The Dread (2007)

A young woman becomes filled with a horrible dread when she discovers that her brother may actually be something other than he appears.

Director:

Michael Spence

Writers:

Casey Conlon, Michael Spence,

Stars:

Sally Pressman, Ellen Sandweiss, Ryan Welsh

Cast

Credited cast:
Sally Pressman	...	Teri
Ellen Sandweiss	...	Diane
Ryan Welsh	...	Chris
Sid Ellis	...	Derek
J. Steadman	...	Alex
Marvin Bernard	...	Nick
Tom Sullivan	...	Dr. Boorstin
Marvin Benard	...	Det. Nick Walenchky
Nicolas Pangborn	...	Creature
Yvonne Galmiche	...	Macy
Morris Stulberg	...	Mr. Cranston
Jet Valentine	...	Young Alex
Richard Steward	...	Jack
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Donn Brown	...	Police Officer
Diane Cox	...	Alex and Teri's Mother

Storyline

When a suburban couple is brutally slaughtered one night by a hideous creature, police are unable to solve the horrendous crime. The couple's two young children, who were found unharmed, are removed from the home. Teri, the four-year-old daughter, is put up for adoption, while eight-year-old Alex, who has apparently been traumatized by the experience, is now completely catatonic. Alex is placed in Briarcliff Psychiatric Hospital for treatment. Nineteen years later, Teri is summoned to the bedside of her adoptive mother. Heavily medicated, the dying woman mumbles incoherently about Teri's "brother" and the "horrible thing" that happened. Teri is confused and puzzled, unaware of the past events or that she is adopted. But she soon discovers the truth that her real parents were murdered and the brother she never knew is now in a mental institution. Teri and her boyfriend, Chris, go to Briarcliff to finally confront Teri's past. They quickly discover that the crumbling institution is ...

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Taglines:

Be careful what games you play

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 September 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$153,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Safe Harbor Productions Inc., Westar Films, Racket Sound

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Pretty low on the indie scale, but with its moments

I'm not going to go over the plot much because others have explained what there is of one pretty well. The movie has a lot of dead ends and leaves a lot of things unexplained. These, I feel, were the biggest weaknesses besides the attempt at creating atmosphere with a lack of lighting. Some scenes were spot on in their look, but many were muddy and lacked any detail at all.

A mediocre monster, general gore and acting that was a bit below pro-level all give away the movie's low budget roots. I feel all of these are forgivable though when you consider the short amount of time they apparently had to shoot and the small amount of money. While I'm sure there are many filmmakers who could have done more with $150,000 on a video production budget, I can see how it bogs things down.

Where budget shouldn't be a factor is the screenplay itself. Most of the time I wasn't quite sure what the hell was going on and by the end I just didn't care. There was something about a video game and a monster and a crazy kid who was now an adult. How the monster worked, what his particular powers were or how he chose his victims wasn't important I guess.

So, if you're watching a movie tonight to be scared witless, see Oscar winning performances by actors who had time to connect with their characters, grade-A special F/X or a deep story with rich, full characters, give this one a pass. But, if you like to see monsters dismember people you can fast forward to the fun parts.