Warner Brothers is throwing their
hat in the ring of the direct to video horror market with a new genre
arm titled RAW FEED and they are doing so next Tuesday Oct. 17th
with a little film called REST STOP. Some of you may have noticed it
playing on the SCI-FI channel last night. I’m here to tell you that
this one that you MUST see on DVD. Like ABOMINABLE which like REST STOP
played on SCI-FI prior to its DVD release, the channel takes away most
of what makes this film watchable, namely massive gore and sex. SCI-FI
did show more the I expected but still the UNRATED DVD is the way to go
on this one.
The film itself is pretty standard fare. It is
apparent that the folks behind this film are horror fans and have done
their homework. Watching the film you see glimpses into a lot of other
genre offerings. REST STOP at times reminded me of THE HITCHER and
sometimes strolled into TEXAS CHAINSAW territory with just a dash of
HIGH TENSION and DUEL thrown in for good measure. Although all of these
films influence are easily recognizable in the end REST STOP stands on
its own merits and winds up being a twisted, nasty little tale that I
found myself really enjoying.
Spoilers ahead so be warned.
We meet Nicole and Jess as they are running away from
their lives. Although of age they are basically running away from home,
leaving without telling their families which way they are going or were
they’ll end up. We quickly find out that they are heading to
California, going to make it big, going to live with Jess’s cousin or
uncle or something. After some roadside nookie they promptly get lost
and the fun starts.
It doesn’t take long for things to start heading
downhill, there is bickering and harsh words and while in the middle of
nowhere they find themselves lost and in need of gas and a bathroom. Up
ahead is a sign proclaiming a REST STOP is just ahead.. Jess and Nicole
continue their fighting as they pull into the deserted looking roadside
park. There is a mobile home parked there, a rangers station and
information board and of course the rest room. Nicole leaves the
fighting to use the bathroom muttering under her breath the whole way.
The bathroom is disgusting and barely usable and as she does what she
needs to do she reads the writings on the stall walls, they are ominous
and creepy. She leaves the restroom to find JESS gone. She goes from
anger to terror pretty quickly and the film veers into some pretty hard
core action from this point.
Can’t give it all away but lets just hit some random
highlights. We’ve got mutated camera flashing midgets, we’ve got
psychotic mommies, we’ve got blood spewing ghost victims, we’ve got a
cop being run over by a truck not once, but twice and blood and body
parts galore. I have to give RAW FEED kudos for a kick off release that
is not afraid to kick some ass. The acting is strained at times but
over all is very passable and the gore effects more than make this
title one to hunt down.
John Shiban directs this premiere effort, you should
recognize his name from the X-Files and more recently the hot new genre
show SUPERNATURAL. Although the story does tend to get a little hard to
follow at times Shiban does a very good job of keeping it all on track
and the pace never really falls to a point of being a concern. There
are moments of sheer genius in this production and I am very excited to
see what RAW FEED comes up with next. REST STOP is the first of three
offerings we’ll be getting in the coming months.
The DVD comes with some nice little extra’s package
that includes several alternate endings. They are all interesting and
give the film a different twist, I think they picked the right one
though. The alternate ones although interesting don’t really add
anything to the overall film. Also included are Crime Scene Photos and
something called Scotty’s Family Album that is well, you just have to
see it.
REST STOP is available on Oct. 17th and is one that you should add to your Halloween season must see lists.
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