A Brilliant Conflict

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Some movies are bad but still manage to entertain you in a weird way. They say, those are so bad they're good. This one is not the case. Right from the start I had to make a special effort not to turn it off and finish it. The editing was spastic, the movie just jumped all over the place, showing random people and forgetting them instantly. They sort of introduced the main character, but later it turns out there is no main character. They set up a mystery with starting scenes which have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the rest of the movie. Everything besides gore and creature effects in this felt like a high school production. So, basically the first 20 minutes are just filler, these scenes establish nothing. Add around 40 mins of run-hack'n'slash around and we're almost done. If the movie's poster was what grabbed your attention I have bad news for you - you will be disappointed. It ends with nothing, meeting the viewer's expectations that are gone by that point. There's nothing special to say about this movie, except for probably the acting, most of which ranges from bad to over the top fun. There's even a "character" whose whole motivation is sex, he attempts multiple rapes during the movie and even at the brink of death gets very rapey. Overall, this is very forgettable. I can't really figure out why are there so many good reviews of this. Since I still want to say something good about this movie, I can surely say that some of the gore effects were well done (even though not being very creative) and the creature effects were pretty neat especially for a low budget horror, too bad they are in the movie for 20 seconds.

I wasn't really expecting much from this one, but it made me jump out of my seat in the first five minutes, so it I decided to pay attention and was glad I did. End of the Line has a fairly been-there-done-that plot for the most part. Religious fanatics run amok and sinister things happening in a subway is not exactly new ground for horror films, but, unlike many of its ilk, End of the Line, chose to throw in one subtle theme that, for me, made it all worthwhile.The character of Mike is the one to watch. When we are first introduced to Mike in the subway, he is holding Carl Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World", which is a book (one of my favorites) about using skeptical and critical thinking skills to help weed through this world of half-truths and wacky beliefs, which in this film are represented by a religious cult hell-bent on "saving" everyone. Later in the film Mike tells Karen that she shouldn't be afraid of ghosts (or the like), because they would serve as proof of the afterlife. The final scene drives that point home when Karen is surrounded by a horde of you-get-what-you-pay-for demons and reacts in an unexpected manner.Ultimately, this movies isn't so much anti-religion as it is a statement about forming beliefs based on evidentiary fact not prophecy or popular opinion. I recommend End of the Line for anyone who doesn't mind substituting budget for substance. Also, it has plenty of blood for you gore hounds out there. I should mention that, if you are devoutly religious, that you probably should not watch this one; it will make you all grumpy and defensive. P.S. I have a feeling there are even more less-obvious thematic elements which I might have missed that may warrant a 2nd viewing.

