Roadside Attractions | Release Date: August 24, 2007
6.4
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Ratings
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15
Mixed:
5
Negative:
4
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6
HellHoleHorrorFeb 16, 2022
I was pleasantly surprised. This is not the same as other toxic explosion movies such as Threads (1984), The Day After (1983) and the less memorable Testament (1983). This movie is harder to relate to and did not scare me in the same way. ItI was pleasantly surprised. This is not the same as other toxic explosion movies such as Threads (1984), The Day After (1983) and the less memorable Testament (1983). This movie is harder to relate to and did not scare me in the same way. It focuses much more on a close relationship between a couple caught up in a fictional terrorist attack. It is much less about total destructive paranoia and more intimate. The movie is very well made. It looks very believable. The way that the movie has been made feels honest. The relationship is gripping from start to finish. Expand
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8
HWND.Aug 25, 2007
Excellent low budget thriller. Well made and well acted. Definitely recommended!
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2
NOAug 27, 2007
Boring, boring, boring. The first ten minutes promise a tense, suspenseful, thriller. Then, husband, wife, and audience spend the next hour or so waiting around for something to happen. Finally, after a long boring movie there is a twist Boring, boring, boring. The first ten minutes promise a tense, suspenseful, thriller. Then, husband, wife, and audience spend the next hour or so waiting around for something to happen. Finally, after a long boring movie there is a twist ending that doesn't make up for time and money wasted. Expand
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8
CaptainBlighDec 31, 2010
If you like drama with a decent sci fi premise, good acting, directing, and dialogue, and do not mind a sparse, stage like but solid production, watch this movie. The story is primarily about two people who are close and familiar, (maybe tooIf you like drama with a decent sci fi premise, good acting, directing, and dialogue, and do not mind a sparse, stage like but solid production, watch this movie. The story is primarily about two people who are close and familiar, (maybe too much so), and how the effect of a major catastrophic event affects their lives and relationship with each other. There is nothing new or unusual here. But it is the telling of the story, and the characters, that make this movie compelling.

I was reminded of Romero's "The Crazies" and "Night (and "Dawn") of the Living Dead", as well as "The Thing", "Blindness", "Quarantine", and the superior and little known Indie film "Last Night". Also, to a lesser extent, I was reminded of "The Andromeda Strain" and "Outbreak", with just a a whiff of, (strangely enough), "Kramer versus Kramer". Depending on your perspective, these movies share a sense of dislocation for the characters from their familiar, comfortable, ordinary day to day realities due to special events beyond their control. These are movies where people as groups and/or as individuals are separated from each other by choice or by force, while the "humanity" the justification and the "reasoning" for these separations can be considered from an objective outsider as arbitrary, primal level, survival instinct. None, or all, of these movies mentioned adequately represent this movie. They each stand, or fall, on their own merits. And each has it's own distinct direction, dialogue, faults, flaws, and recommendations.

The lead actors were familiar without being famous, which allowed for more personalized interpretation of the characters by the director and actors. This helped to provide a stage like experience on film with out looking like a stage play refilmed. The suspense for the most part is maintained with effective if uninspired use of camera angles, better than average dialogue between the two lead characters, and the clever use of the contradiction between what is really happening to the characters and what is being broadcast on the radio and TV news stations. This helped to make up for lack of effects and multi camera shots. edits and limited scene changes. Therefore the movie is a bit claustrophobic, and considering the scenario, that is appropriate. The introduction of other actors both on and off screen playing small parts are effective plot devices and reveal the effectiveness of the news on fooling both the victims and the unaffected population. The news reports misinformation, rumors and out right lies as fact, and the gullible population, like mice in a maze, are willingly lured into a sense of comfort and away from mass hysteria. At one point the truth of what is being witnessed is denied by the victims themselves in favor of accepting the more positive, if obviously inaccurate, news reports. When do we stop being human and start to become "news zombies" controlled by the media? In less deft hands this movie could have sunk to a stereotypical hackneyed overly political sub par soap opera. The viewer is presented with the situations, and is for the most part left to decide on the political, personal, philosophical reasons and blame for the incidents and the actions of the characters.
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7
annapatrixSep 14, 2015
Avery good story, a lot of suspense and a pretty decent film all in all.

