When I saw that Shane Carruth is the lead in this I already knew it's probably going to be something dark and messy with the mind & I wasn't wrong. These type of movies, mood and atmosphere wise, are my favorite. Having said that, "The Dead Center" is not a perfect movie.
It's pretty obvious the director didn't have a lot of money to work with, but that was compensated with some creative, atmosphere building cinematography, editing solutions and practical gore effects. And not only with the technical side - acting also was, for the most part, impressive and believable. The place itself, the hospital, is as authentic and sinister feeling as the characters living and working there. I especially enjoyed the performance by Jeremy Childs, as the otherworldly possessed and troubled mysterious patient. Acting's on point, but I was the most impressed by the atmosphere, hopeless and evil, the aforementioned aspects of filmmaking plus sound design & original score worked together well and made the movie stand out. So far so good, but the problem lies within the story, or the plot. For the first half the mystery goes on, new things happen - a slow burner but a rather great one. Around the middle the story starts slowing down, stumbles, stops surprising. At the end it leaves You kinda unsatisfied and craving more & You start thinking is there some message there you didn't quite catch. If that's the case, can a movie be built on one metaphor? Now, I may not know the full meaning of this movie, but it was mentally extreme & I enjoyed that.
You have to be able to enjoy movies with dark atmosphere, mean spirit, art-house antics, movies about mental illness, and such - if that sounds like a yes to You, I do recommend it. My rating: 7/10.
