Dread

Plot synopsis:
At a small unnamed English college, Quaid and his friend Stephen (a film student), do a Fear Study as a school project, recording people talking about their greatest fears and worst times in their lives. Quaid however is quite insane and wants to take the fear to "the next level".Quaid saw his parents murdered by an axe murderer as a child, this is his greatest fear and he wants to learn what makes others afraid and what it takes for them to overcome their fear.Stephen lost his brother as a teen, his brother was driving drunk and he wonders if he had driven if his brother would still be dead, Quaid buys the same model car and wants Stephen to drive it, and Stephen does.Joshua is a student who gets interviewed by Quaid where he reveals that his fear is becoming deaf again for he lost his hearing for a while after a childhood accident. The following night, shows up at Quaid's house because Quaid told him he had more questions for him. Quaid knocks him out, chains him to a radiator, fires a gun next to his ears, shattering his eardrums and leaving him deaf again. Quaid then drops Joshua off in an alley and goes home again.Abby, a girl involved with the project, has a dark birth mark covering half of her face and also her body, which she doesn't want anyone to see and is terrified of being teased or shunned because of her birthmark. Quaid has video footage of her stripping naked before sex and he sets it up so every TV on campus is showing her naked, and covered in birth marks, he holds up signs in the video which read, "You will never be normal". Humiliated she goes home, fills a bathtub with bleach and starts scrubbing off her skin with a Brillo pad. Stephen shows up at her dorm as she stumbled down the hall naked and bleeding. He gets her to the hospital and goes after Quaid, grabbing the fire axe off the wall to take with him. While he is leaving the hospital, Joshua, who is now clearly deaf follows after him, remembering that Stephen was with Quaid during his interview and assumes they are working together.Cheryl, who is editing the project and who Stephen is in love with, was molested by her father as a girl, he worked at a meat packing plant and he smelled of meat while molesting her so to this day she can't stand the smell of meat and refuses to eat it. Quaid kidnaps her and locks her in a room with a huge piece of beef. After about a week, she finally eats the entire piece of rotten beef.When Stephen shows up and confronts Quaid, Quaid knocks him out, when he awakens he is tied to a chair and Quaid is showing him video footage of him torturing Cheryl. Quaid claims that he let Cheryl go after she ate the meat. Stephen thinks he's lying. Quaid hears a noise downstairs, and goes to check it out. Stephen breaks free. Stephen and Joshua run into each other as Quaid hides and watches. Joshua stabs Stephen with the axe on the floor. Quaid appears and shoots Joshua in the back of the head killing him. Quaid stands over Stephen's body watching him bleed out from the axe wound. Once Stephen is dead, he drags the body down stairs, unlocks a door in the basement, inside is Cheryl, he throws Stephens body in with her, throws a tiny knife on the floor and says, "Let's see how hungry you have to be to get through that". He slams the door shut and leaves her crying with Stephen's dead body.

Tags: violence, cruelty, murder, flashback

Review:
A chance meeting between smart, sensitive Stephen Grace (Jackson Rathbone) and charming, mysterious Quaid (Shaun Evans) results in a college project to study the intimate fears which people have.
However, each of the three has their own fears to deal with, not least of all Quaid whose childhood is stained by a terrible trauma...Having never read the original short story by Clive Barker ("Hellraiser", "Lord Of Illusions") that "Dread" is based upon, i wasn't certain what to expect from this movie.
Last year we were given the impressive (and criminally overlooked) "Midnight Meat Train" also based upon a Clive Barker story, and "Dread" continues the trend of incredible horror movies adapted from his work."Dread" takes its time setting up its premise but i hesitate to call it slow-moving.
This is a very well done adaptation of Barkers short story, and has kept the dark and ominous feel of the original.The cinematography is masterfully done while keeping an almost home movie feel.
Based on the Clive Barker short story, Dread, which made its world premiere at the 2009 edition of Montreal's Fantasia film festival, is remarkable on two fronts: Barker's striking departure from his traditional macabre story lines, and Anthony DiBlasi's impressive directorial debut.The story unfolds with two college students, Steve (Twilight's Jackson Rathbone) and Quaid (Shaun Evans), agreeing to work together to create a documentary of people's innermost fears.
