Popular reviews

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  Review by WraithApe ★★★★ 8

  Excellent slow burn low budg horror about a psychiatrist's slide into insanity when a John Doe seemingly comes back from the dead and winds up in his care. Even with its relatively lean 92 minute run time, writer/director Billy Senese takes his time unraveling the mystery surrounding Lazarus-like Michael Clark and that's to its benefit, as this is a bona fide mood piece. Cinematographer Andrew Duensing's sombre palette and a minimalist ambient score from Jordan Lehning all contribute to a sense of creeping dread that never lets up.

  Produced by Shane Carruth (among others), he also stars as psychiatrist Daniel Forrester and gives a suitably skittish performance as he tries to hold it together in the face of an unknown…

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  Review by haley ★★½ 3

  after reading a few reviews, i was kind of excited to see this. i have a big soft spot for slow burn horror, especially when it has a nice payoff, but i was super underwhelmed by this. the concept is great and there were a few somewhat creepy moments, but this was basically 20 minutes of story stretched out to create a very boring full-length feature film. i truly did not care about any of the characters and that ending was so lazy. do better.

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  Review by Slig001 ★★★½

  The Dead Center focuses on an intriguing idea - someone coming back from the dead and bringing something malevolent back with them. It's very well made, though rests heavily on a number of horror tropes that hold it back from being something amazing. The central story is very much of the slow burn variety, and the film unveils itself without ever explaining everything fully, which helps to keep things interesting. The realisation of the evil on screen lacks originality, however, and takes the form of fast editing, shaking etc which has been done so many times before. Director Billy Senese creates a foreboding atmosphere, mostly through sound which is really effective. Shane Carruth provides an engaging lead performance. Of course…

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  Review by Warp ★★★½ 3

  Really nice mysterious thriller, first 2 acts are a cool and mysterious setup while the final act leans more towards horror. Considering its budget it succeeds in creating an unsettling and creepy atmosphere, mostly due the great acting by Jeremy Childs with his awkward and lifeless charisma. Plus it’s always nice to see stuff with Shane Carruth, hope he’ll do some more film stuff in the future.

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  Review by Justin Decloux ★★★★ 3

  Creepy and simple. It nails that pure feeling of dread found in Japanese horror films and pivots on the intangible threat of a cosmic terror. If you had told me this was originally based on a Kiyoshi Kurosawa film, I would have believed you.

  Thanks Shane Carruth! If it wasn't for my undying love for him, I probably wouldn't have checked this out, but I did because he starred in it, and I thought to myself "He wouldn't align himself with something that wasn't great!"

  Now make another movie, dude! Please!

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  Review by coffee ★★★½

  always good to see Shane Carruth back

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  Review by Mos Co ★★½

  There were things in this that I liked, but also a lot I disliked. I was hoping for more from this! It wasn’t very horrory, but definitely has horror themes and I’m cool with that, but it drags a bit with a few very similar scenes, and doesn’t make the most of the good ideas it has.

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  Review by Steph_h ★★★½ 1

  Effectively creepy although not incredibly mysterious... hard to make comparisons without giving away the plot.. it’s a little on the slower side and very bleak with a nice dreadful atmosphere.

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  Review by 💀EmperorCupcake🧁 ★★★

  April Fool of Fear, Day 1, challenge #2 - Pick a film that has played at Frightfest

  Once I got past our main character being named Dr. Forrester, I dug this for the most part. It's one of those always-pretty-good-if-never-great indie flicks. Very low-budget but makes good use of the hospital setting, which I always enjoy in horror.

  The low budget also offers a sense of realism that's missing in more glossy mainstream horror. While the effects and thrills are limited, the characters and setting feel authentic, which allows the film to get under your skin. This is why I generally prefer indie horror; there's less feeling of YOU'RE WATCHING A MOVIE and more feeling of dread that comes with…

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  Review by Freyr ★★★★ 2

  Actually really enjoyed this. There are some budgetary constraints in the effects and how they display some of the "scary stuff" but it's an engrossing bit of mystery with a really good cast. Despite not really evolving into anything mind blowing, I just had a great time watching it, and felt caught up in the dreadful atmosphere it generated.

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  Review by waiyanaung ★★★

  Shane Carruth is back with new movie. But sadly he wasn't involved anywhere behind the camera and here we got him as a leading man and it is good to see his return. We need more movies from this guy and hopefully he dropped his new movie in the upcoming decade.

  To talk about the actual movie, The Dead Center is pretty decent horror mystery with it own shares of thrills and scares and we must praise this kind of movie for what it is managed to do with it's tiny budget. The story is slow and took some times to get started but once the puzzle started to unfold it got more and more interesting and everything fall into place at the end. But I felt that this never became as much unsettling or disturbing as it wanted to be and the film was a bit boring at times.

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  Review by 🌡️Room Temperature🌡️ 4

  A slice of existential cosmic horror layered in gradual dread as the mystery unfolds.

  It was a nice surprise for a low budget and little known film, especially as most of the cast gave an overall solid performance.

  I think I enjoy cosmic themes the most from the horror genre.
  The mysteries and theories of an otherworldly existence in a form we can't possibly comprehend, of dimensional spectres, or nefarious godlike entities beyond our reach and understanding.

  There's certainly a creep factor to it, but I wish it went deeper and that the story would go past the small cast we follow.
  But that would be asking for a bigger movie - or a series even, based on the mythos…