Montreal Dead End (2018)

Montreal Dead End: Directed by Hugo Belhassen, Audric Cussigh, Julie De Lafrenière, Tiphaine DeReyer, Max Dufaud, Emilie Gauthier, Mara Joly, Quentin Lecocq, Charles Massicotte, Mickael N’Dour, Jimmy G. Pettigrew, Priscillia Piccoli, Gaëlle Quemener, Loïc Surprenant, Frederick Neegan Trudel, Catherine Villeminot, David Émond-Ferrat, Rémi Fréchette, Decoster Nicolas. With Guy Jodoin, Marco Collin, Mirianne Brûlé, Lise Roy. -Montreal, Quebec, Canada. What is this greenish smoke creeping into the streets? No matter what is the odious evil infecting each neighborhood, there’s no way out is possible. Does the salute of Montreal rest on the shoulders of this “guardian” newly arrived in the city? Montreal Dead End is a collaborative feature film composed of fifteen segments. One segment per neighborhood. One neighborhood per filmmaker, delivering his part of the story. Eighteen filmmakers contributed to this horrific fresco, carried by the interpretation of more than 90 actors and actresses and the know-how of more than 200 film artisans. From a threatening shadow in downtown to a sensual but deadly encounter, in the Village Gay through a game of cat and mouse on Mount Royal, the Quebec metropolis will be, for a day , prey to terror and horror. Welcome to Montreal. No way out is possible.

“A series of short films depicting the evils unleashed around Montreal one fateful day.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Good Stor(ies)-Le Mont Royal-While out hiking in the woods, a team of joggers are attacked in the woods by a strange malevolent entity. Discovering the state of her friends, the last one alive tries to escape from the dangerous woods alive. This is a fun, frantic entry to start this off as itu0026#39;s a pretty horrifying concept to take an everyday situation and make it into this strange encounter. The setup works, the effects are worthwhile and the tension is great with the woods seeming to be impossible to get away from.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLe Parc Lafontaine-While enjoying a picnic in a park, a couple put an end to their date when they realize theyu0026#39;ve switched bodies. When it turns out to be the start of their troubles, they race to escape the problems inside the park. By far one of the longest segments, this one takes a while to get going with a strange comedic bent to their adventures in the body-swapping generating a few laughs. The monster turn is somewhat cheesy and comes off as a fun joke as well leaving this with a nice, silly entry.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHochelaga-Hanging out together, a group of friends head out to celebrate oneu0026#39;s major achievement at a local pub when it soon dawns on them that strange creatures have invaded the building. Trapped inside, they have to put a major fight aside to deal with the killer beings. Overall this was quite an impressive entry that really goes wild with the gore here as it features some enjoyable kill scenes, plenty of erotic tension and an enjoyable setup.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIle Ste-Héléne-Making her way through the wilderness around her, a woman is taken in by a pack of children. Returning to their sanctuary, she undergoes a series of indoctrination rituals in order to join their society. This was a nice step in the right direction and has some rather creepy concepts and ideas here, especially with the creepy kids and their ritualized chanting, but the finale twist takes it out of the realm of horror and makes no real sense.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBeaubien-Heading out into the abandoned city, a young couple try to make sense of the situation when it appears no one is around. As various attempts to kill them fail, they soon realize the danger theyu0026#39;re in and try to get away alive. This was an utterly uproarious and fun segment which has a lot of fun with the failed killing attempts and their genuine bewilderment at the situation.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRosemont-Walking her neighboru0026#39;s daughter home, a woman finds that sheu0026#39;s come under the influence of the deadly force afflicting the city. Trying to get to safety, a few civilians try to get away from the dangerous being alive. This was a fine shorter segment, with a nice if obvious twist and a nice solid bit of directorial flair to mix it up.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMarche Atwater-Returning home from a grocery trip, a man returns home to find that the fruit in his apartment has come to life and begins attacking him. As he struggles for his life with the deadly items, a friend comes by that may even the odds for him. This was a rather fun and highly comical outing with the idea of food coming to life and the various tactics he has to employ in order to stay alive, and the humorous bent employed here gives this a silly atmosphere.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLe vieux Montreal-On a tour of the city, a group of tourists keep encountering a group of strange inhabitants everywhere they turn. Realizing the danger they possess and their connection to the city, they soon try to get away from the deadly spirits. This was a rather fun segment as the creepiness of the historical figures and their continuous appearance means some nice jumps and their inability to recognize the danger offers a few suspenseful moments.