What is Deadline (2009) About?

If I don’t make this deadline the consequences don’t look promising.

Deadline accomplished its project in theaters in 2009. A woman temporarily moves into an old house with a deep history to finish her script for a movie. During her stay, Alice investigates the past resident's relationship discovering shocking secrets.

I was only checking out Deadline to see if it made any sense like reviews had contested. While the haunting ambiance and music are there, nothing is ever explained correctly with most of the story being told through awkwardly filmed videos.

The late Brittany Murphy’s role mainly consisted of wandering dark hallways, complaining about a deadline, and watching another movie on a camcorder. Murphy was a superb actress but her talents are just wasted in this film. Her expressions were strong since there’s not much dialogue - which is okay because the dialogue is weak.

As Alice walks through the dark hallways to stare at nothing but blackness, there’s very little background about her. This film deserves a different title as the project Alice is working on is never explained. Neither is any of the drama around her relationship with Rebecca explored.

Not much happens in the film. Finding out the mysterious dark history of the house, Alice watches video after video of a jealous husband recording videos of his wife. Not only is it disturbing but why he saved countless videos and stored them in the house for somebody to find is beyond me.

Thora Birch and Marc Clucas star as the couple in the home movies. I have not seen Birch in any other films aside from her iconic role as Dani in Hocus Pocus. The direction for their character was strange, particularly for Clucas who was told to act as weird as he could. David filmed his wife at strange times and even filmed his diabolical scheme for the cameras!

Tammy Blanchard also stars in the film as Rebecca. Why did Alice have to be alone the entire film? It would have made better sense for Rebecca to stay with Alice so it wouldn’t have made her reactions and ideas so awkward. Having Rebecca also would have explored more of the relationship between them.

Making up for the weak story, the cinematography replicates a ghost watching Alice’s every move closely. The sound team had a lot to do for Deadline, finding creepy sounds. The soundtrack is the best part of the film. I felt anxious as the music was building up during Alice’s stay at this house. The music developed a sad tone.

Sean McConville is so desperate to make this film work that he actually has Alice explain the entire premise to another character believing that the audience has missed the movie! Deadline is your typical haunted house/ghost film where you know what will happen. It’s a slow film. Alice wandering the halls is basically the whole movie.

By the time the climax neared, I was asking myself what this movie had become. It’s implied that Alice has had mental issues in the past. We’re left to wonder if a ghost wrote her manuscript or if Alice went out of her mind and none of the events in the film happened. And why did she stay in this house to begin with? It’s been abandoned for some time.

You find a lot of different horror films during the month of October, whether good or bad. Although it’s a ridiculous plot, look into Deadline. You may like it for the late Murphy’s performance and the mysterious ambiance of the story.