This film is pretty much as dreary as other reviewers indicated - with the striking exception of second segment "All Dash Away", which is tight, frightening, and unforgettable. So good in fact, that it doesn't belong anywhere near this disappointing collection.
Summary: Two odd women in a grungy van run into nice family man Eric Turner in a deserted store parking lot on Christmas Eve. After discovering his birthday is December 25, Sasha and Frankie saddle him with the vicious entity living inside their van - a demon (call him Tether) that will slay Eric and murder his family if he ever ventures more than 25 feet away. Branding Eric frees them of their bondage, whilst trapping him until he can rope another Christmas-birthday sucker to take his place.
"All Dash Away" makes excellent use of its contained setting - basically three characters in a deserted Wal-Mart parking lot. Like Stephen King's "Thinner", a victim must hand off the curse to be rid of it, bringing up all sorts of interesting moral quandaries. And in the best storytelling fashion, "All Dash Away" also raises more questions than it answers.
But after several viewings, I have a few questions myself.
First off, Sasha and Frankie seem quite unimaginative to me. They've spent three furtive years living out of this dirty van, tethered within 25 feet of a flesh-eating demon. Eric strikes me as a smart guy... Perhaps he might come up with a few interesting wrinkles. For instance, why hide his predicament? Why not come clean and reveal his secret to the world, which according to the established rules, shouldn't be a problem? Unlike Sasha and Frankie's paranoid approach, this opens a world of possibilities.
If Eric breaks the barrier, the demon will kill him and his family anyhow. As long as he obeys the rules, they are safe. So why not go home? 25 feet is a surprisingly wide radius. With an abundance of caution - plus some creative parking and construction - he could sleep in his own bedroom, shower in his bathroom, and eat in his own kitchen with his family.
Next option: Ask the government for help! Seems to me the authorities would be quite interested in a murderous demonic threat to mankind, and happy to assist Eric with his plight. Did anyone ever try an exorcism over the past 2000 years? Or how about just putting a shotgun to Tether's head and pulling the trigger? There were no vans in Christ's time. So where did Tether live back then - a closet, perhaps? This suggests it can be safely removed from the van, maybe to some secure facility for testing.
But even if Tether is indestructible, the government could still help Eric other ways as well. Volunteer tether substitutes could be found and exchanged on a regular basis, thereby managing the length of the curse for each victim. How about sentencing criminals born on Christmas Day to serve as tethers in their cells? More importantly, does a tether even need to be human? Perhaps dogs or rabbits could be bred on Christmas Day and branded as tethers, dozens at a time.
Finally, a nagging plot hole. Frankie and Sasha have been trapped by the Tether's curse for three years; if they can successfully brand Eric against his will, they will apparently both be freed. Which raises a question: If only one handoff victim is required to transfer the curse, then how did two people like Frankie and Sasha ever become branded at the same time?
Sequel, please.
Summary: Two odd women in a grungy van run into nice family man Eric Turner in a deserted store parking lot on Christmas Eve. After discovering his birthday is December 25, Sasha and Frankie saddle him with the vicious entity living inside their van - a demon (call him Tether) that will slay Eric and murder his family if he ever ventures more than 25 feet away. Branding Eric frees them of their bondage, whilst trapping him until he can rope another Christmas-birthday sucker to take his place.
"All Dash Away" makes excellent use of its contained setting - basically three characters in a deserted Wal-Mart parking lot. Like Stephen King's "Thinner", a victim must hand off the curse to be rid of it, bringing up all sorts of interesting moral quandaries. And in the best storytelling fashion, "All Dash Away" also raises more questions than it answers.
But after several viewings, I have a few questions myself.
First off, Sasha and Frankie seem quite unimaginative to me. They've spent three furtive years living out of this dirty van, tethered within 25 feet of a flesh-eating demon. Eric strikes me as a smart guy... Perhaps he might come up with a few interesting wrinkles. For instance, why hide his predicament? Why not come clean and reveal his secret to the world, which according to the established rules, shouldn't be a problem? Unlike Sasha and Frankie's paranoid approach, this opens a world of possibilities.
If Eric breaks the barrier, the demon will kill him and his family anyhow. As long as he obeys the rules, they are safe. So why not go home? 25 feet is a surprisingly wide radius. With an abundance of caution - plus some creative parking and construction - he could sleep in his own bedroom, shower in his bathroom, and eat in his own kitchen with his family.
Next option: Ask the government for help! Seems to me the authorities would be quite interested in a murderous demonic threat to mankind, and happy to assist Eric with his plight. Did anyone ever try an exorcism over the past 2000 years? Or how about just putting a shotgun to Tether's head and pulling the trigger? There were no vans in Christ's time. So where did Tether live back then - a closet, perhaps? This suggests it can be safely removed from the van, maybe to some secure facility for testing.
But even if Tether is indestructible, the government could still help Eric other ways as well. Volunteer tether substitutes could be found and exchanged on a regular basis, thereby managing the length of the curse for each victim. How about sentencing criminals born on Christmas Day to serve as tethers in their cells? More importantly, does a tether even need to be human? Perhaps dogs or rabbits could be bred on Christmas Day and branded as tethers, dozens at a time.
Finally, a nagging plot hole. Frankie and Sasha have been trapped by the Tether's curse for three years; if they can successfully brand Eric against his will, they will apparently both be freed. Which raises a question: If only one handoff victim is required to transfer the curse, then how did two people like Frankie and Sasha ever become branded at the same time?
Sequel, please.