Review of Deadline

Deadline (1980)
6/10
Writing Can Be Hazardous To Your Health, Part 2
23 November 2011
What a curious and weird Canadian production this turned out to be. About a horror screenwriter on a slow descent into depravity while trying to come up with his next screenplay, all this under pressure of his producer. There isn't much of a story present to carry the film, but other things manage to do this. First off, there are plenty of scenes portraying the kind of fiction our writer writes about. We're talking some graphic scenes of gore & bloodshed here, so be prepared for that. Then it seems this film tries to raise some issues about these topics. Like why write about such extremities? Like a producer that's only interested in having his screenwriter deliver what sells: sex & violence. Soon our writer can't get another coherent scene on paper anymore, and his mind starts deteriorating accordingly. His cynical wife isn't of much help. He starts having violent outbursts. His kids get scared. Then comes alcohol, drugs, women. Not sure what to think of this film, as it all seems so pointless in the end. But it was, uhm, an interesting watch.
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