Deadline (1981)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Mario Azzopardi

Writers:

Mario Azzopardi (screenplay)
Mario Azzopardi (story)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

His obsession was to create the ultimate horror story... his curse was to live it.

Plot:

A horror film about a screenwriter who loses the ability to distinguish between his fantasy world and the real world...

Plot Keywords:

Deadline | Children | Child Killing Child | Murder Of Family | Punk Rock Band

Cast

Stephen Young	...	Steven Lessey
Sharon Masters	...	Elizabeth Lessey
Marvin Goldhar	...	Burt Horowitz
Jeannie Elias	...	Darlene Winters
Cindy Hinds	...	Sharon Lessey
Phillip Leonard	...	Philip Lessey
Tod Woodcroft	...	David Lessey
Bev Marsh	...	Martha Lessey
Carole Pope	...	Herself (as Rough Trade)
Kevan Staples	...	Punk Rock Band Member
Rough Trade	...	Punk Rock Band Member
Mary Risk	...	Professor
Ken Camroux	...	Moderator
Philip Akin	...	Student #1
Bill Yak	...	Student #2 (as Bill Yack)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:(Banned) | Australia:R | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Trivia:

Directorial debut of Mario Azzopardi.

Movie Connections:

References All About Eve (1950)

Soundtrack:

Roll Me Away

Clips from the twisted imagination of a struggling horror author!

"Deadline" is an obscure, inventive, intriguing and occasionally very engrossing little Canadian-produced horror sleeper, but at the same time also difficult and even somewhat risky to recommend to fellow genre fanatics because it is certainly an awkward and downbeat movie. Basically a dysfunctional family drama and a portrait of downwards mental spiral, "Deadline" also boosts a whole lot of sickening and extra-gratuitous violence and I'm really not sure if people will appreciate this combination, let alone the robust and sudden changes in tone. Even though the gory bits undoubtedly form the best and most memorable part of the film, they clearly serve no purpose other than fill up space and attract wider audiences. Steven Lessey is a horror author whose previous scripts were hugely profitable blockbuster hits. So now, and obviously, Steven's producer nags around his head for a new script. But Steven wants to do something different and struggles with a writer's block. Being obsessed with this work, Steven doesn't notice how his wife becomes a frequent visitor of drug parties or how his neglected children play deadly games they've seen in daddy's movies. The sick & twisted horror fragments are either clips from Steven's supposed previous films (like a marvelous scene involving a black goat and an agricultural machine) or potential new concept for his new script. Particularly these fragments are outrageously demented and uncompromisingly shocking! Some of them really ought to be elaborated into a full-length horror movie, like the idea of suicidal fetuses and especially the idea of little children tying up and setting fire to their own grandmother. "Deadline" is pretty good but it could have been a lot better. In the hands of that other super-talented Canadian director David Cronenberg, for example, the processing of these themes and ambiances would have resulted in the ultimately petrifying cinematic nightmare. Still, writer/director Mario Azzopardi definitely didn't do a bad job. The atmosphere is admirably moody and the film is literally stuffed with unsettling imagery. "Deadline" is an interesting film, to say the least. Proceed at your own risk…