Unknown to everyone involved, however, is Quaid's desire to take things to the next level, progressing beyond mere interviews to the actual physical and psychological nightmare of tackling their fears head on.DiBlasi displays a remarkably talented hand at spinning a yarn that incorporates introspective, character-driven drama and some spectacularly jolting and emotionally moving sequences.
While deviating out of necessity from the plot structure of Barker's original story, which didn't provide much "meat" for a feature length film, Barker equally deserves kudos for providing DiBlasi with a twisted tale that is firmly rooted in the real world, where human cruelty is infinitely more tangible and terrifying than anything the supernatural can invoke.Led by Rathbone and Evans, the young cast turns in uniformly strong, nuanced and intensely emotional performances not typically found in this genre.
Steen deftly manages to convey her character's sensitivity and long held pain in a manner that the viewer can readily attune to, earmarking her as a future talent to watch.As debuts go DiBlasi's Dread is as solid, slick, engaging and thought provoking as it is terrifying, making this a must see, not merely for fans of the genre, but anyone with untold skeletons in their closet..
This movie deserves at least a 7 hands down and I will tell you why.First of the acting was surprising good and since I've only ever watched Jackson Rathbone in the two Twilight, where he doesn't talk barely at all, I was really excited to see this guy as a man actor in a movie with more than 2 lines of dialogue.
I thought at the beginning I would only be seeing an alone, depressing/laughable, personality, but throughout the movie he grew into a serious role that helped carry the movie further.I do not think there is a point of summarizing this movie because that's what the internet, and of the back of the movie case, is for but basically it's a school project based on people's worst fears and the **** hits the fan in the middle of the film, which is good.
It's quite original and the cinematography and editing is definitely something I admire, especially since I go to school for this stuff.All I can say is that you should see this film once you get the chance and you most will definitely appreciate it because it is most likely one of the best horror movies I have ever watched..
No, not everything works convincing or works out as strong and effective as it could had but still this movie feels like a breath a fresh air and is perfectly watchable.A nice, original, well done little film.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
This is NOT a movie to watch if you are faint of heart or get grossed out easily.However this is a completely unique story and I've never seen anything like it before.
Initially they simply interview their subjects but then one of the students progresses to setting up situations where the subjects are forced to confront their fears.Pretty much universally positive reviews from horror magazines and websites were given to this film, and I feel bad that I cannot be as supportive.
Slow build up to climax, but not slow movie with every scene having importance to overall feel of movie and chemistry between characters.Highly recommend to horror lovers- watch out for these natural horror actors in the future, except possibly Jackson Rathbone who put in a good performance but seems more mainstream than rest of actors.Great movie.
If someone never thought deeper than the common surface of fear, anxiety or dread he might find the shallow words put into this film maybe interesting, which rather serve as disguise for the real motives or justification for making the movie.
I couldn't help but feel as if some scenes of the film kind of reminded me of Fight Club, as Quaid attempted to groom Stephen in to his mode of thinking, but unlike Fight Club, this was unsuccessful and we saw the further polarisation of the characters involved in the college project from Quaid.All in all, Dread is a film which won't cater to your grisly, sleazy gore driven desires, mostly due to the fact that a lot of the gore is paced out through the film and used tactically in order to keep it relative to the conceptual element of the film, and also to keep the suspense.
Fans of Clive Barker can rest assured that Anthony DiBlasi has effectively captured Clive Barker's depiction of the story and doesn't buck to the sleazy needs of Hollywood gore and torture-without-reason films (Saw) and manages to effectively convey the terror, torment and disorientation of Dread..
There were some few scenes that were very nice, but something was missing from the entire feel of the movie.The characters in the movie have good background stories, especially the parts of Abby and Cheryl.
The most impressive part about the movie, in my opinion, was Abby's character and her story.I think the part of Quaid was maybe miscast.
I didn't really buy into his acting.Without giving anything away, there was some nice story twist towards the end of the movie, especially with the main character Stephen.The good part of the movie is the take on motives and what drives people to do thing.
This might receive some praise on an artistic level since the claustrophobic look and feel suits the story perfectly but it's a rather nasty and unlikable horror film and it seems a very long time ago Clive Barker was seen as the future of horror and had a massive trans-Atlantic hit with HELLRAISER.
