Deadfall Trail (2009)

Very disappointing...

Absolutely brilliant

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is the worst horror movie of all time. It has the worst story line. It is slow and not scary at all. 4.1 is not a good ratting. But this is such an awful movie that 4.1 overrating it. It is crap. I give it 1. The ending is awful. If I want to get scared I will watch Deliverance. This is a pooh pooh movie. The acting it not very good either. This is one of the worst horror movies I have seen. Do not waste your time. Do not waste your money. Do not see this awful movie. It is just a big pile pooh pooh. It is pooh pooh with pee pee inside it. It is so slow. And so not scary. I can not believe how not scary it is. There are better movie out there like Troll 2. I mean that. I really do.

***SPOILERS*** Taking a three week hike through the wilds and deserts of Arizona three survivalists Julian Paul & John, Shane Dean Cavin Gray & Slade Hall, soon confront a matter of life and death when John due to the first time at this, surviving in the wild, butterfingered Paul slipping up and causing him to get stabbed by a wild bore trap that Julian set up to get food. Now with an injured person to care and look after both Julian & Paul's troubles have only began with the unfriendly forest and it's inhabitants slowly closing in on them.Living off the fat or gooey of the lands by eating bugs and worms as well as needing desperately needed medical help for John the two soon start to turn at each other in them accusing each other of not doing enough to get themselves out of the mess that they now find themselves in. Even though it was the rookie Paul who caused all this trouble he seems to be taking the high road in as if he's the one who's the injured party not the barley hanging on to life Paul. As the tension between the two survivors-Julian & John- reach a fever pitch when Paul now within moments of suffering a painful death in the wilds is peacefully put out of his misery by a kind and caring Julian smashing his skull in with a bolder before he has to suffer any farther.Now with the two remanding survivor of this trip in the wilds going after each other for reasons that they can only explain it's only a matter of time before one or both end up dead: Either by killing each other or dying of exposer or hunger in the wild. ****SPOILERS**** It's the far more experience Julian who despite everything that Paul does to kill him who ends up alive even though by the time he's discovered by a search party he completely lost it and is ready for a lifetime stay in a mental institution. As for Paul by then he's completely out of the picture or movie in him trying to go on his own and ending up nowhere.P.S Ther's a very interesting scene with a drugged up, who had couple of uppers hidden in his shirt, and out of his skull Julian having a jolly good time naked as a jay bird splashing and frisking around in a local stream with Mother Earth played by the sexy Katrina Matusek who's fun was interrupted when the drugs wore off.

The tough, no-nonsense Julian (a terrific performance by Shane Dean) and his more laid-back friend John (a solid and likable portrayal by Slade Hall) are veteran campers who decide to embark on a no-frills expedition into the deep Arizona wilderness. Obnoxious troublemaker and blundering tenderfoot Paul (well played to the annoying hilt by Cavin Gray Schneider) tags along. However, things go horribly awry after John gets seriously wounded and the subsequent pressure causes Julian to degenerate into a ferocious primal state. Director Roze, who also co-wrote the taut and absorbing script with Candace Rose and Josh Staman, relates the involving story at a steady pace, presents a trio of complex and well-drawn main characters, and neatly covers all the essential roughing it in the woods bases (i.e., eating bugs, starting a fire with sticks and twigs, digging for water under the ground, and so on). Moreover, the considerable tension between Julian and Paul is ably handled; their highly charged confrontations pack a potent dramatic punch and the gripping and suspenseful cat and mouse chase between them towards the end likewise totally smokes. The sturdy and credible acting by the three excellent leads keeps the picture humming, with Dean a particular stand-out throughout. Tari Segal's sharp widescreen cinematography gives the movie a striking picturesque look. Jason Camiolo's lively and harmonic country-rock score hits the rousing spot. A cool little film.

It's a shame when people undertake the effort to make a feature film when they simply do not have the requisite tools to even superficially command the craft. The filmmaker(s) should have spent more time doing another short film or two in order to better prepare (or better yet) learn the craft of story design and character development. The movie is reasonably well shot, but this is the extent of what I'm willing to give this movie. Good work by DP.The movie drags and drags. The characters are not well drawn – very little debt. All we get is three guys that go into the forest on a self-imposed mission to test themselves with very little water and a bag of peyote. The reason for this is not very well justified. We're left to assume that it's a contrived "guys" thing – not good enough as far as a premise goes. We're not given a whole lot of insight into Julian's character aside from the fact that he's got some sort of unresolved internal issues – none of this is well mapped. He and Paul are drawn up as having issues with on another, but again nothing is really fleshed out in any discernible dramatic sense. Their relationship is flat and one-note.As mentioned earlier, nothing really happens with these guys. The structure is week and no discernible dramatic tension is created that is able to sustain a feature length telling of the story (or lack thereof). The movie simply wallows along as we follow these week characters through the forest.I really long for the days when people stop pretending to be filmmakers just because they have the financial means to do so. Of course, we can't really define well made movies without having our fair share of bad or mediocre movies like this one. The filmmakers of Deadfall Trail will do well to be honest with themselves and learn to appreciate the art of story craft – maybe consult those that do have experience instead of assuming that they already have the tools. Learn how to write stories that resonate with the audience and populate your story with compelling characters that have some emotional debt and complexity and are able to pull the audience along. Reach out for serious notes from experienced story tellers if you need to. And don't fall into the fatal trap of only taking notes that praise or validate you. Learn how to work with honest notes, even if it hurts. From what I understand, the filmmakers are instructors at a two year film program in Scottsdale, Arizona? My hopes are that this does not cloud their ability to take notes from others. It's very easy for people like this to feel like they have all the answers when surrounded by eager students that look up to them.