Deadwood Park (2007) Poster

(2007)

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5/10
Decent "Friday Fright Night" rental, improvement on the overall quality could've made this a big hit (SPOILER)
night_wng200010 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I'm just an average citizen, who loves horror movies, as well as action, thrillers and some drama. Positive opinions 1st, then I'll list the negative:

The basic storyline was good. I really liked how the writer mixed horror with mystery. I've seen other films that mix genres, and do a terrible job, or are just boring, because they're just the same old story. I thought this one was pretty original. The way the different time periods were mixed in was very good, much the same as "Highlander" worked. Although it seemed supernatural at first, the viewer will still wonder if that part is true, since the murders had not continued (at least until the truth is revealed near the end)

Camera work was pretty good. The overall acting was acceptable for this type of genre; Maybe with a few tweaks and better direction, the viewer would be so riveted in the show, that other aspects, such as the scare scenes would provoke more feelings of fright, than I felt, when I watched this. I did think Lane did a very good job, though some of his dialogue didn't seem to fit the character. I thought Luscri did the best acting in this film. Her character was very believable.

I loved the location, and scenery. I live in Missouri, and many times while watching, I was taken back to my youth. I think the crew did a great job capturing the feel and look of each era presented during the film.

Neutral thoughts: Although the camera work was good, there were several points that I started to lose interest. I don't know what the director was thinking, by not cutting a lot of the scenery shots from the film. It would've kept me more focused on the movie, if that had been done. I don't think it would've hurt the film by cutting 5-10 minutes of just panning shots.

Negative points: As for the acting, as I said, overall it was OK. The main char. could've been much better. But, not being in the movie biz, I can't say whether this facet was due to Clifton's abilities, or if it was the chemistry between the film crew and actors.

I think some of the writing could've been much better, such as making it more believable that Luscri's character would have knowledge and access to all types of evidence and articles, pertaining to the murders. After all, even though she's the sheriff's daughter, it would seem pretty hard to believe that she knows about interviews or evidence that her father had kept secret for over 25 years.

My main disappointments in the movie were: the "scarey" parts. Several times, I started to brace for the main scare in certain scenes, only to be left hanging, or wondering why it wasn't better done. The other part was the evil preacher, even though I loved the idea of how his character evolved. I ended up rolling my eyes, during the fight scene, when he was unable to over-power Jake, after previous points in the fight, where it showed him hurling either Jake or the sheriff into a wall, or across the room with, what I think is an accepted fact of vampyre myth, great strength.

I did enjoy this film, yet I feel that it could have become a very big hit or even a staple in the cult classics world, if either the direction or production were better and some tweaks were done with the script.
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4/10
Storyline was good till the end
jmhsgrad10 June 2019
This movie was very low budget but storyline was great till the end. Wish they would have found another way to bring the end together. The writer should have not have made the killer what he/she was made into. The last 15 minutes dragged on because of it.
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3/10
Not a gem of any sort, but it could be much worse...
nekojiru6725 October 2007
This is a very low budget, shot on video supernatural "mystery" about a man who returns to his hometown to solve the mystery of his twin's disappearance when he was a child. He teams up with a local girl interested in the small town's history (of unsolved child murders), and together they begin poking their noses into things the town (well, the sheriff) wants forgotten.

The only other reviewer recommended Deadwood Park to "serious fans of intelligent scary movies." He or she must be on crack. Or more likely associated with the production. Whichever the case, you tricked me into watching your movie, so congratulations.

The good: excellent locations, nice use of lanterns to light scenes, decent b/w WWII reenactments, interesting left turn ending that I actually enjoyed.

The bad: I can live with wooden acting (of which there is a good amount) but what kills this movie completely is the dog-slow coma-inducing ZZZZZZ pacing. Shots go on too long, and when the movie should be jumping ahead to the next scene, we get a billion cutaways to scenery. Mix this pace with the out-of-place flashbacks and it's snooze city. Plot hole: in the end of the movie the main character acts on information that we as viewers learned through a flashback but he has no way of knowing himself.

Calling this movie a mystery, as some have done, is a bit misleading. Until the answer to who (or what) killed the kids is revealed, there is no way for us as viewers to have figured it out.

It's obvious that the director has seen a few horror films. (Evil dead, The Changeling, etc.) I liked the last 15 minutes of the film, but this is not a good movie and you will regret renting it unless you were involved in its creation. I even doubt its value as a "so bad it's good" rental because until the end it's just dull.

