B-MOVIE OF THE MONTH - DEAD END (2003)

Made for less than a million dollars, the slightly obscure Dead End is a chilling little indie you don't want to miss. It might just be the best Christmas horror movie no one ever heard of and every dollar is up there on the screen. It's quirky, weird, funny, bizarre, and scary all at once. Black comedy for sure but much more, this would make a nice double feature with The Perfect Host, another movie we're big on around here. So, grab some eggnog and a snack or two and check out the inimitable Ray Wise with legendary Lin Shaye as they take their family down a wrong turn, what's up with this road? Why doesn't it end? After all, they're just trying to make it to Christmas Eve dessert at Frank's mother's house. Tubi, Plex, Freevee, enjoy! 2.75 stars/2.75

Monday, November 27, 2023

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (2023) - DRIPPING WITH GOTHIC HORROR BUT THE TAP IS DRY ON SCARES AND ACTION

 
The long anticipated Last Voyage Of The Demeter, based on a single chapter from the original Stoker novel, has all the ingredients to make a horror classic. It is beautifully shot, should literally be nominated for it's production design but fails to deliver the full goods in scares. It's too slow moving, the characters are hard to relate to. 

Having said that, this doomed voyage carrying 50 crates in a tumultuous journey from Transylvania to London is an important and oft overlooked chapter in the original book, the film is faithful to the original source material. The production design is gorgeous, the whole movie oozes goth. And the special effects are admirable as well. 

If it had more scares and was faster moving, it may have hit the mark. But ultimately, Last Voyage (which spent over two decades in development hell and bombed big time at the box office) is, at best, a serviceable horror flick.  2.5 stars/5

When the trailer is more exciting than the movie, you know you got a problem.

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