I haven't been very impressed by movies based on Barker's work as they tend to be on the silly side and so it is with some apprehension that I watched this low-budget flick, shot by a first time director and based off a short story by Clive Barker.
on the outset i wanted to watch a good great awesome kinda movie.....so i kept on searching IMDb finally i reached a point where all the top rated gore n horror movies were all seen by me.I thought this was over and i must either watch some boring movies or wait for some good movies to come in the future.since i had a month to waste i decided to go for the so called B grade kinda movies.....a lot came lake mun-go,splinter,carriers,death of a ghost hunter etc etc and i was bored and decided to give up and then finally DREAD happened.Plot was interesting the cast was fair but it just had a 5.7.I was in a dilemma but finally decided to watch it.I watched and what i found was a flawless art of experiencing fear from first timer Anthony DiBlasi.This movie had it all never before kinda script,good acting,good dialogs and more interestingly and importantly a Perfect end,I was completely satisfied with the movie and i highly recommend it.I myself being a Gore-Hound hate watching normal and stereotypical cinema,but i can clearly say i liked this one in fact i loved this one.So for everyone who's reading this don't think just go for it a little masterpiece of psychological and yes even physiological horror awaits you with an open heart..
Without going into too much detail this movie sinks even lower with trying to gross out the viewer by showing somebody eat maggot infested meat, that's pretty much a new low in using cop out tactics that require absolutely no good writing or screenplay or atmosphere or anything that makes a horror actually scary or unnerving.
That's just one example, from start to finish I was rolling my eyes at the completely irrational ways the characters acted solely for the purpose of plot convenience.This is just another example of why horror movies have sucked on average since the 80's.
"Dread" is an adaptation of a story by Clive Barker, and it starts out on a very interesting premise: exploring our fears.
Of course, as is expected, Quaid's childhood trauma and dabbling into people's darkest fears do not mix well."Dread" evolves as a psychological suspense -with moments of great intensity thrown together with scenes that are included just for shock value or, what's worst, as a rushed and stereotypical means of character-building (e.g. the scenes at the pub, at Quaid's studio or with the two girls that they hook up with at the beginning, where we're supposed to learn about Quaid's personality).
Despite its ups and downs, though, it is a pretty solid suspense, with sobriety of characters, a compact and believable plot that follows well, and good subplots (e.g. Abby's story, with the best performance of the movie from actress Laura Donnelly).
Basic setup is the same as in Barker's story: Quaid, a mysterious and wealthy young college student who suffers from recurrent nightmares enlists classmates Stephen and Cheryl to help him conduct a Kinsey-esque "fear study" to find out what people dread the most.
The only thing the movie gets right is Cheryl's fear of meat and the way Quaid exploits this.
I didn't know much of anything about this, other than I had heard it was a great Barker adaptation(and those are few and far between, in spite of his immense talent as an author; I haven't read the story, but it sounds like relatively little was changed, most notably the ending) and that it was unique.
Not to mention Steve's actor and the purpose of his presence here as the new Johnny Depp fangirls hunter ("so at least we ensure, if only, the tiniest audience possible") and so on with all the elements of this movie made for teen minds.The plot follows an independent line from the true basis of the original story, taking some parts of it and misusing its sentences, and immerses itself in a frivolous, plain and silly world that nullifies even one of the most remarkable parts of the book that is the spectacular and perturbing final scene with a disturbed Steve as a clown.Clive Barker's book does not talk about revenge or shallow emotions but dig into the depths of the real fear of each character and focus specially on the concept itself, i.e.-Nothing to do with this.As you can see I am angry but not surprised with this.
A movie built on developing the characters, that makes you care about them and what happens to them is a rare thing, solid performances from the main characters come together to make this one of the best horror films of 2009.
And when some expose some of their own personal dread, Quaid decides he wants to make them go through their fears like he did when he saw his parents getting murdered by an ax-wielding maniac at a very young age.Dread is a film-adaptation of a Clive Barker short story with the same name.
Until all of that gets thrown away for one truly bad scene, where our twisted villain decides to start doing things seemingly "just because." I'll admit I spent a lot of time thinking about this film as it played.
