Dood eind

Nice try to be the second successful Dutch horror movie. After the Lift from Dick Maas released in 1983, no Dutch horror movie was released successfully. The film is a mix from Blair Witch, Cube, The Ring, Evil Dead and the Blob and is not very original. The writer from Doodeind is a big fan from Evil Dead and brings "the book of dead" an homage. The movie brings nothing new, but looks good and has a few scary moments. I was very surprised of the acting work from a few leading actors in a positive way. Only Victoria Koblenko's acting is very bad. It is even hard to call it acting, it is so bad and I had the idea that she used an autocue in every scene. In the beginning her miscasting is quite funny but start to get irritating after a few minutes and then you wish she will die the cruelest of all. The movie is funny to watch for the people in Holland, because of the Dutch language. For the rest of the world, Doodeind is nothing special.

Although there were some nice shock-effects and the special effects were great this was a very boring movie! the characters had no depth at all and the actors weren't that great (there have to be more talented actors in The Netherlands). The plot is explained at the end but in the mean while you have to sit for more than an hour wondering what the hell it is all about. It was a complete rip off from other successful horror films. It was a nice attempt to try and compete with Sl8n8cht but they failed big time! Critics claim that there is a revival of the so called Nederhorror but now I know what they mean. "Neder" stands for low and this movie is at a very low level.

I saw this film on the first day it was released. I was glad it finally came, it would have been earlier. I had bad expectations, but as a Dutch horror fan and maker, I hoped it wouldn't be that bad.

But no matter how low my expectations were, the film was worse. It starts with the screenplay. Barely a story (the first half hour is mainly slowly walking through hallways with flashlights), uninteresting characters (you don't care if they live or die), and awful dialog. For no reason this story takes place in Scotland. Which leads to a Dutch actress talking half Englisch/ half what's-supposed-to-be Scottisch. Very funny, not intended to be.

Every horror scene is just one familiar from other American/Japanese films, badly imitated. The only things that are okay for Dutch standards are the score and the visual effects (not all of them). But this does not a good movie make!

I find it common sense that the makers had to search far and wide for investors, since this is obviously a piece of crap. And then comes the news that Tarantino's company is interested in making a remake. I'm sorry, but we can do much much better than this, when it comes to Dutch horror. Do NOT let this be the representative film for Dutch horror in the new millennium.

If there's one thing "Dood Eind" can teach us, it is that even the Dutch know about all the dreadful clichés of the horror genre and that it took until now, late 2006, before they processed them all into one lame movie. I'm pretty sure that, if this movie was made in any other country, it never would have seen the light of day, but since it's the Netherlands and since this nation is desperately craving its very own horror tradition, "Dood Eind" got exaggeratedly promoted in the specialized press and on websites. The story revolves on themes that you've seen a thousand times before already and largely blends the plots of the overrated films "Blair Witch Project" and "Ju-On: The Grudge". The writers, however, claim that their main inspiration was Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead", but I spotted very few similarities between that classic and this pretentious piece of junk, apart from the ominous woods and the book of the dead. Seven friends that haven't seen each other since their childhood (and actually can't stand each other anymore...) come together for a reunion trip in the Scottish countryside. On the first night around the campfire, the group is attacked by ravenous dogs and they're forced to take refugee in an abandoned house. Minor mistake, as it soon turns out that the house is haunted by the restless spirit of a woman whose baby got killed over a hundred years ago on suspicion of witchery. A haunted house? Dwelling ghosts?? Really? That's so original... NOT! Naturally it doesn't take long before all the clichés start following each other at fast pace. Spontaneously slamming doors, eerie noises coming from the attic and the occasional sudden appearance of a pale-faced ghost lady, they're all there. Stereotypes are well-presented as well, as the clique of seven contains a coward, a bitch, a macho, etc.. Strange fiery mucus that grows on the walls kills most of the Dutch trespassers, and the remaining survivors have to try and understand the house's history if they ever want to get out alive. Technically speaking, the film is okay. The budget was extremely low, but it was nevertheless enough to come up with a handful of decent visual effects and adequate filming locations. Even the acting performances are acceptable, although some of the players are difficult to understand even if you speak the same language. Nope, the problem with "Dood Eind" is purely the substance. There's never any tension since you can feel the 'twists' and 'shocks' coming well in advance and especially the climax is really pathetic. There's still hope for the Dutch horror film (check out "Sl8N8"), but "Dood Eind" is a production better left ignored.

Picked this DVD up on a five-hour wait in Schiphol and watched it that night in a hotel room. I was hoping that it would have some of that black-humour quality that 'De Lift' has, but this movie really doesn't have much to recommend it at all. The pacing is off, the story is lacking and by an hour into the movie, the urge to turn it off and check my email instead was slowly becoming overwhelming. Still, I watched the rest of it, and it's just as bad as other reviews suggest that it is. As a rule, you stop caring about the characters long before you find out what happens to them. So disappointing... but next time I pass through Schiphol I'll still be checking the Dutch DVD section in the airport shops...