Customer Reviews

Dead of Winter

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

You might think that you've already seen every possible permutation of the mad slasher stalking the young couple in the woods. However this film, "based on real events," does put a new twist on the theme.

The couple's floundering in the woods gets a little repetitious, and you might think you are guessing the secret of their dilemma. But you probably won't know the whole truth of the matter until the very last frame.

So this film is marginally worth sticking with. But there's another, better film out there with the same title, "Dead of Winter." (Producers seem to be recycling titles with increasing rapidity.) This somewhat older film, starring Mary Steenburgen and Roddy McDowall, is much slicker, more clever - and more frightening. So if you just have time for one chilling snow job - make it the Steenburgen/McDowall film.

If you read the liner notes to this film, there are quotes that compare this film to "The Shining." We won't go THAT far here, although there are moments where the scenery and mood do succeed in creating tension and uncertainty. McNamara obviously draws from Mr. King in that respect, although this movie would compare with more standard King films such as "Riding the Bullet." It is better than most of the Masters of Horror series, though, and if it were not for the banal dialogue and absurd one-liners throughout, the acting by the two lead characters would have put this over the top. But the problem is that while it IS atmospheric and it IS chilling at times, everyone watching it knows what is going on, and the "twist" at the end really is not all that shocking. There is very little blood/gore, very few moments where you will jump or be startled, and the suspensful moments are just too few and far between to make this movie anything more than average.

McNamara deserves points for trying, however, and he does connect on certain thematic elements. In addition, the two young leads in the film deliver performances that should not be overlooked. It is not a total loss, but I would only suggest it as a rental.

Wow, this movie is unapologetically bad. The instant and mind shattering effects of crystal meth star in the leading role (incidentally a young couple also flees from a madman while braving the elements).

The story kept me intrigued, though I'd advise any viewer to have the mute button ready and turn off the volume when the girlfriend's auditory hallucination scenes start (think Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes, only instead of funny, annoying, and longer).

The police officer and 911 dispatcher roles are convincingly played and I actually connected with them by the end of the movie. The young couple strained credulity at times, but I suppose the drug card was used as a get out of (scriptwriting) jail free card.

Overall it was not worth watching. The idea is a decent one, but the drug's impact on the story was way overplayed; the director let this one get away. As bad as the end product is, judicious editing here and there might have bumped it up to the crappy but entertaining enough level. In the end it was little more than an hour and a half public service announcement to not do crystal meth (and of course no one with the sense to read my review would consider doing that anyway.)

Skip.

Dead of Winter (aka Lost Call) has all the makings of a good, intense movie - but it never truly delivers. Throwing a big surprise in at the last moment doesn't help. You can't make up for a weak story by delivering a surprise questionable ending - when is Hollywood going to figure that out? I know this film is supposedly based on a true story, but I've read about that true story; Dead of Winter may be built upon the same structure of that event, but this is really just an attempt to exploit a tragedy in a failed effort to add a little extra tension to a film that struggles to stand on its own two legs. I don't want to speak too harshly of the film, though, because I have to admit it did a good job of keeping me entertained.

If these two young people had only had their drinks unknowingly laced with LSD, I would really have cared what happened to them after they found themselves lost in the cold, snowy woods. The fact that they also both willingly snorted crystal meth at their friend's New Year's party, though, kept me from establishing a true bond with them and their plight. I didn't want anything bad to happen to the cute girl, Tiffany (Sandra McCoy), but I have to admit I didn't like Kevin (Al Santos) at all. When you think some awful something is attacking you, you don't just run off and leave your girl behind - unless you're Kevin, who did it repeatedly.

So Kevin and Tiffany leave this party in something of a huff and head home on the snowy roads. Hearing and seeing frightening things, they abandon the car and run off into the woods in a panic. Afraid to head back to the car, they decide to trek the rest of the way home through the woods. Naturally, they get lost. They do call 911, but the signal never lasts very long, and the dispatcher has a hard time figuring out where they are because of the crazy things they say - they're lost at their apartment, there are a bunch of "workers" there who don't speak English, etc. Things go from bad to worst out in the woods as Kevin's behavior becomes stranger and stranger.

In light of the ending, I feel that some of the overall story elements are rather flimsily connected to one another, and a number of obvious yet unanswered questions arise as to the whole situation this couple found themselves in. The film does muster up a couple of creepy moments, one of which features a beautifully subtle and perfectly executed shot that you may not notice if you aren't paying attention at the time, but the story just isn't strong enough to carry this film all the way through. The end result is an average horror/thriller that will entertain you but probably won't exceed your expectations.

Let's be fair, this movie deserves a three star rating. Good acting, atmospheric background affect, good soundtrack. These no talent idiots who give it less then three stars, what have they done as far as movies are concern themselves. Hate over zealous critics, who have no resume to show the rest of the world and have nothing better to do then put others down. Jealous morons. This movie was enternaining to me. Shows what can happen to you on dangerous drugs, so it does send a message, so there you less then three stars jerks. I want the soundtrack.

First off, why is this movie so costly? Dead of Winter was terrible! The whole movie is about 2 kids tripping on LSD, big deal!! They think someone is after them, paranoid running through the wintry woods. This film is purely a no brainer. Waste of time & especially money. I do admit the acting was great, the director did a good job filming & everything else about the film was fantastic quality but the story is empty & just plain boring. Schroeder (Publisher/Owner) of Cult Movies Magazine.

