This gory and admirably engrossing Canadian horror is rarely seen and suitably obscure.It tells the story of an accomplished writer of horror scripts,who is plagued by ghastly visions of horror and bloody carnage.His ideas are often outrageous and transgressive.He writes about cannibalistic nuns,satanic goats and murderous children with gasoline.He is constantly fighting with his drug-addicted wife and his three children are neglected.When his small daughter is hanged his life breaks down into nightmarish pieces."Deadline" is about dysfunctional Canadian family and their tortured lives.The film is very gory,but the gore scenes are all shots from various movies Steve did.The acting is great and the atmosphere is sleazy and washed-out."Deadline" hates horror genre,but it works as a grimly effective shocker.8 out of 10 for this obscure horror classic.

Popular and successful horror writer Steven Lessey (a fine and credible performance by Steven Young) tries to juggle his increasingly messy personal life with the demands of meeting a strict deadline on his latest horror movie script.

Director/co-writer Mario Azzopardi offers an intelligent, intriguing, and provocative examination on the meaty themes of art versus commerce, illusion versus reality, how being a success in a specific genre can become its own trap, and whether one's work offers a trenchant commentary on blight or just only adds further gross insult on top of already existing filth and degradation (Lessey's work definitely fits into the latter category). Moreover, the domestic drama aspect gives this film an unexpectedly wrenching poignancy, with everything coming brilliantly together at the end with Lessey penning a screenplay about the self-created wreckage of his messed-up life.

The sound acting qualifies as another definite asset, with especially praiseworthy contributions from Young, Sharon Masters as Lassey's fed-up wife Elizabeth, Marvin Goldhar as crass and overbearing schlock producer Burt Horowitz, Jeannie Elias as prima donna actress Darlene Winters, Cindy Hinds as sweet and concerned daughter Sharon, Phillip Leonard as angry older son David, and Tod Woodcroft as sensitive youngest son David. In addition, the gore set pieces certainly deliver the outrageously gruesome goods: Disgusting highlights include a farmer being chewed up in a thresher, cannibal nuns eating a priest, and a punk band's blaring music causing several winos to poop themselves to death. An excellent sleeper.

"Deadline" is an obscure, inventive, intriguing and occasionally very engrossing little Canadian-produced horror sleeper, but at the same time also difficult and even somewhat risky to recommend to fellow genre fanatics because it is certainly an awkward and downbeat movie. Basically a dysfunctional family drama and a portrait of downwards mental spiral, "Deadline" also boosts a whole lot of sickening and extra-gratuitous violence and I'm really not sure if people will appreciate this combination, let alone the robust and sudden changes in tone. Even though the gory bits undoubtedly form the best and most memorable part of the film, they clearly serve no purpose other than fill up space and attract wider audiences. Steven Lessey is a horror author whose previous scripts were hugely profitable blockbuster hits. So now, and obviously, Steven's producer nags around his head for a new script. But Steven wants to do something different and struggles with a writer's block. Being obsessed with this work, Steven doesn't notice how his wife becomes a frequent visitor of drug parties or how his neglected children play deadly games they've seen in daddy's movies. The sick & twisted horror fragments are either clips from Steven's supposed previous films (like a marvelous scene involving a black goat and an agricultural machine) or potential new concept for his new script. Particularly these fragments are outrageously demented and uncompromisingly shocking! Some of them really ought to be elaborated into a full-length horror movie, like the idea of suicidal fetuses and especially the idea of little children tying up and setting fire to their own grandmother. "Deadline" is pretty good but it could have been a lot better. In the hands of that other super-talented Canadian director David Cronenberg, for example, the processing of these themes and ambiances would have resulted in the ultimately petrifying cinematic nightmare. Still, writer/director Mario Azzopardi definitely didn't do a bad job. The atmosphere is admirably moody and the film is literally stuffed with unsettling imagery. "Deadline" is an interesting film, to say the least. Proceed at your own risk