[1] Deeply in debt to his dead wife's father, rare-films dealer Kirby Sweetman (Norman Reedus) has less than a month to produce $200,000 to save his small theater.

An old cinephile, Mr. Bellinger (Udo Kier), hires him to find the sole print of a rare 30-year-old film titled La Fin Absolue du Monde (French: The Absolute End of the World).

Bellinger leads Sweetman to a hidden room in his mansion, which contains an emaciated, pale man (Christopher Redman) in chains.

The wounds on the man's shoulders appear to be the source of a pair of angelic wings.

He sends Sweetman to a contact, a filmmaker named Dalibor (Douglas Arthurs) who might know where the film is.

[2] Nich Schager of Slant Magazine wrote that the film lacks Carpenter's "trademark cinemascope cinematography" and is too overt, but it is "something of an atmospheric semi-return to form".

[3] Steve Barton of Dread Central rated it 5/5 stars and called it "vintage Carpenter": "gory, disturbing, and at times beautiful to look at".

[4] Michael Drucker of IGN rated it 8/10 stars and described it as "fun, exciting, and horrifying", though he criticized the scenes of La Fin Absolue du Monde as poorly done.

[5] Ian Jane of DVD Talk rated it 3/5 stars and concluded that it is a "nice return to form from Carpenter that, despite some flaws, makes for an unsettling and atmospheric viewing".