Dread (2009)

Truly Dreadful Film

Great Film overall

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

As a child Quaid (Shaun Evans) witnessed his parents murdered with an ax as a child. He has nightmares and hallucinations about it. In college he gets together with two other students, Steven (Jackson Rathbone) and Cheryl (Hanne Steen) to do a study about fear and dread. Once the interview stage is complete, Quaid wants to take his study to the next level by making people face their fears.The film has all the elements of a good horror slasher: decent build-up, characters, nudity, cute ending, and some originality. For some reason it didn't grab me like it should have. Perhaps it was the non-likeability of Quaid, or the softness of Steven's character.F-bomb, sex, nudity (Erin Gavin, Laura Donnelly + others)

I am not a rabid horror fan. I like horror movies, but most of the ones that come out do not interest me. So when I saw that Twilight star Jackson Rathbone had made a horror movie (during the high point of Twilight's popularity), I knew I had to see it regardless. I give it 6 out of 10 mainly due to the ending.Dread is about college students who find out about people's innermost fears. One young man, Quaid, saw his parents killed when he was a kid and he's thoroughly messed up for life (understandably). He is obsessed with this project and with getting his way. Shaun Evans stars as Quaid and brings a craziness to the role. You can see his descent into madness after he stops taking his medication. At first, his obsession is small, but as he begins to hurt his friends, you realize he's completely gone. Excellent.Jackson Rathbone is Stephen, a film student needing a thesis project. He agrees to go along with Quaid and does a fear study, believing that it is just a school project. Rathbone is perfect as Stephen. He is completely convincing as a naive man who realizes Quaid's sociopath tendencies, albeit a little too late. At the climax, when Rathbone goes to Quaid's house near the end, you can tell that he himself has descended into madness. There is a reason why Rathbone is making his mark in the film industry; he has the talent.Laura Donnelly played Abby, my favorite character in the film. Abby felt discriminated against her entire life because she has a full birthmark on the right-hand side of her body. She hates it and believes it is why she is not beautiful (I beg to differ). During her segment of the fear study, she says that she realized in kindergarten that her birthmark was something to be ashamed of and every time she meets someone new, she returns to that fateful day. She also has a crush on Stephen and believes his rejection of her is because of the birthmark, when it actually is not. We never really find out what happens to her after she tries to remove the birthmark near the end of the film, and I wish we had.Cheryl Fromm is played by Hanne Steen. Cheryl is also a film student who partners with Stephen to work on the fear study. Steen was very convincing, especially when we learn why she can't stand to look at a piece of meat. I did not find her as attractive as Donnelly, however. She did very well when locked in a room in Quaid's home, although we also never find out what happens to her. I have my assumptions, but it would have been nice to have a concrete answer.Dread is based on the short story by Clive Barker. When they made the movie, they changed the ending. I know that Hollywood is famous for this, but I wish they had kept the original ending. I think it would have been more fitting to the story. With the ending that we are given, we see some good acting from Rathbone and Steen.This is another movie that does not rely on effects too much to tell a story. However, there is blood so if you are squeamish, you may want to avoid this. Unlike other horror movies, I did not find the blood count to be too bad in this one. In some films, I believe they go for shock value and try for as much blood and gore as possible. While it is present in Dread, there are only a few scenes that show it.This movie was effective for me in regards to thinking about your innermost fears. I know mine came to the surface while watching this film, along with a few others. It takes courage to admit what scares you the most, and even more courage to face the demon head-on. This film looks at both those aspects.I do not know if I will add Dread to my collection as I did not like it that much. However, I am glad that I saw it to show support to Rathbone. As long as Twilight fans continue to support their actors, Rathbone will have a long career ahead of him. Regardless, I will be eagerly watching him.

This movie in my opinion is truly a classic , the acting is brilliant and the story line is excellent , unlike some movies , in which the acting looks scripted and fake and the plot is rubbish.The movie starts of rather slow , but the ending is worth the wait. There is plenty of gore and suspense in between to keep you glued . This movie is not for the faint heart-ed or people who get grossed-out very easily.5.7/10 is a rather unfair score for this movie.The originality and simplicity of this movie is what makes it special.It's more a sort of a psychological thriller . Anyways , its a fun flick with plenty of gore , suspense and partial nudity.A must watch for any thriller fan.

Proof you can make a tense, riveting film on a shoestring and a reminder that Clive Barker is a great horror writer. Solid performances, well paced, often shocking and truly frightening complete with haunting imagery. Executive Producer Anthony DiBlasi who worked on the last few Barker films shows real skill as he steps into the writer/director chair and love of the material as he deftly handles it all making this one of my favorites. A movie built on developing the characters, that makes you care about them and what happens to them is a rare thing, solid performances from the main characters come together to make this one of the best horror films of 2009. Make it a marathon and watch the other films produced by DiBlasi and Barker Midnight Meat Train, and Book of Blood together exemplify of what can be done when a writer and filmmaker work together to bring more literal translations of the original work to the screen unlike so many book adaptations who's films barely resemble the novels.