Review of Deadline (2004) by Filipeneto — 07 Jul 2018

This film begins in a rather uncharacteristic way: a young girl who is a screenwriter and is trying to recover from a destructive love relationship decides to isolate herself in an old and remote mansion in order to be able to finish a new script within the deadlines.

However, the house hides a mystery surrounding the previous tenants who will tinker with her head. Okay, nothing new here. It's the usual light horror thriller, blending "haunted house" with "psychopathic killer coming to kill the girl", seasoned with "found footage" and served with such a lack of originality that it becomes very predictable and lacks any tension or suspense.

How am I going to feel tense or stay tuned to the screen if I know what's going to happen? Things get better when the story of Lucy, the previous inhabitant, begins to develop, giving a dramatic and human touch to a story very empty until then.

In a way, we are more able to care for Thora Birch's character than the main one, played by Brittany Murphy. Another problem is the tremendous slow pace, as if the director wanted to "fill the sausage" just to get a movie lasting more than an hour.

Combine that with the predictability I've mentioned and you'll understand that it turns out to be boring most of the time. As for the cast, Brittany Murphy does not surprise me or show great interpretive ability (she was never close to being a great actress and the tabloid news about her death can be more interesting than her filmography), Birch complied with which was required of her, but didn't particularly shine.

It's not worth talking about Marc Blucas, who played a papier-mâché villain.