Deadly End (2005)
AKA Neighborhood Watch
Starring Jack Huston, Pell James, Nick Searcy, Terry Becker, Anina Lincoln, Meredith Morton, John Ennis, De Anna Joy Brooks, Irwin Keyes, Randall Bosley, Gil Glasgow, Janice Davies, Tim Devitt
Directed by Graeme Whifler
Expectations: Low.
On the general scale:
On the B-movie scale:
Like Vengeance of the Dead, Full Moon picked up Deadly End for distribution and re-titled it. The original title was Neighborhood Watch, and it is much more fitting than whatever Deadly End is supposed to signify. Regardless which title you prefer, Deadly End is probably the strongest film to be released by Full Moon during the 2000s. I know that isn’t saying much because of Full Moon’s relatively lackluster offerings during that time, but I’m confident that Deadly End would shine in any of Full Moon’s eras. The film’s budget is minimal, but the ingenuity and the craft on display is anything but. It’s really a shame that director Graeme Whifler — who also wrote Sonny Boy and co-wrote Dr. Giggles — didn’t go on to make any other features, as Deadly End is a strong, memorable debut.
Bob Petersen (Jack Huston) and his wife Wendy (Pell James) have moved across the country to a seemingly normal neighborhood in the Californian desert. One house has multiple “Keep Out” signs and barricades, and another has derelict appliances in the front yard, but as someone who lived in that area for about 30 years, I can attest to this not being too far outside the norm. But nothing is normal or innocent in this particular film, and things get dark fairly quickly. Before that turn, though, we meet Bob and Wendy during their first night in their new home. In their underwear, they crawl on the floor around a maze of boxes, flirtatiously meowing to each other. Not your average foreplay, but hey, it’s their house and they can do what they want. When they’re done playing cat and mouse cat, the couple passionately makes love. In these moments, the precious, deep love they have for one another is tangible. The scene is surprisingly affecting and erotic, not so much in a titillating way, but in accurately replicating the reality of a moment’s passion between two loving people. It is undeniable, and it is pure, and for the remainder of the film, this innocence will be systematically attacked and tested.