Roadkill / Joy Ride 2001 DVD Review Steve Zahn Paul Walker Leelee Sobieski

Roadkill or ‘Joy Ride' as I believe it is known in the US has been one of my favourite horror/thriller movies for a long time so after re watching it last night I decided that it was about time to write a review and explain to everyone just why I love this movie so much and why it definitely isn't the ‘B Movie' it has been wrongly portrayed as.

The movie is written by Clay Tarver and JJ Abrams (LOST) and is a strange but workable combination of comedy and tension. Paul Walker plays Lewis, a laidback kinda guy who gets the opportunity to drive his childhood sweetheart Venna (Played by Leelee Sobieski) across the country to their home town for the summer. On the way he has to pick up his brother Fuller, an off the rails and brilliantly funny character played by Steve Zahn. As the pair head towards their destination to meet Venna they decide to play a trick on an unsuspecting truck driver who goes by the alias Rusty Nail on CB Radio. They tune in and Lewis puts on his best woman's voice as the fictional ‘Candy Cane' to fool

Rusty Nail into a meeting in a hotel room. Of course when Rusty Nail arrives at the room to find a rather butch and obnoxious man there and his beloved ‘Candy Cane' nowhere in sight he isn't exactly best pleased and so begins his twisted saga of revenge, chasing the brothers for miles in his truck in scenes very reminiscent of ‘The Hitcher' and Jeepers Creepers. ‘Rusty Nail' himself is voiced by none other than Ted Levine, who starred as ‘Buffalo Bill' in silence of the Lambs and Big Bob Carter in The Hills have eyes. His unmistakable voice is PERFECT for this movie making you shudder as he frequently drawls the immortal words "Caaaaandy Cane" into the CB.

This isn't a scare a minute horror movie, or one that is filled with violence, blood and guts, it plays on tension, a good plot and doesn't make that fatal mistake of taking itself too seriously. Everyone in the film understands the kind of movie they are making; it's a teen horror that doesn't rely on the usual cheap scares and over the top acting and instead pulls something out of the bag that is altogether very different. In my opinion it is better than Jeepers Creepers, which although everyone raves about was only actually any good for the first half of the movie until ‘The Creeper' gets revealed wouldn't you agree? Unlike that, Roadkill (or Joy Ride depending on how you want to refer to it) is consistently tense and fun throughout the films entirety. It never loses pace, and it never once becomes boring or tedious leaving the audience on the edge of their seats and desperate to catch a glimpse of the brilliantly unstable Rusty Nail. As you can tell, I love this movie and would recommend it to anyone, not as a serious pretentious horror movie but as a genuinely FUN and watchable film that everyone should have in their collection. Of course, I'm sure everyone out there has their own views and I'd love to hear what you think if you have watched it!