Deadline Reviews
Dean !
Super Reviewer
March 23, 2010
A real shame this was Brittany Murphy's last film. It's very slow, barely any dialogue, just long quiet spells of her roaming around an empty, eerie house. It gets a little better for the last quarter of the film, but the twist is a disappointment as well.
Lady D
Super Reviewer
May 1, 2010
Well if you are only as good as your last film, then it's a little sad for Brittany Murphy's to have been this one. Don't get me wrong, Murphy as always put in a good performance, but the film itself was excrutiatingly slow at times and found myself getting lost through boredom. It is a very cliche ghost film and whilst the ending is supposed to be left as some kind of twist, it fell a bit flat and left you wondering whether you got the ending right or not!
[My predicted rating: 3.5]
Well if you are only as good as your last film, then it's a little sad for Brittany Murphy's to have been this one. Don't get me wrong, Murphy as always put in a good performance, but the film itself was excrutiatingly slow at times and found myself getting lost through boredom. It is a very cliche ghost film and whilst the ending is supposed to be left as some kind of twist, it fell a bit flat and left you wondering whether you got the ending right or not!
YodaMasterJedi
Super Reviewer
April 1, 2011
three stars...
LWOODS04
Super Reviewer
December 17, 2009
DIRECTED BY: Sean McConville
I really feel bad because this being Brittany's last film I really wanted to like it. But unfortunately it failed to impress me. It's a haunted house story that has all the cliches'. Creepy footsteps, shadows on the walls, phone calls with heavy breathing, and the ghost of course. Thora Birch was great in her role, but even she couldn't hold this film on her own. I also thought Marc Blucas was good as well. Brittany had her moments in this film, but I have seen better acting from her. But it's not like they gave her a great script to work with. It's the story's plot and some of Ms. Murphy's acting that turns this movie into a bundle of nonsense. The ending didn't really make any sense, but neither does the film in it's entire self. Nor do you get any explanation for what the hell it is all about. Was Alice crazy and have some kind of mental problems? She was taking pills, what were they for? Was she writing about what happened between her and Ben? I mean nothing made any sense. I don't think Brittany is to blame for what crap this movie is. I totally blame it on the script and the directing. It's unfortunate that this will be known as her last work. She's so much better then this movie.
Brittany Murphy, Thora Birch, Marc Blucas, Tammy Blanchard
DIRECTED BY: Sean McConville
I really feel bad because this being Brittany's last film I really wanted to like it. But unfortunately it failed to impress me. It's a haunted house story that has all the cliches'. Creepy footsteps, shadows on the walls, phone calls with heavy breathing, and the ghost of course. Thora Birch was great in her role, but even she couldn't hold this film on her own. I also thought Marc Blucas was good as well. Brittany had her moments in this film, but I have seen better acting from her. But it's not like they gave her a great script to work with. It's the story's plot and some of Ms. Murphy's acting that turns this movie into a bundle of nonsense. The ending didn't really make any sense, but neither does the film in it's entire self. Nor do you get any explanation for what the hell it is all about. Was Alice crazy and have some kind of mental problems? She was taking pills, what were they for? Was she writing about what happened between her and Ben? I mean nothing made any sense. I don't think Brittany is to blame for what crap this movie is. I totally blame it on the script and the directing. It's unfortunate that this will be known as her last work. She's so much better then this movie.
Jacob P
Super Reviewer
June 19, 2011
Very slow paced\boring with no action to it AT ALL. no blood, no gore, no action, no kills...well, until the end. But it did have a very interesting story to it, I have to admit. You really have to pay attention to the story in this one to really like it.
Sarah P
Super Reviewer
September 1, 2010
This movie was recommended by a person working at the video store where I rented it. I don't know if they should continue their employment, or if so, probably not a good idea to speak to the customers.
June 14, 2012
Had some twists and a creative storyline. but the movie was pretty mediocre. Scenes dragged on longer than they needed to and to be honest not much really happened... The videotapes were unconvincing and pretty boring as well....
May 13, 2012
Everyone should watch this, you never know what's going to happen next, what twist or anything. Very good. r.i.p Brittany.
Hamee
February 23, 2010
I am not sure how Murphy was always cast in these roles because they were not right for her. This is very slow and involved around only one character slowly losing her mind. Or is she? Where is the resolution at the end of this movie?
PeteyPablo10
January 21, 2012
If you pay attention there is a pretty interesting story except the action is very limited and you are sitting there waiting for something to happen. Up until the end, the action is absent and if you are interested in blood, gore, and unlimited ghouls, this is not for you. I will give it this, there were many suspenseful sequences that made me on edge, but those moments alone weren't enough to make this into an above average film. This movie wasn't bad, it just wasn't great either.
juliantoepfer
October 7, 2011
It is poorly paced, as the first 45 minutes or so are painfully slow. In fact, I remember literally falling asleep a couple times, then waking up a few minutes later to find I had missed absolutely nothing. There must be 10 scenes of Murphy wandering around in a dark hallway, each time revealing nothing.
Then, it suddenly goes nuts, and starts cramming things at a ridiculous rate. Things happen far too quickly to be properly explored, digested or make any sense of, where as if director McConville had any sense of timing, these things could have been played out much more effectively.
If there were a legal limit of 'creaking floorboard/door sounds' or 'ominous minimalistic background piano', this movie exceeds that limit tenfold. The acting here is also pretty horrible. I feel bad saying this being that this was Murphy's last movie, but her acting here is really quite bad. The worst performance of the film however belongs to Blanchard, who is basically a 2x4. Even the usually good Thora Birch falls flat. The script of course is the real failure, because no actor no matter how talented they are could elevate this schlock writing to greatness.
