It's always disappointing when a trailer gives away the plot for the entire movie, but the trailer for Dead Awake shows that sometimes the alternative is just as bad. From what I could figure out: Nick Stahl's girlfriend (Amy Smart) died ten years ago in a car accident. Only, Stahl is trying to convince a detective that it wasn't an accident. But it turns out the detective he's been talking to is also dead. Oh, and Stahl is dead too, but he doesn't know it. Only Rose McGowan knows. Then Stahl's girlfriend is alive again, or at least around. Or was that a flashback? Somebody help.
Really, I'm all for genre movies that don't have some high concept hook that fits nicely into a two-minute trailer, but this is ridiculous. It's fine to keep the plot of a film under wraps, but the images of the trailer should give audiences some sense of a cohesive style or vision. In the case of Dead Awake, there's just murky lighting, baffling close-ups and melodrama-galore. Still, McGowan looks like she's having a good time with her ominous, white trash snarl.
Verdict: Pass.
[Via Shock Till You Drop]