"One Killer Hit Deserves Another" claims the back of the box and while a sequel to Warner Brothers DTV horror hit 'Rest Stop' isn't necessarily a surprise, that 'Rest Stop: Don't Look Bad' isn't actually that bad definitely is.
A disclaimer: I never saw the first 'Rest Stop'. I know, I know, what was I thinking? But if you can get past that ballsy statement, you'll find that I thought this pic was solid enough as a no-expectations horror entry to make me want to go back and check out the first one.
What certainly helped was that I was coming off a completely incompetent pic 'Buried Alive' from Dimension's Extreme label and that DTV expectations were exceptionally low.
So when lo and behold, I found a DTV horror film that was actually entertaining, I probably responded more than I should. Not a great film by any means but there was enough strangeness, gore and set-pieces to keep me entertained.
While it wouldn't be confused for a comparatively big-budget horror pic, director Shawn Papazian has a reasonably decent eye for staging and giving the allusion that the film cost more than it did.
Certainly a continuation of the first film with characters and mythology carried over, I never really felt lost because the surrealness of the picture and lack of context seemed to actually benefit the experience.
Smartly hooking the audience right away, the pic starts off with a redneck trucker getting a ride from a whacked-out religious family including some Damien look-alike twins, a dwarf who’s seen better days, and the religious spouting horny wife and fire & brimstone father.
Through a series of I will not mention events; the trucker gets punished for his sins by having his eyes gouged out - an act that he will exact revenge for soon enough.
It then picks up some 35 years later where we meet the brother, Corporal Tom Hilts (Richard Tillman), of the protagonist in the first pic who’s back in town after an extended tour in Iraq. Feeling guilty that he wasn't around when his brother went missing, he decides to take a road trip out west to see if he can dig up any clues to his brother’s whereabouts.
Tagging along is liquor-swilling girlfriend Marilyn (Jessie Ward) who feels compelled to go as she was friends with Jesse's girlfriend Nicole (Julie Mind) and dorky pal Jared (Graham Norris) the token red-head sporting a crush for Nicole and hoping he can find and rescue her and consummate his long-time crush.
Not surprisingly and admittedly ridiculous, they stumble upon the trail pretty quickly as a creepy gas station attendant (of course...) points them in the direction of the 'old highway' where the missing couple made their way the year before.
Making good on its title, the three find themselves at a 'Rest Stop' where they come across whom they were looking for along with a tongueless truck driver and a winnebago full of eyeball-carrying nuts.
The epitome of a good drinking movie, there's just enough goofiness, humor and gore to balance each other out in entertaining ways. None of it makes much sense and the Native American mythology behind it is barely teased at but the torture porn elements - eye-gouging, tongue-carving, leg drilling - of it do work in generating some tension and the cast is more than competent for this type of affair.
The sharp 2.35:1 VC-1 1080p encode added to my enjoyment of the pic with a nice gritty transfer that’s spotty with the grain and noise but the texture really added to the atmosphere.
Not squeaky clean but there's no doubt of the high-def visuals. A lossless Dolby TrueHD track is also provided and does a great job surrounding the viewer with subtle ambiance or the loud drilling and screams of the victims.
Very peculiarly, this Blu-Ray comes with absolutely no special features which is all the more mystifying considering the DVD includes a commentary, deleted scenes, an alternate ending and a featurette. Whaaa?
Rest Stop - Don't Look Back [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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