ROAD KILL 2010
Bob Morley (Craig), Sophie Lowe (Nina), Georgina Haig (Liz), Xavier Samuel (Marcus)
Directed by Dean Francis
Four young vacationers are terrorized by a maniacal trucker. Things take a supernatural turn when it's discovered that no one is driving the ominous 18 wheeler.
The Short Version: This overpriced lemon needs new tires, a new motor, new gaskets and a full on lube job. Buyer beware.
Incredibly awful Aussie low budget clunker would appear to be a rip off of Spielberg's seminal thriller, DUEL (1971). It soon becomes apparent that the film is a note for note clone of a movie almost as bad, DEATH SHIP from 1980. That film was about a group of stranded cruise ship passengers finding a derelict vessel out in the middle of the ocean. One of them is possessed by a demonic spirit and goes about killing the other survivors. It's discovered that it was previously a German Nazi vessel and now commandeered by supernatural forces; the ship itself not running on oil, but the blood of its victims(!)
ROAD KILL follows this same template, only it substitutes the dusty and isolated Australian outback for the vast expanse of the ocean. This time, the four campers are run off the road (within the first ten minutes) by the mysterious trucker. Not long after, it's discovered that no one is driving the 18 wheeler. After much tedium, we, the viewers come to realize that a demonic force is driving the big rig (shades of another awful movie, THE CAR from 1977) and requires blood to keep on truckin'. A couple of nice photographic touches aren't enough to make this clunker worth investing time and money into it.
Ponderously repetitive, this low mileage horror runs out of gas really fast. There's minimal gore and absolutely zero characterization outside of a torrid sex scene that opens the picture. One couple likes getting it on, and the other girls boyfriend seems disinterested when she becomes amorous. That's as deep as it is gets if you'll pardon the innuendo. For me, the best example of a devil possessed vehicle is still a segment from the anthology horror film NIGHTMARES (1983). See that instead. In dire need of an oil change, viewers of ROAD KILL should just leave this at the junk yard and seek out a new model.
This review is representative of the Lightning Media DVD
TERROR EXPRESS 1979 aka LA RAGAZZA DEL VAGONE LETTO
Silvio Dionisio (Julia), Paul Werner (David), Zora Kerova (Anna), Venantino Venantini (Mike), Gianluigi Chirizzi (Peter), Carlo de Mejo (Elio), Fausto Lombardi (Phil)
Directed by Ferdinando Baldi
The Short Version: Nasty, mean spirited exploitation feature borders on hardcore pornography in Ferdinando Baldi's shocking revenge opus. Definitely not for everybody, die hard Italian film enthusiasts will most definitely want to see it. A good cast of exploitation regulars.
***WARNING! This review contains images of a sexual nature***
The passengers on board a train are subjected to sadistic humiliation, rape and murder when three vicious hooligans take over some of the sleeper cars. A prostitute and a prisoner being escorted by a policeman fight back against their oppressors.
Of all the STRAW DOGS (1970) and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) inspired movies, this one is the most unpleasant. Often times bordering on pornography, the production heaps as much salacious scenes and sadistic sadism as the 80 minute running time will allow. If rape and submission of women is something that offends you, than this movie is definitely not for you. Italian genre cinema seemed to revel in the subjugation of females and this is one of the slimiest representations. Even younger, teenage girls aren't safe in this movie.
Some of the passengers themselves are, in some cases, as demented as the thugs that assert their superiority over them. One man secretly lusts for his underage daughter and pays a hooker to wear her nightgown while he has sex with her. Later in the film, the goons roll dice as to who will be the one to take the young girls virginity; shockingly, these guys roll on behalf of the girls father, too, in their sick bid to enjoy some voyeuristic humiliation. Zora Kerova plays one half of a bickering and frustrated couple who doesn't mind having a fling with one of the psycho's, but has an aversion to becoming the cold cut in a sexual sandwich.
That great ape, George Eastman (under his real name of Luigi Montefiore) wrote the script. The tone and the lingering scenes of sex in this film seems far more like the work of Joe D'Amato, than the more "lighter" fare from Baldi. I assume one goal of the movie is to show the audience that not everything, nor everybody is as they appear. Those you would think to be unwholesome, lowly individuals (Dionisio's stoic hooker; the selfless prisoner) ultimately turn out to be the most honorable. The classic white bread family unit are the ones that prove to be the most troubled and disturbing (The sexually frustrated couple; the father who has lustful desire for his teenage daughter).
The leader of the three sexual sadists, David, never participates in any of the degrading sequences of rape, or sexual domination. His actions show him to either be impotent, or a homosexual. Whenever an opportunity presents itself, he becomes noticeably nervous and sweaty as if he is fearful his two partners in crime will discover his lack of interest in lechery. He covers himself by threatening the captives with violence, or the promise of cruel things to come.
Even with some underlying themes present, there's scantly any plot to speak of. The exploitation of the cast takes center stage. There's virtually zero gore and when the deaths of the miscreants come, they're all lackluster considering the degradation perpetrated on their targets. Still, the level of sleaze is incredible and some viewers will no doubt find it repulsive despite the lack of blood and gore. Still, the cast is a virtual cornucopia of Italian genre faces.
Silvia Dionisio plays the cold, detached prostitute, the heroine of the piece. It's obvious she despises her profession, but does what she has to to survive. Zora Kerova plays the horny and sexually dissatisfied wife who gets a bit more than she bargained for. Venantino Venantini is her equally troubled husband at the breaking point. The last two worked together on Lenzi's CANNIBAL FEROX (1981), although they didn't share any scenes together.
Dionisio has been seen in many other sex and sleaze movies including several Italian crime pictures, one (LIVE LIKE A COP, DIE LIKE A MAN) for her then husband, Ruggero Deodato. Carlo De Mejo featured in several notable Italian horrors including Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980) in which he was the hero of the film.
Exploitation fans will get a kick out of seeing two participants from another trash favorite, BURIAL GROUND (1981). Roberto Caporali plays the incestuous father. In Bianchi's preposterous, empty headed zombie epic, Caporali played the lover to Mariangela Giordano who had an unhealthy relationship with her son, Michael. The other alumni from Bianchi's triumphantly infantile, yet lovingly alluring shambler-fest is Gianluigi Chirizzi. He played Mark, the hero of the film and the one who effortlessly and conveniently placed a zombies hands around his neck during the sequence where the dead make their presence known.
This review is representative of the Raro Italian R2 PAL DVD.
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Ponderously repetitive, this low mileage horror runs out of gas really fast. There's minimal gore and absolutely zero characterization outside of a torrid sex scene that opens the picture. One couple likes getting it on, and the other girls boyfriend seems disinterested when she becomes amorous. That's as deep as it is gets if you'll pardon the innuendo. For me, the best example of a devil possessed vehicle is still a segment from the anthology horror film NIGHTMARES (1983). See that instead. In dire need of an oil change, viewers of ROAD KILL should just leave this at the junk yard and seek out a new model.
