Release: 2001 Directed by: John Dahl Written by: Clay Tarver & J.J. Abrams
Starring:
Steve Zahn as Fuller Thomas Paul Walker as Lewis Thomas Leelee
Sobieski as Venna Jessica Bowman
as Charlotte
Joy Ride is a stalker-type horror thriller about a maniacal
truck driver
determined to exact revenge on some troublesome teens who played a joke
on him over the CB radio. In the UK and New Zealand the movie is known
as Road Kill (ha) and there were several working
titles in the U.S. (Squelch, Highway Horror,
Candy Cane) before “Joy Ride”
was settled on.
The story begins when Lewis
(Walker) finds out that his unrequited love
from high school, Venna (Sobieski), has FINALLY broken up with her
boyfriend. This is Lewis’s chance!
The fact that she is in college in Colorado while he studies in
California is no problem…because it’s summer
vacation!
Instead of
flying home from school Lewis decides to buy a car, pick up
Venna in Colorado, and drive the both of them back home to New Jersey -
so that they can have a bit of alone time along the way. Before the love
fest
can begin, however, Lewis finds out that his brother (Zahn) is in jail
(again) in Salt Lake City so side-tracks to bail him out. This is where
the trouble begins.
Brother Fuller is a bit of a
hoodlum you see. He instigates a prank
played on an unsuspecting trucker, convincing Lewis to masquerade as a
woman named “Candy Cane” on the CB radio to lure
the
trucker, handle “Rusty Nail”, to a seedy motel
expecting a midnight rendezvous.
Well, there is no Candy Cane waiting in room 17 of the hotel as
promised, but instead a grumpy old redneck who is not happy at being
awakened in the middle of the night by a lonely truck driver. He
doesn’t complain much though…because Rusty is
actually a psychotic killer and makes short work of
old grumpy pants.
Now, the trucker now wants
revenge on the teens for his humiliation…
Joy Ride does a good
job at creating a believable horror
scenario. The acting is also pretty good, and the cinematography and
music are high quality. Joy Ride provides suspense,
jumps and scares. What it doesn’t provide much of is gore.
Not that a horror movie NEEDS
gore to be good mind you, but I kind of like it.
There are a couple of shocking images, but nothing compared to the
gore-fest horror movie choices that are available. If you like being
scared but have a weak stomach, then you will
really like Joy Ride.
Overall Joy Ride is a
good time, and definitely a scary movie. If you want to ease yourself
(or someone else) into horror gently, then this horror flick
is ideal. Questions
or comments about Joy Ride? Contact us!
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Instead of
flying home from school Lewis decides to buy a car, pick up
Venna in Colorado, and drive the both of them back home to New Jersey -
so that they can have a bit of alone time along the way. Before the love
fest
can begin, however, Lewis finds out that his brother (Zahn) is in jail
(again) in Salt Lake City so side-tracks to bail him out. This is where
the trouble begins.
