The Death That Awaits

"The Death that Awaits" proves that marketing can be the first misstep in a film's journey to its audience. Billed as a slow-burn horror, this 102-minute feature ultimately delivers neither the promised horror elements nor enough dramatic tension to justify its glacial pacing.

The film follows a drifter who takes a position caring for a mysteriously ill teenager in the countryside, but the intrigue suggested by this premise never fully materializes. While the technical elements are competent - the RED cameras capture the rural setting with appropriate atmosphere, and the Zeiss lenses lend a classical cinematic quality to the visuals - these production values feel wasted on a story that struggles to find its identity.

The transformation subplot, which should serve as the narrative's driving force, unfolds with such restraint that it borders on inertia. The parents' supposedly sinister efforts to prevent this change lack the urgency or menace needed to generate genuine suspense. While the actors deliver serviceable performances, they're hampered by a script that mistakes silence for substance and slowness for sophistication.

Most problematic is the film's horror classification. Viewers expecting genre thrills will find themselves waiting for scares that never arrive. This mismarketing does a disservice to both the film and its audience, as "The Death that Awaits" might have found a more appreciative viewership if positioned as a straight drama about family secrets and rural isolation.

The production values and competent performances suggest this could have found a comfortable home as a made-for-television feature, where expectations might better align with its modest ambitions. Instead, it exists in an uncomfortable limbo - too subdued for horror fans, too slight for art-house audiences, and too languid for mainstream viewers seeking entertainment. Sometimes the death that awaits is simply the slow expiration of audience interest.

"The Death That Awaits" is a film that I found really entertaining, but it so completely falls apart at the end that it's a bit stunning considering how good everything up to that was.

"The Death That Awaits" follows Cassie, who goes to a remote house (with, of course, limited to no phone service) to be a caretaker for 19-year old Nina, who is pretty unhappy about having a "babysitter" at her age. Her parents tell her that she should stay in the guest house because Nina has night terrors and would likely wake her, but we find out early on that it is much more than that -- Nina literally loses control at night and thrashes and screams. Cassie tries to be friendly and helpful and understanding to Nina, all the while fighting off advances from her brother and worrying about "treatment" that a local doctor is providing...

There are a few ways that this could be explained, and "The Death That Awaits" does a wonderful job of not letting us know what is going on. The actors all do a really nice job. And then, just when they are ready to explain the mystery, the movie goes and dumps a steaming turd of an ending on us. I mean, I wanted to throw something through my TV as it unfolded. I can't imagine what they could have been thinking.

Up until then, I thought I had discovered a new little gem of a film. But given how much it falls apart at the end, I can't recommend it.

So, there was only 1 review left here before watching this movie. Having read the reviewer might have found a 'little gem' (agreed!) I was IN to watch. But then they wrote that the ending wasn't up to their expectations.

I LOVED the whole movie... As Is.

Maybe I enjoyed the ending because I had lowered my expectations after reading this other review.

(I usually do not read reviews due to so many reviewers SPOILing even minor plots or mentioning that there ARE 'twists' within, without the red colored font revealing the need to watch for spoilers! Argh!!! Added this in to meet the character minimum) So. I agree!

Great Little Gem.

Its been 24 hours since I watched this movie and I'm going to watch it again right now!

I Loved the ending as it is.

No pun intended - if you are responsible for the well being of another human being ... well you should take that job serious. On the other hand if you yourself have mental ... let's call them issues ... well it can be hard to say the least.

An interesting concept and thriller overall, with some neat little twists and turns in the story. Actors are more than decent and there are enough scares to keep you going ... story wise it is ok too. For a low budget effort well done - at least from my perspective.

I watched this movie without knowing a single thing about it, and I think it helped that I didn't have any expectations. If you are looking for some specific content related a horror sub-genre, this might not be what you are imagining.

The movie begins with the central character, Cassie, being assigned to work with a younger troubled character, Nina. Nina is a defiant 19 year old who has already had numerous other people leave the position because of her difficulties. So you know the story is setting up the trope where Cassie will be different from everyone else and the first person to earn Nina's trust. Most of the interest of the story then shifts to finding out what is going on with Nina, and what is it about Cassie that makes her able to handle Nina's unususal behaviors. The other major characters are Nina's family, who demand that she conform to their expectations, and the doctor they have chosen to treat her.

Again, I wasn't looking for anything other than a good story, and I ended up pretty satisfied. This movie is more about the pressure of expectations than anything else. I liked how Cassie handled things, and seeing what decisions Nina made as a result. I didn't need the movie to contain specific things that I wanted to see; I was able to enjoy discovering what it had in store as it unfolded.