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Cast: Barbara Crampton, Brea Grant, AJ Bowen
James and his wife Casey load up their two teenage kids and head out to a remote cabin in Oregon for a weekend trip. When James heads into the snowy forest in search of firewood, he encounters an enigmatic woman passed out in the snow. Bringing her back to the cabin for help, the family has no way of knowing that the woman's presence is the catalyst for a series of events that will change their lives forever.
The film opens in June 12th, 1961 with a scary and bloody scene that wets your appetite and leaves you wanting more. It then cuts to March 21, 2015 where we meet James and his wife Casey, their son and daughter and a friend of the daughter's as they head to a cabin for a weekend getaway. Shortly after arriving James decides to head out into the cold, snowy woods to fetch some firewood. While out, he finds a woman in the frozen snow. He helps her up and gets her into the warm cabin but they could not have known the carnage that would follow.
I liked most of 'Dead Night' including the cast which includes genre favorites AJ Bowen and Barbara Crampton who are both terrific in the film. The rest of the cast did a great job as well. Another thing I liked about the film was how it looked and the snowy woods that helped in creating just the right atmosphere and mood. And lastly I loved the effects used, most of which were practical.
'Dead Night' is definitely an atmospheric, moody horror film that really delivers on the creepiness. It I had one complaint it would be the TV crime show that ran parallel with the original story. It is a documentary that talks about the murders after they had happened. I felt it didn't really add anything to the film and it took away a lot of the film's momentum it was building on. Aside from that I thought it was a creepy, disturbing and often violent horror film that a lot of fans are going to enjoy.
It isn't perfect by any means but in the end I still found it to be an entertaining 80's like horror flick. I read the film had gone through some heavy editing to remove of a lot of the TV crime show parts which I suppose made it better than the original cut but story wise it wasn't enough to save the film. Luckily everything I already mentioned saved the film from being a total disaster. I can't help but feel for first time director, Bradford Baruh. I felt the story let him down but he certainly has an eye for horror and I look forward to seeing what he does next.
'Dead Night' comes to DVD on Sept. 11, 2018. It will come with Special Features that include:
Deleted Scenes
Trailer
Released by Dark Sky Films
*** Out Of *****