No Through Road is wrongly being promoted as a "torture" movie, which not only does a disservice to a superb Aussie film, but is also likely to heavily reduce the potential audience. Once again you have to wonder if Distributors in this country actually have any idea of what works in horror movies for the local market and what doesn't. If I didn't have an obligation to review every horror flick made in this part of the world then I would have given No Through Road a wide berth and grabbed Celia instead. In the half an hour I spent checking the horror section at JB no less then ten people checked the No Through Road cover, then put it back and grabbed something else to purchase, unfortunately in each case a yank horror movie. Read on to discover why you should disregard the quotes on the back of the DVD cover and watch the movie regardless. Sam Barrett's No Through Road is destined to be a classic and could well be the best genre release of the year from this part of the world.
Talk us through itRichard is a slightly withdrawn photographer from Perth. One evening he settles in with a bottle of red, some funky music, and a book for a quiet night at home. As he's drifting off to sleep, book must be pretty slow, when he's brought wide awake by a sound from down stairs. Investigating he discovers a girl hiding in a closet. She is clearly distressed and just wants to hide out for a while, Richard naturally wants her to leave. Please note I avoided all "coming out of the closet jokes".Escorting her off his property proves slightly problematic as three bogans turn up in a ute demanding access to the girl. Against his better judgement Richard ends up giving the girl sanctuary while the bogans settle in for apparently ever. Things escalate when a murder goes down and suddenly Richard and the girl, who we learn is Samantha, are fighting for their lives with no help on the horizon. Bogans versus Suburbanites, it's not going to end up all smiles folks.
Review"You can't stay here. I don't want any part of it." - RichardDirector Barrett starts his movie with Richard taking some photographs down a local beach. Richard lingers slightly too long on a father and son and leaves the viewer wondering where the hell this movie could be headed. Barrett is actually hitting a couple of themes early; Richard's relationship with his deceased father, and the fact that Richard is withdrawn from social contact, and one assumes social norms. Both will have an impact later in the movie and are central to the character's actions and reactions as chaos descends on his carefully secluded suburban lifestyle. Excellent choice in having the major action set at the end of a cul-de-sac. The only problem I had with the opening sequence, up to Richard arriving home, was that it seemed to take slightly too long and needed a tighter editing. The injection from pretty much the kick off of a local football derby between the Eagles and the Dockers wasn't working for me either. This game just keeps going right through the first half of the movie and is only ever going to be of interest to Perth residents. I just kept wondering if Barrett hadn't pinched the idea from kiwi movie Scarfies, where it's used in a similar way to breakdown barriers between characters. Surprisingly in an age where it appears that blood and guts should be flying at the screen earlier rather than later, and who gives a damn about character development, sub themes, or even a coherent plot, Barrett takes time out of his busy schedule to develop his situation. I knew I was in good hands when Samantha is discovered cowering in a closet without the requisite loud music and having a cat flung at a camera or some other quick jolt scene technique. Either cats are few on the ground over in Perth or Barrett actually has an idea about what he is doing. No Through Road is on the simmer through the first half as the major confrontation is setup and then examined from all angles. Barrett is masterful with this and since we don't get Samantha's full story till right towards the end in a Last Train to Freo sudden twist, we are wondering just what Richard has got into here. The Director takes time out of his busy schedule to develop the situation logically and to add substance to his characters. Barrett throws on a number of flashback scenes to flesh out the inherent danger represented by the bogan element currently camped out on Richard's driveway and is at pains to present his protagonist as being non-violent. Actually the bogans themselves are pretty aggressive but seem content to let things happen, at least until their own personal Godot, in the form of Eddie, makes an appearance. Like the play this never happens, but it did give me a chance to reference a classic work and thus prove my education wasn't a complete waste of time. It takes an external catalyst to turn up the heat and bring things to a head. From then on it's all bets off as Barrett goes ballistic with his movie. Throughout the movie Barrett shots with hard tight camera angles and frames his scenes with very