy, status and the like. This is somewhat exploitative(with some truly brutal gore, and extremely disturbing sequences, if these are moderate in amount), and it gets quite cheesy(the killers all use crosses that function as knives, and one of them, a middle-aged guy no less, wields a friggin' sword). It doesn't overstay its welcome, and keeps to a solid pace, and it gets going quickly whilst at the same time developing the characters, all of whom are sufficiently likable and credible(no one is really obnoxious, albeit one member of the murdering lot is truly despicable... but we love to hate him, and it really works). The FX vary, however most are excellent(a couple of designs and choices are questionable). This is at its best in the first 20 minutes or so, and if you find yourself not happy with the change after about that period of time, you might not like the rest of this. It does feel like the two portions of it don't completely fit together. The hour and a half do pass like nothing, and it has positive surprises along the way. Dialog tends to be fine, if there are a handful of lines that are... strange. Acting is so-so. There's a reason those on this cast aren't "names". There is some sexuality and a little strong language in this. I recommend this to fans of dark Gothic horror. 7/10

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 ...

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.