Joy Ride 3: Road Kill (2014)

Overview
Review

Joy Ride 3: Road Kill © 20th Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.

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Director:	Declan O'Brien
Cast:	Jesse Hutch, Kirsten Prout, Dean Armstrong, Ken Kirzinger
Released:	Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Length:	96 minutes
Studio:	20th Century Fox
Genre:	Horror
Rating:

Synopsis

Rusty Nail, the vengeful trucker with a penchant for pain, slams terror into overdrive in this all-new UNRATED chapter of Joy Ride! A chance encounter between Rusty and a group of hot-headed young street racers turns deadly as he stalks, taunts, and tortures his next victims with deranged delight. It’s a full-throttle, pedal-to-the-metal chill ride packed with killer twists and turns!

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Joy Ride 3: Road Kill Blu-ray Review

Ah, what can I say other than I just watched another really terrible movie! This one was just bad, bad, bad--- well, unless you're are a teenager into the horror genre. The original, which I haven't seen, or should say don't remember seeing, came out in 2001 and starred well known actors Steve Zahn, Paul Walker, and Leelee Sobieski. It was written by well known producer JJ Abrams. The film grossed over $36 million at the box office.

Thirteen years later, we have Joy Ride 3, which went straight to video. That information right there should tell you something about how the third installment compares to the original. The film, starring relative unknowns (aside from Rusty who is now played by Ken Kirzinger, an apparently well known actor in the horror genre), is about a truck driver named "Rusty Nail" who the producers bill as someone looking to "punish injustice at every turn." It is more like road rage gone extreme instead of anything related to actual justice. The injustice is having someone sit through the gore that permeates this movie. The film opens with a young couple on drugs who are having sex and decide to find a truck driver to rip off in order to support their drug habit. They use their CB radio to try and track one down, for a "good time" and some drugs. Rusty explains that he doesn't have any drugs, but the couple, who decide to try and rob Rusty so they can just buy some drugs, invite him back to their hotel room anyway. Rusty, in what seems more like revenge than justice, retaliates by creatively killing the couple.

Next up for Rusty's punishment, come some young twenty something's on their way to Canada for a race, and despite being warned to avoid the road that Rusty frequently travels, decide (of course) that the short cut was worth the risk. Well, of course—they were wrong–dead wrong.

Frankly, as there was so little character development, I could care less about what happened to the characters, and just shook my head at the stupidity that followed. Then again, it's the same when you watch most horror movies and think–get out of the stupid house!!! The movie comes complete with the typical horror music that warns you that Rusty is about to strike. You never see Rusty's face, but to be honest, I did turn my head away a lot so I don't know if that is necessarily true.

Finally, after luring and chasing the twenty somethings down, they are able to take Rusty on and exact their own revenge–or so you think. Of course, like Jason in Friday 13^th, these characters seem to always find a way to miraculously survive and elude police. However, I wanted in this film to yell at the police to watch out, too! Of course, that would have meant they had some sense; but we know, in true Hollywood gore films tradition, they don't.

As for the Blu-ray, there are no complaints there. It looked great watching it on 1080p resolution, 16'x9' screen. The Audio is Master Audio 5.1 so the quality is excellent.   For true horror buffs, they'll actually love the extras which include the making of the murder scenes, with the director going into great detail. The Feature shows director Declan O'Brien,'s true enthusiasm for making the film as gory as possible. With as much thought as he put into the stunts, I wish he had also worked to give the script more substance. Final grade for the film, D-.

-- Michelle Koesten

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