little in the of a vista. The Director knows how to put on a siege movie and has the walls closing in on his victims. One of the other issues I had with the movie was the sudden inclusion of a ghost. Sure it's all in Richard's imagination and goes to the heart of his issues with his deceased father, but I'm not overly sure if having a Shakespearian plot device is of benefit or not. It has certainly been used before, An American Werewolf in London anyone, but doesn't feel right in the context of No Through Road. Personal call there, not everyone is going to be looking up the Ghostbusters number in the phone book. Interesting scene where Samantha comes face to face with the body, Barrett is clearly trying for something there but I couldn't join the dots on it. As stated up the top No Through Road is being touted as a torture movie. This I guess is based on two scenes, possibly a sum total of ten minutes of actual running time. Yes feel free to roll your eyes now friends and neighbours. In one scene we get the fairly brutal slaying of a character. However like Tobe Hopper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre you don't actually see what you think you see. Excellent shot composition and it's certainly unexpected, but vital to the story. Barrett doesn't waste time on anything that isn't crucial to his storyline. The other scene that is bound to raise a few eyebrows amongst the more discerning of reviewers is the one where Richard, not really giving anything away here, is the recipient of a hammer and screw driver treatment. Once again you don't see what you think you see, I actually rewound a couple of times to verify this, and Richard must come through his tempering by ordeal in order for the resolution to make some sort of sense. If you have seen Straw Dogs then you know exactly what I'm getting at here. I would defend No Through Road's use of gore in any court in the land, something I wouldn't do for say an Eli Roth movie. Barrett has at his disposal one hell of a good cast. James Helm (Richard) was an excellent casting choice, he had this sort of stand offish charm thing working for him. I could readily believe you really don't want to push his character to far. Megan Palinkas (Samantha) was simply outstanding, she sold me her part, the Sydney harbour bridge, and some swampland in Tasmania. Richie Flanagan (Toryn), Keagan Kang (Rob), and Sam Barrett (Chaz) were all over their down market characters, once again the actors knocked on the door of believability and were invited in for a couple of beers. Keagan Kang's character is probably the most interesting in terms of the movie, but I can't discuss Rob without giving away a whole bunch of spoilers. Kang nails it and the Director needed to explore the character just that extra tad more. T&A isn't really a starter for ten as No Through Road is tense, it's coming at you with a vengeance, and it will definitely make you think, especially in your assumptions regarding Samantha as the movie develops. Well okay for the desperados amongst the readership there's a quick, blink and you'll miss it, side boob shot. Ash Gibson Greig delivered an excellent mainly piano orientated score that really added to the movie. We also get Dyscord's tracks "Senjo" and "Arming Within". Talk about your inner city blues folks.
Summary ExecutionI was predisposed not to like No Through Road mainly due to the whole "torture movie" thing going down. Sorry gorenography is not my thing and I believe a lot of substandard movie makers use it to cover up their short comings. I was pleasantly surprised to discover I enjoyed Barrett's film immensely even though a few scenes were a tad high on the tension stakes in terms of probable violence. There's an undercurrent later in the movie that will have you clutching your seat kids. As the end credits rolled and Sam Barrett mercifully allowed me to stumble away from my television screen I was left with the firm opinion that No Through Road is going to quite possibly be the standout horror release this year from Down Under.The movie was shot on location in Perth Western Australia and although held over for release this year is listed as a 2008 production. No Through Road has played a number of film festivals overseas but as of writing hasn't really had a huge impact. I would expect that to change as more people become exposed to the film through the coming months If you don't mind some claret, the odd intense sequence, and I guess footie, then dial on into the movie and have yourself a good time. I've seen three Australian movies thus far this year that I thought were absolutely brilliant, No Through Road, Black Water, and Last Train to Freo. The Australian horror film industry is starting to crank up, get onboard that groove train people, Sam Barrett kicks a major and takes the derby on the siren.
ScaryMinds Rates this movie as ... Trample old people if they are in the way of you scoring the movie, they are probably just there to buy
Australia anyway so are no loss.
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