One of the few instances where I saw a sequel ahead of it's predecessor and even rarer, I actually liked the sequel (reviewed a couple weeks back) quite a bit more than this original 'Rest Stop: Dead Ahead' - a more straightforward, restrained film when compared to 'Don't Look Back'.
Writer-director John Shiban, an X-Files veteran who produced the show and directed one episode, doesn't really bring a whole lot to the table this first time out with thinly-drawn protagonists, villains that don't really get explained until the sequel and an odd penchant for dangling characters and then...not much.
In fact, 'not much' encapsulates most of the film's 84 minutes (even with credits) as the gore would literally make up less than one minute of the running time. It seems John Shiban didn't set out to make a slasher/torture pic as such this time out (the sequel definitely embraces the gore more...) but was more interested in ideas of helplessness and facing your fears single-handedly.
The story, such as it is, starts off with Jesse (Joey Mendiciono) and Nicole (Jamie Alexander) madly in love and heading to California to give Hollywood a go. After a quick stop off for some T&A, Nicole makes the fateful decision to wait to go to the bathroom until they come across some facilities. Had she decided to just take a piss off the side of the road, she may be starring in 'Gossip Girls' right now.
But no, she holds it until Jesse pulls up to a deserted, dingy rest stop. Taking care of business, strange things start happening right away and when she heads back outside, Jesse is nowhere to be seen. Trying a parked Winnebago, there's no answer and she's soon dealing with a yellow pickup truck that ran Jesse and her off the road earlier and is now maliciously driving around.
When the driver of the truck throws Jesse's bloodstained cellphone out the window, Nicole knows this guy is definitely up to no good and with the next sign of civilization another 60 miles, she finds herself trapped, alone and having to deal with a maniacal truck driver. And here I'll be whining about the commute tomorrow.
Despite not much happening, I did find it reasonably watchable mainly due to Jaime Alexander proving to be a more capable actress than the role really deserved. The film rests almost solely on her frail shoulders and she sells the panic, terror and frustration to give the film a much-needed thesping boost. A lesser actress would have sunk the film totally.
There's also a few nice moments between Alexander and Joey Lawrence (whoa!) as a sheriff who should've listened and the gore when it happens is captured well enough to be disturbing, particularly a nasty little scene where Nicole will learn not to poke her fingers into holes they don't belong (I, however, am far from learning that lesson...ahem).
Presented in a 1080p 1.78:1 VC-1 transfer, the film looks okay in high-def but the low-budget plus the intentionally stylized, gritty texture didn't quite blow my socks off. The sequel looked notably better on Blu where this film seemed to have a softer image. A lossless TrueHD 5.1 track is provided and gets the job done without standing out.
It looks like special features is where the original has the edge on the sequel. Whereas 'Don't Look Back' got a big goose egg for extras, at least 'Dead Ahead' gives us a few things. Three alternate endings, all stupid, are presented, we get 'On the Bus', a short video of Polaroid’s taken on the trucker's torture bus, and 'Scotty's Big Expose', a seven-minute 'home movie' that lets us know the connection between the winnebago freaks and the truck driver. A lot of this was used for the sequel...A trailer finishes things off.
The film isn't particularly bad or good, but the cast was willing and able and there were a few tense moments so a quickly forgettable rental might be in order considering the season.
Rest Stop: Dead Ahead [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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