Deadline is a psychological horror for sure. In Deadline, Alice (Brittany Murphy) is an aspiring writer. She is also an artist, but would really like to get a screenplay written. To get it done in time for her deadline, she takes leave of her lover Rebecca (Tammy Blanchard) and locks herself away in an old house in the middle of nowhere. Granted, the house might be old, but it is beautiful on the inside. Given how nice and quiet the area is, it is the perfect place to get some writing done without any interruptions. But it's also the perfect place for a haunting.
As soon as Alice gets there, she starts hearing things. Sometimes just creaks and bumps in the night that you usually just explain away as normal noises houses make, but she also hears voices which you can't really explain as easily! Alice is a lot braver than most people though. She decides that the house isn't going to run her off and starts exploring the house. In the attic, she finds a box of video tapes, so naturally she starts watching them. The tapes show a lovely couple, Lucy (Thora Birch) and David Woods (Marc Blucas) going about their daily lives. David is apparently obsessed with the camera and wants to film as much of their lives as he can. At first, everything seems happy and nice, but as Alice gets further into the tapes, she can tell things aren't right. As she's going further into them too, things in the house start to get worse. Eventually, she is seeing visions of both Lucy and David. The lines of reality are starting to blur for Alice. Is she going to be able to keep her sanity and finish her screenplay as well? It's definitely not going to be easy on her!
At first, I thought Deadline was going to be the typical ghost story, but honestly I really liked the way it turned out. There are some things left open to your interpretation as to what the truth really is and I liked it. Deadline is one of those movies that you will expect certain things to happen, and sometimes they will, but sometimes you'll be left guessing. I really like a movie that makes you think like that.
The Blu-ray disc also includes behind the scenes footage that is very interesting to watch. There aren't any more special features other than previews though. I did expect more in the way of special features, but the movie is definitely worth it even without them!
Deadline turned out to be even better than I expected. I really liked the blending of the past and the present and the way that they mixed everything together. If you're a fan of psychological thrillers or horror, I highly recommend you go pick Deadline up today!