This is a dark movie which is not usually found in today's movie industry.The movie actually plays with your mind a lot.The gore and the gross factor is very subtle in this movie.The director cum writer Anthony has done a great job with the plot.The director has fabricated the story around the main core which is fear.The first half of the movie involves careful building up of characters and the next half involves the actual story plot.And to my surprise i never felt bored or never even checked my watch not even once during the movie.A different, applaud-able piece of work among the generic, boring, nauseating, crappy, senseless horror movies of this generation.Whether you are a horror fan or not,i would say it a movie worth spending your time to watch it.Finally i had to to admit that this movie gave me a psychological aftermath for few days,which is really really hard for an movie to have that impact.IF YOU ARE PERSON IN A DOUBLE MIND ON WHETHER TO WATCH IT OR NOT LIKE I WAS BEFORE WATCHING IT,I WOULD SAY DON'T MISS IT.
Dread is a deliciously spiteful British/American produced horror adapted from a Clive Barker short story.
As a Horror freak I've had my share of films of the past 2 decades, and I must say watching this one has been a very rewarding experience.The screenplay and script are unique and well made, the story is very original and unfolds in an interesting and compelling way.
If there is something I'll keep from this movie it is the fear to have to watch it again.I didn't read Barker's short story, and I hope it fails as an adaptation, otherwise it means it is a bad novel.
But it is hard to believe.Perhaps it is good for Clive Barker's fans, or some people more used to this kind of movies, feeling things differently, I don't know.
Based on the Clive Barker story first published in 1984, Dread, tells the tale of two college students who embark on a school project about peoples fears.
Then the disturbed Quaid meets Stephen again and the student sees that his friend is actually beginning his personal fear research driving people to the edge."Dread" is a gruesome horror movie surprisingly great, with an excellent development of the four lead characters – Stephen, Quaid, Cheryl and Abby.
Slow-moving, genuinely unsettling film, based on a Clive Barker story, written by the director, about an obsessive sadist, Quaid(Shaun Evans, whose character is truly a creepy, demented soul)who starts up a friendship with a wannabe filmmaker/student, Stephen(Jackson Rathbone)talking him into basing his thesis on fear, interviewing a plethora of subjects, observing their moments of dread.
OK, I agree, that a motion picture should not necessarily follow to what is written in the story, and sometimes it makes it even better if movie differs from the original story or has a unexpected twist at the ending, yet this is not the case, in my opinion, this time I must disagree, because this movie, in my humble opinion, messed up the story, the idea and the most important - the build up of the story.Yes it is watchable at the start, but close to the half of the film, at least the fans of the original story, like me, will slowly start to get pi**ed off, and in the end, at least for me, it becomes just another teenage slasher movie.I am a very big fan of Clive Barker, and I think that "Dread" is one of his best works.
Jackson Rathbone may be in the starring role and does it fairly well, but I actually watched this because of the actor Shaun Evans who was brilliant in Martina Cole's "The Take".Anyway, good news first, there are some very good camera shots/angles used like the following the axe upstairs, I thought really gave these scenes an edge and for maybe the first half hour I was a bit tense expecting a slow build up and raucous end.But no.Nothing really happened in the film at all, the best parts are the ones with either flashbacks of Quaid's horror filled night or the present views into his madness, with the strip club being a good point!For a film centered around fear, where was it?
Once the interview stage is complete, Quaid wants to take his study to the next level by making people face their fears.The film has all the elements of a good horror slasher: decent build-up, characters, nudity, cute ending, and some originality.
Clive Barker is a master at writing clever, gore filled horror movies.The screenplay & direction for DREAD is by Anthony DiBlasi,The small cast by newcomers to film is headed by Jackson Rathbone, & Shaun Evans; Both are very capable &make you pay attention.
However, after it happens, it doesn't get better."Dread" ends up being yet another film where nothing good comes out of it.
If Cheryl had been gone for so long, their would be people looking for her and they would definitely have gone to the house of someone she recently was making a film with.It's sad when you hope a movie that takes itself seriously ends with the original ax murderer coming back and taking everyone out.
I waited years for this Clive Barker short story to be made into a movie because the premise of it was just too good to be true.
With the ending that we are given, we see some good acting from Rathbone and Steen.This is another movie that does not rely on effects too much to tell a story.