Watch it online, for free: https://www.primewire.ag/watch-4372-Right-at-Your-Door-online-free
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9
DaanthonyDec 19, 2015
A great low budget thriller that derives most of its suspense from the realistic portrayal of a biological attack on post 9/11 America. Fails to maintain a flowing plot and looses focus in the middle but is a strong showing for this low budget film.
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7
rodrigosoaresamJul 23, 2020
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The movie is good, isnt great at all. I think that the ending should be better. I think there are some many things that doenst make sense, such as, why the girl is always outside. Why the guy doenst use a knife to cut the curtain in the ending. Always the information came from radio, why not the tv? I think there are some stuff to explore, but I think that's a good movie. Expand
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7
DawdlingPoetNov 26, 2021
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a tense thriller, which depicts what could be an event of the future, which makes it even more chilling. Such terrorist attacks have been covered in shows such as 24 in the past, indeed you could say there's quite alot of paranoia that such a 'dirty bomb' or bombs will be detonated in or around LA, due to the high number of casualties of multiple nationalities that would be a result (esp. with LAX being in the area - even those who don't stay around the area often end up there on connecting flights etc.) as well as the economic impact etc. anyway yes, this movie definitely prays on the worries of some and it is, as I say, very realistic - there aren't too many special effects, no heavy amounts of CGI used here, indeed little is shown other than plumes of smoke and ash in the distance shown early on and then some scenes of the ash lying near to Brads house, with the odd casulaty appearing. Its a little disturbing but its not overly bloody or graphic, its a case of the seriousness of the story that make this not for the particularly faint hearted.

The movie is particularly claustrophobic as you can feel Brad's frustration, his desperation once within his house which gets taped up or sealed in as it were, to get back outside, to see whats happened and determine how much of what he's hearing through public service news broadcasts are accurate because as I say, paranoia rules in this sort of environment and you can never be sure what the motives or pririties are of those who carried such an attempt and the government trying to respond. While we're basically observing Brad as he waits for help to arrive to attend to his wife who's desperate to be reunited with him, we're also trying to figure out exactly whats going on and trying to determine what the outcome will be. I have to say that there is a twist in the story, one that I hadn't really seen coming to be honest, so that quite impressed me - it certainly made me think and made the movie more memorable to me. The movie is rather dark both in tone and in color, which is quite understandable given the situation their in and the fact windows are taped up and of course that also adds to the claustrophobic feel it has - it is quite chilling, you feel like its main purpose is to warn, rather than to entertain or even to scare, really. Thats all well and fine but it is a bit depressing when there's not exactly alot we can do to prevent such things, realistically, other than have faith that the government and intelligence agencies are putting in place all necessary security procedures and monitoring things sufficiently.

Towards the end of the movie when the authorities come to Brad's house, the scenes very much reminded me of the family movie ET, when the authorities/scientists quarrantine the family home attempting to get ET to carry out scientific research. I felt that the characters were quite well portrayed, there aren't many characters featured in this movie, one of the perhaps more memorable characters being Timmy, a young boy (probably about 6 or 7 years old or so), mainly for his childhood innocence, not realising the seriousness of the situation. It does have a bit of a 'b movie' type feel to it but then I think its good that it doesn't rely on the usual Hollywood blockbuster budget and CGI effects to work, if that makes sense.

This is not a movie to watch for endless action scenes or for extreme bloody horror (given the title, you may assume its a horror movie), its neither an action or really a horror movie, instead of more of a claustrophobic thriller, I suppose. Its quite engrossing in that it feels spookily quite realistic and you and you share Brad's stir craziness I suppose would be the term.

Yes, I think this is worth watching. It may not be what you might be hoping for as an action/drama film, as thats not what it is but its a pretty competent movie which I felt was rather engrossing, its a fairly compelling watch so I'm happy to recommend it based on that.
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0
gdiegoSep 25, 2021
The characters are so bloody awful and pathetic, that you really couldn't care less about what happens to them. This is especially true for the "male" half of the couple we experience this slog of an apocalyptic "thriller" with. The guy is aThe characters are so bloody awful and pathetic, that you really couldn't care less about what happens to them. This is especially true for the "male" half of the couple we experience this slog of an apocalyptic "thriller" with. The guy is a perfect example of a beta male. He'd rather watch his own wife die outside their make-shift sealed home, than let her in to spend their last moments together. Narcissism reigns, as this wimpy husband can only cry and whine his way through their plight. Expand
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