The Dead Center

For pleasing pre-Halloween viewing, you could do a whole lot worse than The Dead Center. Just don't expect too many nightmares afterward.

There's a lot of excellent atmospherics here that are more unsettling than the actual violence, which in turn is all the more effective for largely being kept just off-screen.

Makes hospitals seem even scarier than they already are.

Director/writer Billy Senese didn't have a ton of money to work with but "The Dead Center" wisely eschews gore and special effects in favor of setting a dark, malevolent mood.

The film is in tune with the need to remain lucid and empathetic while in the maw of human extremity.

[An] effective low-key chiller...

Despite its occasional faults...The Dead Center still remains a creepy, clinical piece of horror, rich in dread and featuring compelling performances from Carruth and Childs.

The Dead Center is a dark and worrying film that posits an unstoppable apocalypse...Such genuine, weapons-grade nihilism will put off those looking for a horror-themed drama&#59; for those looking for the dark side, this hits the bulls-eye.

This is a horror film - in the sense of horrific - through and through, a grim mystery which grows ever and ever nastier.

As riveting as it is fresh it's a slow and dreadful burn that, despite its detrimentally short run-time, manages to be one of the more intriguing, effective indie thrillers as of recent memory.