Dead of Winter

EXCELLENT

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.

...is I think the message this movie's trying to convey. Take the Blair Witch Project, plus a cell phone, minus the Blair Witch, plus a dumb sheriff, minus any scares, plus some bad LSD and you get this. Also, it's hard to get into a horror movie that's filmed like a TV melodrama.

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.

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.

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.

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.

To say that morons created this film would be too much of a compliment.This is worse than the lowest bottom of the sewer b movie, its a "F" or -0 movie.

Good