{"id":1757,"date":"2010-12-02T00:40:10","date_gmt":"2010-12-02T05:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2011-01-02T12:49:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-02T17:49:00","slug":"dvd-end-of-the-line-2006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=1757","title":{"rendered":"DVD: End of the Line (2006)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>E<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Film: Good \/ DVD Transfer: Very Good \/ DVD Extras: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: Anchor Bay\/Critical Mass\/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: October 14, 2008<\/p>\n

Genre: Horror<\/p>\n

Synopsis: A young nurse and several fellow travellers are threatened by members of a doomsday cult after their subway ride suddenly grinds to a halt.<\/p>\n

Special Features: Audio commentary with writer\/producer\/director Maurice Devereaux and visual effects\/composer Martin Gauthier \/ Making-of featurette: \u201cA Splatter of Faith\u201d (36:42) \/ 2007 Montreal Fantasia Festival Q&A (10:13) \/ \u201cThe Most Asked Question\u201d (1:28) \/ Deleted Scene plus text intro: \u201cAstrology\u201d (2:01) \/ Reverend Hope\u2019s TV ad: \u201cA Message of Hope\u201d (:31) \/ Photo Gallery (3:49) \/ Complete Music Score Gallery (20 tracks) \/ O-sleeve<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Maurice Devereaux\u2019 underground thriller is a bit of a head-scratcher because it\u2019s very much a puzzle piece; nothing is quite what it seems to be, and the finale isn\u2019t a stark unmasking of all the subterfuge that may be at the root of a young woman\u2019s flight for safety after a routine subway ride home goes very, very bad.<\/p>\n

In fairness, the film\u2019s poster art \u2013 an arresting design of eyeless, leathery humanoids clamouring over a stalled subway car \u2013 is a bit of a cheat. The creatures are part of the story, but horror fans expecting a straightforward tale of primitives knocking off and gnawing away at humans will be disappointed.<\/p>\n

End of the Line<\/strong>, without giving away too much, is film about mass hysteria, and how everyday folks affected by feelings of paranoia, doom and gloom, and personal foibles gravitate to a delusional cult bent on saving the world from evil. Unlike your usual doomsday loons, this mainstream hybrid has chosen to be more proactive, and have sent their most devout into densely populated areas where they await a signal to kill infidels and save their souls prior to offing themselves.<\/p>\n

From a low-budget angle, it\u2019s actually quite clever to focus on a microcosm of the doomsday movement, since being underground means there\u2019s no need to stage grand, ground-level conflagrations. Several of the cult members, though, are played completely over the top; most of the minions are more down-to-earth in their zealousness for saving the human race, but their leaders – notably Patrick (Robin Wilcock) and Betty (Joan McBride) – tend to devour the scenery, and over-emote their glee in revelling in hands-on carnage.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s a case where the characters\u2019 insanity is pitched too high, or perhaps mainstream viewers just haven\u2019t been exposed to a similar tone of spiritual ecstasy on film, but when the histrionics of a televangelist and his flock are inserted into a dramatic narrative; their relief and need to release pent-up nervousness or withheld sadism is understandable, but it can also come off as maybe too crazy, if not too colourfully animated.<\/p>\n

Writer\/director\/producer\/editor Maurice Devereaux nicely exploits the large dead spaces of subway platforms and cars used by night shift workers, as well as creepy characters that sometimes grace an otherwise banal ride home. There\u2019s also a fluid integration of the Montreal and Toronto subway system elements which create a weird, semi-antiquated transportation system prone to regular breakdowns. Once the characters are forced to leave the subway cars, the film nestles into a familiar collection of bickering archetypes who band together and strive to make their way to ground level, although the film\u2019s finale will undoubtedly have viewers backtracking a bit, and recap scenes to solve the director\u2019s riddle.<\/p>\n

Probably the most intriguing narrative choice is Devereaux putting the film on pause just as heroes Karen (Ilona Elkin) and Mike (Nicolas Wrigh) are about to flee the train. Devereaux does a\u00a0Rashomon<\/strong> by cutting back to the moment the train left the last station, and re-aligns his focus on another character\u2019s encounter with a murderous zealot \u2013 namely the hot Asian chick, a stud named Neil (Neil Draper), and a pair of young lovers, Sarah and John (Instant Star\u2019s Tim Rozon).<\/p>\n

He also exploits the urban reality that most underground city tunnel systems are a virtual maze of used and unused lines, stops, and passageways that sometimes lead to absolutely nowhere. Scenes are sometimes sweetened with cleverly inserted (and very subtle) digital effects, as well as some practical effects that yield some genuine shocks. The film\u2019s violence is well-paced, and the bouts of occasional gore include a hideous decapitation, and a hasty C-section.<\/p>\n

Anchor Bay\u2019s DVD gathers an excellent array of extras that add additional information outside of the steady and informative director\u2019s commentary track.<\/p>\n

The Making-of featurette has the usual on-set footage, mostly shot at Montreal\u2019s old Wellington Tunnel; Devereaux quiet passionately directing his actors, and a short glimpse into select digital effects smoothly designed by the film\u2019s digital effects man\/composer, Martin Gauthier (whose complete score is also archived in a separately indexed music gallery).<\/p>\n

A short Q&A session with the director at the Fantasia Festival captures the excitement of the film\u2019s Montreal premiere, with the director clearly on a high from the audience\u2019s high-pitched energy. (Although he doesn\u2019t divulge any further info on the film\u2019s finale, he does reinforce the film\u2019s ongoing theme of the horror of religious brainwashing.)<\/p>\n

A separate montage called \u201cThe Most Asked Question\u201d has Devereaux deflecting repeated queries from interviewers as to how much the film cost, and his reasonable explanation that the divulgence of any figure could affect any distribution offers being tendered. The DVD is filled out with a wisely deleted scene between Karen and Mike, and a stills gallery of mostly makeup and gore effects.<\/p>\n

End of the Line<\/strong> has its share of flaws, but Devereaux sets up some effective shocks, and the script is layered with some intelligent statements on religious zealotry, elevating the film far above standard killer-in-the tunnels shockers.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2008 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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Related external links (MAIN SITE):<\/em><\/p>\n

Interview: \u00a0Filmmkaker Maurice Devereaux<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Official Website<\/a> — Soundtrack Album<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em><\/em><\/em>\/\u00a0E<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maurice Devereaux\u2019 underground thriller is a bit of a head-scratcher because it\u2019s very much a puzzle piece; nothing is quite what it seems to be, and the finale isn\u2019t a stark unmasking of all the subterfuge that may be at the root of a young woman\u2019s flight for safety after a routine subway ride home goes very, very bad…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[187,64],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-sl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1757"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2098,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757\/revisions\/2098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}