So a couple of kids go to a party, enjoy some nose candy, get stuck in the woods and have trouble differentiating between the world of real snow and the snow-induced fake world. Somewhere in this mess, it seems that someone is out to get them while they try to fight their way out of the woods. Unfortunately, this is a movie that has nothing new to show, and repeats old concepts, but not in a good way. On one hand, the technical aspects of the story are surprisingly good - pretty good camera work, good lighting, and decently high quality cameras. So from that angle, the movie is at least watchable. The acting is decent too. However, the problem is the story. Its a simple concept, but fails on execution, and just doesn't work. The story evolution doesn't make enough sense for the movie to flow, and the what-should-be climactic scenes (i.e., when the characters find themselves in a traumatic experience), aren't. Things just sorta come and go without any precursor that lets the scene make any sense, so it more feels like many little vignettes of tiny, disconnected stories artificially woven together.

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT MOVIE!I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.THIS IS A TRUE STORY.THE MOVIE HAS A FEW DIFFERENCES-BUT THE THEME,AND THE PLOT ARE THE SAME.IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT-THIS IS A TRAGIC SITUATION.KEVIN AND TIFFANY WERE ON THEIR WAY TO A PARTY.WHILE WAITING FOR THEM-THEIR FRIEND WHO IS HAVING THE PARTY,GOT LINES OF COCAINE READY FOR THEM,AND HE POURED THEM EACH A SHOT GLASS OF A DRINK.HE ALSO PUT SOMETHING IN THEIR DRINKS-WHICH THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT.CLOSE TO THE END OF THE PARTY-KEVIN AND TIFFANY LEAVE TO GO SOMEPLACE.THEY'RE STARTING TO HEAR THINGS,AND THINGS ARE LOOKING WEIRD.ALL OF A SUDDEN-HE SLAMS ON HIS BREAKS,AND THEY SLIDE INTO THE WOODS AND CRASH INTO A TREE.NOW THEY BEGIN THEIR WALK INTO THE WOODS.THEY BOTH SEE THINGS CHASING THEM.THEY BOTH HEAR THINGS.WHEN THEY CALL 911 FOR HELP-THEY HEAR THINGS THAT AREN'T REALLY BEING SAID.THE 911 PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR THEM,BUT THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE,AND THEY GIVE THEIR APARTMENT ADDRESS.ANYWAY-THAT'S HOW THE MOVIE GOES.THEY KEEP ON SEEING THINGS,AND BEING CHASED.TOWARDS THE END,WHEN KEVIN'S TALKING TO THE 911 OPERATOR-HE HEARS THE OPERATOR TELL HIM THAT TIFFANY'S GOING TO KILL HIM.SHE WANTS TO KILL HIM.KEVIN NOW GETS MAD AT TIFFANY,AND STARTS TO BE NASTY TO HER.LATER-HE STARTS CHASING HER TO KILL HER.SHE HAS NO IDEA OF WHY HE'S ACTING SO MEAN TO HER.THERE'S A SURPRISE ENDING THAT'S REALLY SOMETHING.I COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT.THE "WE" CHANNEL ONLY SHOWED 30 MINUTES OF THE ORIGINAL SITUATION BECAUSE NOT MUCH WAS KNOWN.FROM TIME TO TIME-THEY SHOW A COMMERCIAL ABOUT THESE 2 PEOPLE.

Dead of Winter definitely doesn't deserve all the criticism it has received thus far.

It's about a young boyfriend (and his girlfriend) who are stuck in the woods and basically, it doesn't take long until they BOTH start losing their minds. Something evil is lurking out in those woods, and whatever it is likes to play mind games with their thoughts and makes them do unrational things.

While walking through the woods, both the young man and his girlfriend constantly hear weird, unnatural sounds that make them really nervous, upset and angry. These sounds get to the point that it drives them crazy and fearful for their lives.

These particular scenes create an *amazingly* tense atmosphere. In fact, they work so well that the atmosphere is the number one reason I'm giving Dead of Winter such a high rating of 4 out of 5.

The storyline is pretty good too. The boyfriend and girlfriend keep accusing each other of things they never really did because the eeriness and strange evil inside the woods is making them go crazy, so they get into fights over, for example, who made certain phone calls, and why they shut the lights out on each other upon entering a home, etc.

Of course the other person didn't really DO any of that stuff, but the storyline creates a nice unsettling mystery showing what it's like to see two people go insane.

All the boy and girl wanted is to find a way out of those pesky woods.

Anyway, the storyline is never really confusing because at least you can understand and explain the events most of the time.

However, the ending is pretty terrible if you ask me, and the acting could have been better (especially by the girlfriend). Far from a bad film, however.

I read somewhere that McNamara inserted his name in the title like he thought he was John Carpenter. Well, it's obvious he did it to identify it and set it apart from other movies by the same name. And I agree that the soundtrack is a keeper. The movie had my attention from the beginning and I didn't mind the lack of blood and gore and gratuitous sex. McNamara created a horror movie without those kind of cheap tricks - a movie that speaks for itself. The movie certainly does send a message about street drugs. My interest didn't lag at any point and the ending was unexpected. It is a chilling movie and I would love to know about the people whose experience this movie is based on. "Brian McNamara's Dead of Winter" is full of suspense and the chills never stop and should not be compared to the Mary Steenburgen & Roddy McDowall version - they are two entirely different movies with entirely different plots. Both are suspense filled movies. All in all this is a good movie for a rainy day or dark night. If you like suspense and are not afraid to experience fear, buy it or rent it - I don't believe you will be sorry.