I stumbled across a gem on Amazon Prime today called Dread. The poster for the 2009 film, directed by The Last Shift maestro Anthony DiBlasi and adapted from the 1984 Clive Barker novel, was unremarkable, but the grainy, lush, Marcus Nispel-like cinematography pulled me in. It's quite a gory effort, but it boasts a stellar premise, one that searches for people's most ominous personal traumas and dreads in order to face them head on. Equal parts of Fight Club, Flatliners, and Pathology are found here, while the movie creates something all its own as well. Dread also features a killer soundtrack with Silversun Pickups, M83, and The Veils. My favorite aspect of the film of course is its entry into the psychological horror category.
Stephen meets Quaid outside a dull philosophy lecture at a nameless upstate New York university. Stephen is a film major, but in order to meet his Ethics requirement, he's decided to take the class. It seems to be a fateful night, as the two young men strike up a conversation, not too unlike the one Fight Club's protagonist has with Tyler Durden the night they meet. For Stephen's Master's thesis, Quaid suggests that they make a documentary in which volunteers from around campus reveal their most deep-seated traumas. Stephen has his own, as does Quaid, as does Cheryl, a film student who agrees to be the project editor. Cheryl admits to being molested by her meat-packing father and detesting his meat-flavored smell, Quaid confesses that his parents were murdered by an axe-wielding psycho, and Stephen tells the two about losing his brother to a car crash at the age of 15.
Every character has their own damages, including Stephen's school bookstore friend Abby, who's life has been traumatized by a birthmark that stretches down one side of her entire body. She has feelings for Stephen, whom she confesses her trauma to, but he rejects her, as he has feelings for Cheryl. Abby ends up hooking up with Quaid, who gives her the attention Stephen won't, but who experiences a relapse of his own trauma after staying the night with her. While hiding from his own inner-tumult, Quaid attempts to help Stephen overcome his, tracking down and buying the same car that his brother lost his life in.
After suffering a breakdown, Quaid turns in Stephen and Cheryl's project without their knowledge, which yields positive returns. They may be finished, but he's certainly not. He seeks to take the project to the next level, making the lives of those around him a living hell. Quaid tortures the tortured, because, well, he's been tortured himself, he's a straight-up psycho. He's an equal mix of Tyler Durden, Jigsaw, and the Marquis de Sade, setting his cast of characters up for one twisted game after another, throwing their greatest fears back at them ten-fold.
It's a twisted movie for sure, but one I can appreciate, and one that received critical acclaim. It combines elements from a list of movies that I love, while still maintaining a certain amount of creativity. I'm not sure how closely it sticks to the original Clive Barker novel, but director DiBlasi got this one right, just as he did with his indie horror hit, The Last Shift. I definitely look for forward to more from the director in the future.
I stumbled across a gem on Amazon Prime today called Dread. The poster for the 2009 film, directed by The Last Shift maestro Anthony DiBlasi and adapted from the 1984 Clive Barker novel, was unremarkable, but the grainy, lush, Marcus Nispel-like cinematography pulled me in. It's quite a gory effort, but it boasts a stellar premise, one that searches for people's most ominous personal traumas and dreads in order to face them head on. Equal parts of Fight Club, Flatliners, and Pathology are found here, while the movie creates something all its own as well. Dread also features a killer soundtrack with Silversun Pickups, M83, and The Veils. My favorite aspect of the film of course is its entry into the psychological horror category.
Stephen meets Quaid outside a dull philosophy lecture at a nameless upstate New York university. Stephen is a film major, but in order to meet his Ethics requirement, he's decided to take the class. It seems to be a fateful night, as the two young men strike up a conversation, not too unlike the one Fight Club's protagonist has with Tyler Durden the night they meet. For Stephen's Master's thesis, Quaid suggests that they make a documentary in which volunteers from around campus reveal their most deep-seated traumas. Stephen has his own, as does Quaid, as does Cheryl, a film student who agrees to be the project editor. Cheryl admits to being molested by her meat-packing father and detesting his meat-flavored smell, Quaid confesses that his parents were murdered by an axe-wielding psycho, and Stephen tells the two about losing his brother to a car crash at the age of 15.
Every character has their own damages, including Stephen's school bookstore friend Abby, who's life has been traumatized by a birthmark that stretches down one side of her entire body. She has feelings for Stephen, whom she confesses her trauma to, but he rejects her, as he has feelings for Cheryl. Abby ends up hooking up with Quaid, who gives her the attention Stephen won't, but who experiences a relapse of his own trauma after staying the night with her. While hiding from his own inner-tumult, Quaid attempts to help Stephen overcome his, tracking down and buying the same car that his brother lost his life in.
After suffering a breakdown, Quaid turns in Stephen and Cheryl's project without their knowledge, which yields positive returns. They may be finished, but he's certainly not. He seeks to take the project to the next level, making the lives of those around him a living hell. Quaid tortures the tortured, because, well, he's been tortured himself, he's a straight-up psycho. He's an equal mix of Tyler Durden, Jigsaw, and the Marquis de Sade, setting his cast of characters up for one twisted game after another, throwing their greatest fears back at them ten-fold.
It's a twisted movie for sure, but one I can appreciate, and one that received critical acclaim. It combines elements from a list of movies that I love, while still maintaining a certain amount of creativity. I'm not sure how closely it sticks to the original Clive Barker novel, but director DiBlasi got this one right, just as he did with his indie horror hit, The Last Shift. I definitely look for forward to more from the director in the future.
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