Deadline (2009)

That was an excellent one.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Deadline starts as a novelist named Alice (Brittany Murphy) decides that the best way to finish her latest book & meet an impending deadline is to isolate herself in the middle of nowhere & completely immerse herself in her writing, she agrees to stay at a huge country house owned by a rich producer & her friend Rebecca (Tammy Blanchard) drives her out there. The house is huge & old but very comfortable, Alice hears noises one night & follows faint footprints on the floor upstairs to a room where she finds a box with lots of videotapes inside. Alice decides to look at some of the tapes & sees the previous residents of the house, a young newly married couple named Lucy (Thora Birch) & David Wood (Marc Blucas) who at first seem very happy. As Alices continues to watch the tapes it turns out that Lucy is pregnant & that David is insanely obsessive & jealous so when Lucy wants to leave him he reacts angrily. Alice delves into the mystery & discovers that both Lucy & David are listed as missing persons, meanwhile the ghostly sounds & unexplained happenings grow more frequent...Written & directed by Sean McConville this fairly sedate & unmemorable haunted house thriller is not to be confused with the similarly titled horror film Deadline (1984) which also deals with a writer losing their grip on reality but I feel that's more of a coincidence rather than this being any sort of remake, while not the worst film I have seen Deadline just isn't very good. The basic story isn't that original, someone who wants isolation moves to an old house in the middle of nowhere & starts to experience supernatural phenomenon before investigating the properties past & find some nasty stuff out, or in the case of Deadline maybe not since Alice is know to be mentally unstable & it might all be in her imagination & she may be suffering another psychological breakdown, yes that's right another one! The script takes it's time & then takes it's time some more, it's a good hour into this 80 minute film before things pick up & the horror aspects kick-in. While the opening hour is watchable enough I suppose not much happens & I can't get my head around the fact that despite the tapes not being numbered or dated & are placed in no particular order in the box Alice manages to watch them all in perfect chronological order! Coincidence? Luck? Who cares? The twists & turns are alright, they don't really save Deadline & make it special but they do prevent it from being a total waste of 80 minutes. If you have a particular liking for slow paced & sedate haunted house thrillers then Deadline is perfectly serviceable, just don't expect anything amazing.Deadline is well made for what it is, the main house is old but maybe isn't that creepy, I would certainly be more than happy to stay there as it looks very comfortable & well furnished. There isn't a cobweb or Rat in sight! There's no blood or gore, there are a few jump scare moments that most will see coming & aren't that effective to be honest. The whole film is just so average, I can't really say it's bad in any aspect other than it's forgettable & I didn't really like it personally that much. The fact that script concentrates almost entirely on one character for it's duration can be a problem because if that one character isn't absorbing it becomes hard to maintain interest & Alice is rather dull & bland.Filmed in Louisiana this had a supposed budget of about $1,800,0000 & looks nice enough throughout. The acting is alright, the late Brittany Murphy looks tired here & not that healthy while the once promising Thora Birch seems to have been reduced to taking anything she can get these days.Deadline is a passable haunted house thriller at best & a forgettable slow moving snoozer at worst, I can't say I hated it but I can't say I liked it much either. Fans of the genre may enjoy it more but I can't see most audiences getting too much pleasure from it. Don't put much effort into seeing it is my advice.

Well i watched it a couple of days ago. I thought i was going to see a thriller, maybe with a twist or too. What a waste of time. What a piece of crap. I am sorry Brittany Murphy (RIP) but you could do much better than this. No wonder why it went straight to DVD. Don't waste an hour and a half of your life people. The story is awful and the characters are not the ones you can relate too. Nothing in this movie seems to get it right. Also Brittany Murphy seems to be not in her best. I don't know what was going on in her mind when she agreed to star in this movie. And the rest of the cast is not in it's best i think. The only reason i to see this movie is if you are a fan of Murphy, although i don't think this movie does her justice. The only thing i found a little interesting is the cinematography. I saw some good looking shots throughout the movie. All and all, a movie to avoid.

A writer (Brittany Murphy) in crisis, trying to develop her new work, goes into an vacant house to stay way from everything, but she enters into a new and dangerous crisis when frightening events start to happen in this place. That place was where her friend (Thora Birch) was murdered by a suspicious and paranoid boyfriend (Marc Blucas), and their moments together, from the good days until the shocking crime were filmed by the killer, and while alone in this place those tapes are the only thing she watches when she's not being terrified by strange visions.Ridiculous, messy and boring, "Deadline" is not scary, is not interesting, it's nothing but a dull thing that follows the main character alone in this house suffering with what she sees. Most of the time there's only silence and dark images on the screen and there's no way one can enjoy or learn anything from here. You sit there and you're mind is elsewhere thinking of anything but the movie in front of you. But hey, the surprises at the ending were a little bit good but they didn't help the movie in any way.Lousy script, poor direction and a good cast that goes impressively bad. That's what "Deadline" is all about. What a waste of time! So, if you have a real deadline to deliver something but you got hooked with this film because of the stars in it, please avoid this garbage and stick to your original projects. You'll feel better later. 2/10

Our Beloved Brittany Murphy, Did you know that New Orleans offers a haunted plantations tour? I like to think this was why an old Victorian mansion in Louisiana was chosen for you to showcase your immense acting talent in the horror genre. The house and you make "Deadline" highly suspenseful.I was delighted to see your friend and costar from "The Ramen Girl", Tammy Blanchard. Will there be more collaborations? Tammy and you exhibit a close and warm friendship during the time she drives you to the Victorian house and leaves you there alone after a tour of the house.You convincingly convey you are a screenwriter named Alice. You are glad a producer friend has given you use of the house. You want to spend time alone working on your script We learn you have to deal with some emotional trauma from a past boyfriend named Ben. We find out on your first night alone that you also have to deal with a haunted house.Even though you are alone you manage to keep us glued to the screen. Scary things and noises convince us you are not alone in the house. You convey vulnerability and we become more and more concerned something is going to happen to you. It seems the ghost character played by Thora Birch keeps trying to communicate with you. On a phone call with Tammy, Your decision to remain in the creepy house to work and figure out what is going on is believable.You continue to rivet us to the screen. Your acting is intensely contemplative and responsive. Right up to the end we are concerned for Thora's life and your life. This reminded me of the dramatic acting by Marilyn Monroe in the melodrama "Niagara" , which she starred in at the age of 27 in 1953.This is a creative and original look at relationships and dealing with emotional stress. I am proud of you for starring in this role in "Deadline".