No Through Road (2008/Cinema Epoch DVD) 

 

Picture: C-     Sound: C-     Extras: D     Feature: C+

 

 

Richard had a nice evening.  He came home from taking pictures at the beach, had some wine, listened to some music, and fell asleep in his easy chair.  When he woke up he discovered Samantha hiding in his closet.  Samantha is being hunted by a group of sadistic hooligans and they have her and Richard trapped in the house.

 

Writer and director Sam Barrett has put together a decent low-budget thriller that remains interesting as he unravels his characters along with the plot.  What could easily devolve into yet another B-rate torture flick instead becomes a tense reflection on guilt and masculinity.

 

The pacing and editing keep the plot from becoming stale and No Through Road boasts some impressive and entertaining performances for such a low-budget film.  The picture and audio quality are similarly impressive, though not up to Hollywood standards.  The picture is in 16:9 widescreen and the only special feature is a slide show of stills that lasts about a minute and a half.

 

This is certainly not an excellent film, but so many independent horror and thriller movies are just so poorly written, acted, and directed that No Through Road is downright refreshing.

 

 

-   Matthew Carrick