By Keri O’Shea
On her way to her shift at a dead-end diner populated by a host of lurid, colourful characters, waitress Betsy runs into a spot of trouble: a misunderstanding between her and a local homeless guy results in a nearby stranger feeling the need to rush to her aid – nearly getting himself pepper-sprayed in the process, but such is life. To apologise for this little indiscretion, Betsy invites the guy inside (much to the chagrin of her boss who criticises her for forever collecting waifs and strays). The deal is – she buys him something to eat, then they’re done. He accepts.
But the guy concerned seems rather oddly engrossed in checking out that day’s date…and I hope I won’t spoil things too much if I say that what he discovers means things are about to get interesting in the diner.
Take a look: you can watch the film free and in its entirety here…
An economical little film, End of the Road uses its time to throw in some neat visual clues to relevant folklore and stories (the red hoodie, the sheepskin coat) whilst doing enough, even in its short time frame, to conjure up some noteworthily overblown characters to accompany the leads. This is a very colourful film throughout, and overall it looks good. But one of its key strengths is that it has the good sense not to commit the cardinal sin of so many lycanthropy movies – showing too much of the creature. In fact, what we do see here is bloody horrifying, because we only get a mere hint of the warped physicality of the beast in question (and credit to the sound design here: part-way between animal and demon, the noises emanating from our ‘little visitor’ complement the visual smarts very well.)
A snapshot of gore-infused Americana, End of the Road is fun, and showcases some intriguing strengths along the way – without feeling the need to tell us everyone lived happily ever after.