Karen(Ilona Elkin) is a psychiatric nurse struggling to cope with the suicide of a schizophrenic patient(released due to overcrowding)who threw herself in front of a moving subway train after seeing a demon. Karen has a series of ominous drawings Viviane had created showing demons in our world, warning of the dangers to come. And she wasn't joking. On board a subway train, numerous passengers are to be chosen for extermination when nutsoid religious fanatics, obeying a "higher calling"(their confirmation sent via text message), armed with "crucifix daggers", will target anyone not necessarily of the faith. We see that some of the devoted converted aren't exactly as determined to fulfill some horrifying command to slice throats and stab innocents multiple times in the torso to "clease/save their souls". The reverend(we see his smiling face with his family in a cardboard cut out in Karen's psychiatric hospital advertising himself)has an unquestionable following so convinced of whatever garbage he fed them, it really is religious fanaticism at it's most horrid. Voices of Eternal Hope has many members which certainly establishes how scary this menace could be to the outside world if told to cleanse more souls than those in a subway tunnel and train. We get a disturbing scene where a kid comes toward a motley group of passengers who were able to flee the train before being gutted like a fish, and gets hit across the skull..such casualties are expected when the flock is as dedicated as these members are. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting END OF THE LIGHT to be so ambitious in it's storytelling in regards to Armageddon, how chaos and anarchy actually derives from a religious fervor so poisonous that streets are in flames, running mobs trying to get away from hysterical maniacs, truly, with total faith, devout in the belief that they are doing God's will, a mission to save souls by actually killing people. I do think that this plot will offend some Born Again Christians with it's subject matter, the idea of those who believe wholeheartedly in the Lord, following "the voice" which desires for the lost to be saved through heinous violence. In one scene, we see a victim almost decapitated with a sword and another where a pregnant member wanting absolution from Satan with a plea(along with members round abouts expecting it as well)for her husband to use the dagger to "save her"..there's nothing more disturbing than seeing a husband stabbed by his own wife, only for others to take turns plunging daggers in her, cutting the unborn baby from her womb! I think many will find END OF THE LINE just plain blasphemous.There's a virgin named Sarah(Nina Fillis) who folds to her lustful desire, having sex with her boyfriend(Tim Rozon) who is later stabbed in the back. Sarah is manipulated by a fiend, Patrick(Robin Wilcock), a sexual predator who "wants his cherry popped". Unlike the flock, Patrick just kills out of sheer delight, using the mantra of the church as a means to an end. Wilcock, as Patrick, is one of those cockroaches with a demonic grin, you root passionately against, a real despicable heavy. His fate is rather interesting("Thank you."), though, and it asks a question as to whether or not he was in control of his devious nature.END OF THE LINE, beside the apocalypse theme, is ultimately a fight for survival, with numbers dwindling as time continues. Our heroes are trying to make it to an exit while the maniacs follow in pursuit. My favorite scene involves an ax embedded in a skull, pulling it out not very easy. Nicholas Wright is Mike, a love interest of Karen's who really endures some suffering. Others rounding out the cast of heroes includes Neil Napier as Neil(in a part written especially for him), with Emily Shelton as Julie(one of Patrick's near-victims). Joan McBride stands out as the female antagonist, her devotion to God unparalleled as she leads the extremists on their mission. Those ghouls(called muffins)are pretty creepy, their slithery walk, black skin, and glowing eyes(several of them scale the walls and ceiling, one even comes out of the body of a victim)quite memorable, things right out of a nightmare.

Maurice Devereaux's End of the Line possesses the kind of raw ambition that reminds me of why I love horror films in the first place. It's an original and highly imaginative effort, even more so when you realize the director had to finance the film out of his own pocket. It hasn't received too much attention, but I think it's a low budget treat that deserves to be seen. That, combined with certain story aspects that are ripe for discussion, has led me to recommend this to many people since my initial viewing.Taking place in a subway, the story involves several members of a large religious cult who simultaneously receive notice via pagers that it's Judgment Day. This gives them the go ahead to bring out their special daggers and "save" all the nonbelievers by way of murder. Karen (Ilona Elkin) is a psychiatric nurse who gets caught up in the mayhem when her ride home from work turns into a fight for survival. I bought the Canadian DVD blindly back in November 2008 and thoroughly enjoyed the film. The director's prior effort, Slashers, was a most cheesy affair. This, on the other hand, is quite serious. The film can be rather unnerving, especially if you find fanatical cult members to be disturbing sorts. I'm a big fan of religion themed horror in general. Throw in apocalyptic scenarios and you have my attention entirely.I didn't catch it the first time around, but note the emphasis on muffins throughout the film. It has been theorized that perhaps something in the muffins was causing hallucinations, thus setting everything into motion. This theory seems to receive further support if you watch the beginning of the film carefully. There's a telling scar on Karen's shoulder. Little things like this, which I didn't even catch onto until I'd read other opinions on the film, are elements that I greatly appreciate when it comes to filmmaking. Hints that keep you guessing, but don't beat you over the head... these really enrich the viewing experience.As far as the ending is concerned, I think it goes out on a particularly strong note. The earlier conversation about smiling in the face of proof comes to mind, but the final image still feels like a punch in the gut. The strength of the finale is carried over into the end credits thanks to the eerie song which plays over them. Say what you will, but this piece of music strikes a chord with me. It's flat-out haunting, yet beautiful at the same time. I'm glad the DVD included the full soundtrack as an extra, as it's nice being able to listen to it on it's own.End of the Line is not a perfect film. There is some poor acting which stands out a bit more on repeat viewings, the bald maintenance worker being the worst offender. Some of the gore and attack sequences aren't as well staged as I'd like either. Regardless, I feel that the film rises above a few spotty performances and low budget pitfalls. Far above. Devereaux has done the genre proud.