Dead End (2003) starring Ray Wise, Lin Shaye

My buddy Lou used to say that the plot of any good movie could be summed up as follows: Create likable characters and then threaten to kill them. 

If only the creators of DEAD END had followed this advice. 

The Harrington family (Frank, Laura, their kids Richard and Marion, and Marion’s boyfriend Brad) heads out on Christmas Eve for their annual trip to the home of Laura’s family. Frank (Ray Wise) decides on an ill-advised short cut from the normal, boring route. 

After avoiding a head-on collision with another car, the family encounters a woman in white and her baby, a deserted baby carriage, and a spooky old black car that spirits away the travelers one by one. 

Unfortunately, the black car takes its good old time, and we have to live with these insufferable assholes while they argue, bicker, shoot one another, and divulge secrets, all while plodding along to the tedious, obvious conclusion. — Dan Taylor