It gets 2 stars because it does manage to do a few interesting things. The expansion of the taped scenes on the camera to 1st person perspective is interesting, and it does create a few scenes with genuine tension. Of course, these scenes are rushed and choppy due to the poor pacing of the first 2/3's of the movie. The climax is unfulfilling, unoriginal and boring. When all is said and done, you're left with a thoroughly bad movie even if it does have a few positives.
A well below average haunted house film. It does nothing original, serves up nothing out of the ordinary, and doesn't even try to elaborate on the few interesting details.
It is poorly paced, as the first 45 minutes or so are painfully slow. In fact, I remember literally falling asleep a couple times, then waking up a few minutes later to find I had missed absolutely nothing. There must be 10 scenes of Murphy wandering around in a dark hallway, each time revealing nothing.
Then, it suddenly goes nuts, and starts cramming things at a ridiculous rate. Things happen far too quickly to be properly explored, digested or make any sense of, where as if director McConville had any sense of timing, these things could have been played out much more effectively.
If there were a legal limit of 'creaking floorboard/door sounds' or 'ominous minimalistic background piano', this movie exceeds that limit tenfold. The acting here is also pretty horrible. I feel bad saying this being that this was Murphy's last movie, but her acting here is really quite bad. The worst performance of the film however belongs to Blanchard, who is basically a 2x4. Even the usually good Thora Birch falls flat. The script of course is the real failure, because no actor no matter how talented they are could elevate this schlock writing to greatness.
It gets 2 stars because it does manage to do a few interesting things. The expansion of the taped scenes on the camera to 1st person perspective is interesting, and it does create a few scenes with genuine tension. Of course, these scenes are rushed and choppy due to the poor pacing of the first 2/3's of the movie. The climax is unfulfilling, unoriginal and boring. When all is said and done, you're left with a thoroughly bad movie even if it does have a few positives.
December 25, 2011
really disappointed. The movie was too dark to see what is going on. The plot was good up to a certain point. The ending was blah.
blizzpirate
Super Reviewer
December 6, 2011
Had some twists and a creative storyline. but the movie was pretty mediocre. Scenes dragged on longer than they needed to and to be honest not much really happened... The videotapes were unconvincing and pretty boring as well....
June 8, 2011
Perhaps if you've had a nervous breakdown, a Haunted house, in the middle of nowhere, alone, with no car, is NOT the place you should be, as in this Suspense Thriller.Brittany Murphy is Alice,a writer that has lost her baby, due to her Ex Drowning her while pregnant.She goes to this Beautiful stately Manor in the middle of nowhere to write, & lets her friend(Tammy Blanchard) take the car.Snooping leads Alice to find tapes of a Man & Wife(Thora Birch & Marc Blucas) who once lived there, she was pregnant, & he was insane with jealousy.Alice is starting to hear things, which distracts her from her writing, & she becomes obsessed with what happened to this couple, & viewing all the tapes of him documenting his wives every move.The tapes become a little too close to Alice's own experience as you find out the fate of this couple.What makes this Film good is that you are never really sure if the Tapes are what really happened, or the Screenplay Alice is writing, or if Alice has had a Psychotic Break. It is a bit confusing, and leaves you scratching you head, & wanting another crack at figuring out what you just watched.
jam233
December 1, 2009
The slow pace of this film kills any chance of it being good. The performances are fine, it has a moody atmsphere and some creepy moments, butI just got bored.
Calum Russell
April 11, 2012
Starring the late Brittany Murphy and Thora Birch, deadline follows the story of a screenwriter who travels to an abandoned house to finish a script on time, but a strange series of events leads to her psychological breakdown.
Throughout this film I was just waiting and waiting for this film to kick in with it's main plot and driving force, but before I knew it , the film had ended and I was sitting their baffled and unsatisfied. The stories so lack-luster, it's transparent and easily predictable. The acting is also poor, it almost seems like none of the actors/actresses want to be their, all the performances are half-hear ted and very unbelievable. In a film about a screen writer it's also ironic that the screen writing in this film is one of the worst I've ever seen. Filled to the brim with film cliches and awful dialogue.
The only light relief comes at the end with a small twist, that will keep you thinking for literally minutes until you understand it, it won't leave you open mouthed, it will just leave you thinking 'ohhh....is that it?'
30%- No passion what so ever in this unoriginal cliched bore.
Calum Russell
Deadline- In a nutshell
Starring the late Brittany Murphy and Thora Birch, deadline follows the story of a screenwriter who travels to an abandoned house to finish a script on time, but a strange series of events leads to her psychological breakdown.
Throughout this film I was just waiting and waiting for this film to kick in with it's main plot and driving force, but before I knew it , the film had ended and I was sitting their baffled and unsatisfied. The stories so lack-luster, it's transparent and easily predictable. The acting is also poor, it almost seems like none of the actors/actresses want to be their, all the performances are half-hear ted and very unbelievable. In a film about a screen writer it's also ironic that the screen writing in this film is one of the worst I've ever seen. Filled to the brim with film cliches and awful dialogue.
The only light relief comes at the end with a small twist, that will keep you thinking for literally minutes until you understand it, it won't leave you open mouthed, it will just leave you thinking 'ohhh....is that it?'
30%- No passion what so ever in this unoriginal cliched bore.
Calum Russell
May 8, 2012
Extraordinarily boring spooky/thriller. Drags horribly for the first hour and gets worse from there as they seemingly had so little plot and no idea of tension building.
