Montreal Dead End (2018)

(On Cable TV, October 2022) It’s hard not to like at least the concept of Montreal Dead End—a horror anthology film where different filmmakers pick a neighbourhood of the city as setting for their (very) short films, with an overall wrapping device to make it cohere more than the usual despite 15 different films from 18 directors. It’s low-budget filmmaking, but with modern equipment—meaning that some of the drone-filmed establishing shots are often gorgeous and seem to belong in a much more expensive production. Alas, the low-budget is more often seen in the lack of narrative polish, the sometimes rushed staging, the dodgy special effects, and the varying levels of interest (or tone) in the results. This is a film that can jump from parallel-universe eeriness to zombie romantic comedy to creepy kids to body-switching farce to urban fantasy without skipping a beat, so it’s best to get rid of any assumptions coming in. As a frequent visitor to Montréal, I rather liked it—the personality of the neighbourhoods came through clearly, and the filmmakers did what they could with the means at their disposals. I do have a specific fondness for the Beaubien, Marche Atwater and Vieux Montréal segments, but that may just be me. In any case, the film is freely available online if you’re curious about it.