Oh, and if you're looking for "intelligent horror" that's actually scary, check out the Korean film, A Tale of Two Sisters. Now that's a movie.
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Wasted opportunity
sebpopcorn14 June 2010
Deadwood Park looks promising to start with. The setting is great, a dilapidated town with an old abandoned fairground, a spooky little church and the protagonists childhood home which has been abandoned for some time. Sure the acting is a bit wooden but there's some interesting scenery and a bit of tension with the local sheriff to keep you entertained. Strange things start happening so you are all geared up for a ghost story in this creepy setting.

But then, all of a sudden the writers seem to give up on the story they've been building up. Out go the spooky ghost bits and child abductions and in comes something which just doesn't fit at all. From then on the film drags and the ending is a meaningless shrug of the shoulders. Hey guys we filled the running time, thanks for watching.

I really think that if they had stuck to one story and maybe allowed the characters to express some sort of surprise at the ghostly goings on rather than being totally unmoved by them this could have been a great little movie. As it stands it's halfway there but not really worth your time. I just can't believe they squandered the great locations, which really are the stars in this one.
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7/10
Low budget done right
Indyrod28 October 2017
watched a good one tonight, the first for the usual Halloween movie fest. Wasn't expecting that much, but "Deadwood Park" was very entertaining for such a low budget indie movie. Not much graphic violence, but just enough, and a little gore. But, great script, good acting, and well done. Highly recommended.
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8/10
An Indie-Horror Gem
dschmid-217 October 2007
If you are a serious fan of intelligent scary movies, you frequently find yourself wading through Luke-warm to unbelievably bad dreck, looking for the real gems in the genre.

*This* is the kind of movie you're hoping for.

_Deadwood Park_ is a great example of personal passion, creativity, cinematic technique and a strong story, completely overcoming the lack of a big budget. It's thrilling to watch a classic style pulled off with this much heart and soul. Entertaining and engrossing.

On a micro-budget, the filmmakers have built a slow-burn, atmospheric ghost story with some truly harrowing suspense and chills. Making use of great use of locations, this movie is beautifully shot and deliberately paced. It takes its time, but delivers some remarkable and evocative sequences - from a gas-lamp search of an abandoned second floor, to a harrowing WWII battle flashback (filmed with local re-en-actors). A moody ambient score and effective sound-design give these scenes exactly the bite they need, and near-brilliant use of composition.

All of this would be for nothing without a story worth telling, and this is a place too many indies fall down on. But not here. I can't tell you how delightful it is to be halfway through a movie and _not_ have a clue where it is going. And it turned out that even my suspicions didn't guess the half of it. There is a big story being told here. A smart, literate, novel-like structure full of striking details and themes. Historical flashbacks and visual devices that I found very rewarding. While some of the dialogue is un-remarkable, it's not annoying and seems to support the common-place feeling of the place and the characters.

The only thing I felt detracted were a few performances. The wordless suspense scenes are completely effective, but I found a couple of the actors to be unconvincing in scenes involving dialogue. I know they were going for very low-key, naturalistic performances, but IMHO the movie would have benefited from stronger screen presence.

Still, this is terrific work, an inspiring movie for Indie-filmmakers, and *essential* viewing if you're a fan of old-style ghost stories in a Bava-esquire vein. I strongly recommend _Deadwood Park_.
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7/10
Neat little horror flick
allenkillszombies19 September 2019
I read some of the reviews so I wasn't expecting much but they intrigued me. Well shot, interesting story. Acting could have been better but worth checking out.
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9/10
Beautiful, Moving and Intelligent Ghost Story
StudioLAX28 October 2007
Its not often I feel compelled to write a review and generally when I do its normally negative so it gives me great pleasure to type these positive words.

For all the trailer park/multiplex indie haters I'm not associated with the production of this film, I'm from the North East of England.

Deadwood Park is not without its flaws, on occasion the acting is a little amateurish and some of the effects are a little cheesy, personally I think the director should not have used visual effects for the ghosts. That said because of what has been achieved on an obviously tiny budget I think its unfair to focus on the few small bad points especially as they in no way detract from the overall enjoyment.

Eric Stanze has made a film that rarely puts foot wrong in terms of execution, story and plotting. Although the ideas and themes are well worn (MR James, Stephen King and possibly Ringu in terms of structure) fresh life is injected into them through engaging and largely excellent performances, atmospheric locations, fantastic pacing and simply beautiful cinematography.

Deadwood Park succeeds through the total commitment and passion of all those involved and its becoming increasingly rare to see such an effective American film let alone a horror that is not a remake of a Japanese classic or one that relies on cheap shocks and expensive gore.

For me personally this film will prove a great influence in my own cinematic endeavours, now where's that firewire cable.
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