No Through Road (web series)

Last updated
No Through Road
Genre Psychological horror, supernatural horror, analog horror, found footage,
Created bySteven Chamberlain [1] [2]
Written bySteven Chamberlain
Directed bySteven Chamberlain
Starring
  • Steven Chamberlain
  • James Williams
  • Oliver Campbell
  • Chris Hayes
  • David Powell
ComposersSteven Chamberlain
Gillian Welch (sample)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
CinematographySteven Chamberlain
Original release
Network YouTube
ReleaseJanuary 16, 2009 (2009-01-16) 
August 29, 2012 (2012-08-29)

No Through Road (alternatively stylised simply as NTR) is a British web series written and directed by filmmaker Steven Chamberlain, who also stars. [1] Originating from a 2009 short film based on the Bunny Man urban legend, [3] the 1999 supernatural horror film The Blair Witch Project , and the 2008 psychological horror film The Strangers (from which Gillian Welch's "My First Lover" is sampled), it was expanded to a series in mid-2011. The series purports to be footage found in a discarded video camera belonging to four teenagers en route to Stevenage, England, as they find themselves trapped in a time loop, pursued by a hatted masked man. With the cast and crew initially being uncredited to maintain the illusion of the footage being real in the early days of online video platforms, the series was aired through to late-2012 on YouTube, [4] [5] going viral and receiving a positive critical reception.

Contents

Synopsis

No Through Road follows footage of several seventeen-year-old boys purportedly found dead in their car ten miles from their hometown. [1] In the series, while driving to Stevenage, after taking a shortcut via a private "no through road" at the abandoned Broomhall Farm at night, and finding a perfectly preserved rabbit during a rest stop at the side of the road, the boys unwittingly find themselves trapped in a time loop along two road signs marking an intersection between Benington and Watton, while pursued by a mysterious hatted masked man.

Episodes

Short film (2009)

Episode
#
TitleOriginal air dateU.K. viewers
(millions)
Ref(s)
1"No Through Road (NTR1)"January 16, 2009 (2009-01-16)3.6 [6] [7] [8]
On December 17th 2008, four seventeen-year-old boys are said to have been found dead in their car at an abandoned farm, 10 miles from their hometown. One year later, a video containing unedited footage from a camera belonging to one of the boys, also found in the car, stolen from the British secret service, is uploaded to YouTube. [2]

Web series (2011–2012)

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Peters, Lucia (November 16, 2020). "The Weird Part Of YouTube: The Making Of "No Through Road" And The Power Of Unanswered Questions". The Ghost in My Machine. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kok, Nestor (March 18, 2022). "Ghosts in the Machine: Trick-Editing, Time Loops, and Terror in "No Through Road"". F Newsmagazine . Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  3. Unexplained Events (April 6, 2020). "Best Horror Short Films". Tumblr . Retrieved April 6, 2020. Based on the Clifton Bunny Man urban legend, this found footage-style short is about four 17-year-old boys [who] were found dead in their car at an abandoned farm, 10 miles from their hometown. This video contains the unedited footage from the camera belonging to one of the boys, also found in the car.
  4. 1 2 3 Catherine, Anna (May 3, 2013). "Review: No Through Road". -EL GORE-. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Peters, Lucia (February 18, 2014). "Found Footage: "No Through Road"". The Ghost in My Machine. Archived from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  6. Chamberlain, Steven (January 16, 2009). No Through Road. indrancole3. Retrieved January 16, 2009 via YouTube.
  7. Chamberlain, Steven (July 13, 2019). No Through Road. True Paranormal. Retrieved July 13, 2019 via Facebook.
  8. Bundy Spooks (July 15, 2015). "No Through Road". Tumblr . Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  9. Chamberlain, Steven (June 25, 2011). No Through Road 2. indrancole3. Retrieved June 25, 2011 via YouTube.
  10. 1 2 3 Tanner, Lexie (September 11, 2020). "Is the film No Through Road real?". News Basis. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  11. Chamberlain, Steven (April 16, 2012). No Through Road 3. indrancole3. Retrieved April 16, 2012 via YouTube.
  12. Chamberlain, Steven (August 29, 2012). No Through Road 4. indrancole3. Retrieved August 29, 2012 via YouTube.
  13. 1 2 Manders, Hayden (October 21, 2014). "30 YouTube Videos To Keep You Up At Night". Refinery29 . Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  14. 1 2 Cantrell, M. Asher (October 24, 2014). "7 Deeply Bizarre Horror Shorts to Watch on YouTube". Film School Rejects . Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  15. 1 2 Peters, Lucia (September 28, 2017). "9 Insanely Creepy YouTube Web Series You Probably Shouldn't Watch Before Bed". Bustle . Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  16. 1 2 Verma, Supriya (July 12, 2018). "5 Best English Web Series". Medium . Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  17. Rylah, Juliet Bennett (August 1, 2019). "Creepy Found Footage Videos on YouTube". Ranker . Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  18. 1 2 TREMG Staff (October 8, 2020). "Ghosts, Cryptids, and Murder: Creepy Videos for the Halloween Season". TREMG News. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  19. 1 2 Reuben, Emily (September 3, 2021). "The Best Original Horror On YouTube". Looper . Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  20. 1 2 Gislason, Lor (October 15, 2021). "Sounds Scary: Eight Creepy YouTube Horror Series to Watch Late at Night". Horror Obsessive. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  21. Ayoub (October 19, 2020). "Here Are Some Of The Scariest And Most Disturbing Videos On The Internet". Postize. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  22. Poliquin, John; The Vicious Brothers. (October 2, 2012). Grave Encounters 2 audio commentary. Arclight Films.
  23. Lovering, Jeremy. (January 20, 2013). In Fear director's commentary. StudioCanal.
  24. Ohlsson, Tobias (October 16, 2019). No Through Road – Trailer. Night Owl Vision. Retrieved October 16, 2019 via YouTube.
  25. Fair, Mikel (December 6, 2019). "Oregon Scream Week Horror Film Festival Winter 2019". Film Festival Circuit. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
Episode
#
TitleOriginal air dateU.K. viewers
(millions)
Ref(s)
2"No Through Road 2 (NTR2)"June 25, 2011 (2011-06-25)0.73 [9] [10]
This is footage from the first of two tapes procured by the police following the event and code-named by MI6 as "NTR2", following Steven as he returns to the titular road three years later. I can only hope that they do not catch me before I obtain the second tape.