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Bad Stor(ies)-Ville St-Laruent-Arriving to his late-night job, a lone worker at a remote facility believes the strange sounds he hears is coming from a someone still inside the store. Taking a look to determine the cause, he finds that the figure still intends on getting the most out of its old profession. This one was a bit of a misfire as itu0026#39;s really not that funny and the scares itu0026#39;s intended to provide get old after a while as itu0026#39;s really hard to care what happens here. The ending twist is about all that works here and even that isnu0026#39;t really impressive.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCote-Des-Neiges-Appearing at the sight of the mysterious emissions, a pair of workers intend to prevent it from spreading into the city. What couldu0026#39;ve been a segment for the wrap-around is a barely worthwhile just-about-a-minute long filler piece that is just pathetic to witness here.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLe centre-ville-Revelling in their ancestral heritage, a couple of friends decide to play up their position of influence by paying a visit to an exclusive club. When a pair of supernatural guardians appears to block their entry, they find something far deadlier at play than expected. On the whole, this was a worthless and pretty much unnecessary effort which isnu0026#39;t scary, has no real point and the ending twist does nothing for those with no connection to the city.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLe village-Upset over her floundering social life, a young woman tries to put it behind her as it starts to take a toll on her physically. As her friend tries to help, a deadly force encounters them and they find themselves changed forever. Overall, this is a fine lesbian drama but itu0026#39;s really not much of a horror segment until the flesh-eating takes hold and the twist is revealed, but overall itu0026#39;s not much of a segment and ends too abruptly to mean much.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMile-End-Out terrorizing the city, a pair of ruthless maniacal zombies begin a killing spree in order to prepare a feast for other like-minded zombie individuals in the city. While this one possesses a great central idea of zombies in the city treating killing like a grocery store experience trying to find food, the joke wears off soon and doesnu0026#39;t even register as being all that funny in the first place. The relationship between them is nice to watch and the gore is impressive, but thatu0026#39;s about all it has going for it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePlace des artes-Out studying the city-wide phenomenon, the guardians find themselves overwhelmed by the forces around them and canu0026#39;t carry on their scheduled assignment. As they begin to get everything under control, a pair of possessed criminals overtake them and prevent it from happening. Such a worthless segment, this is barely a minute long and really has no purpose here. The demons arguing isnu0026#39;t funny, the werewolf look is atrocious and it really doesnu0026#39;t even tie into the central wrap-around segment at all.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eVilleray-Going home from school, a young teen witnesses a horrific act occurring in the city and once she realizes whatu0026#39;s actually happening is forced to make a severe decision to get away. This is barely even worthwhile, features no real horror and the ending offers up a twist completely away from the genre as a whole.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOutremont-Capturing the guardians, a secret society tries to reclaim a special artifact from his possession that will complete the upcoming apocalypse. When it turns out a member of their own is possessed, they try to stop him before itu0026#39;s too late. This really couldu0026#39;ve been a fun segment by being done in a longer setting, but the shortness basically crams a lot of fun into barely three minutes of screen-time so itu0026#39;s rushed beyond belief and is forced to move this along unnecessarily.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMontreal Nord-Appearing at the secret location of the tome, the guardian tries to retrieve it from the one holding it for him only to realize he wants the power it contains. Attempting to get free, he tries to use his special skills to get away from the situation. While this one is overall fun with the voodoo powers and the fun turn-around, storyline wise it makes no sense and really doesnu0026#39;t offer anything due to jumping around so often in the events of the film that it just seems like useless time-padding filler.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eStation Beaudry-Arriving at the subway, the guardian arrives to fight the last remaining follower of the deadly situation and uses all of his powers to control it before itu0026#39;s too late. While this ends things on a fun note, itu0026#39;s way too brief to be the grand showdown itu0026#39;s made out to be.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.”