Review: Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (2008)

Review Written By: Gaius Bolling

Release Date: October 7th, 2008 

The direct to DVD market has proven to be very successful for a lot of  studios. The films are cheaply made and they usually turn a quick profit. This is especially true of direct to DVD horror films. Horror fans tend to give just about any entry in the genre a chance and this results in pretty high rental sales. To make even more of a monetary gain it has become even more common for studios to crank out direct to DVD sequels to films that were usually only moderately successful when they were released in theaters. Horror films are pretty ripe for this treatment because just about every horror film, whether it was well received or not, has its fair share of die hard fans who wouldn't mind seeing a continuation of the story.  

The only problem with this is that the films released directly to DVD are extremely subpar and "Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead" does nothing to change that trend. Whatever made the original film a plausible exercise in terror, is completely absent here. This is a film quickly made to make a fast dollar and this aspect is very obvious. It looks cheaply made and everyone in this thing is completely phoning it in. Add to the fact that the film is just a senseless exercise in blood and gore and you have completely nothing to recommend.

Two sisters played by Nicki Aycox and Laura Jordan, and their fiancé (Nick Zano) and boyfriend (Kyle Schmid), respectively, are headed to Vegas for a weekend of fun co-bachelor parties.  The group runs into trouble when their car stalls on a side road.  Stuck in the middle of nowhere, the foursome stumbles upon a house that appears abandon.  After finding no one home, they break into the house and eventually find a sports car.  Little did they know the trouble they were to bring upon themselves when they decided to “borrow” the car and take it into the next town. Of course, the vehicle belongs to Rusty Nail, the villain from the first film, and he does not respond too kindly to them taking something that belongs to him.

 The biggest problem with this sequel is that Rusty Nail's motivation for going after our new victims is very weak. In the original film, the main characters played a cruel practical joke on him which sparked his desire to taunt them in return. The characters taking the car is a big deal but not enough to result in the torture he puts these characters through. He doesn't make a connection with the victims like he did in the original film. He toyed with their emotions based on the information he gradually learned about them, in this film there is no real rhyme or reason to his madness. A character that seemed so smart and methodical the first time around, is completely dumbed down for this outing. 

Rusty Nail is also not a real mysterious presence in this film. He's shown clearly in several scenes, which makes him less frightening and he's not as physically imposing this time around. Mark Gibbon plays him this time around and while he tries to mimic Ted Levines vocal delivery, he doesn't really come close. Just imagine Barry White trying to sound menacing and you pretty much know  what he sounds like in this film. 

The film also tries to be hip and current, something it fails miserably at. Myspace is referenced frequently throughout (one of the characters met her love interest on the site) and it really feels as if the filmmakers looked online to see how young adults talk and decided to throw just about every cliche into the film. There are out of place jokes about emo kids and posers, and if people from small towns see this, they're going to all think we probably perceive them as inbred retards since this film seems to have that outlook about them. Everything about its attempt to appeal to the target audience rings false and it just doesn't work.

There is also very little tension throughout. Rusty Nail, as stated before, is front and center and none of the action really does much to elevate the suspense. The action set pieces in the original film had a sense of plausibility but the same cannot be said about this film. For instance, Rusty Nail requests a particular body part from one of the characters if they wish to see their loved one again, so the characters take a trip to the morgue (even though they're not from the area they just happen to know where one is) and retrieve the body part from one of the poor dead souls there. The scene is insanely laughable, mostly because it takes itself so seriously. That's another major issue with this film. If this had been played for camp, I might've enjoyed it, but everything is done so seriously. It's as if they actually think they're making a legitimate film.

Since the film lacks tension it tries to make up for it by amping up the gore factor.  I'm sure gore fiends will be happy but blood does not equal scares. There is a torture scene late in the film (that really comes off as poor man's scene from "Saw" or "Hostel") and it goes on way too long. The acting is really over the top and it's an exercise in patience rather than fear. Lately friends and I have been discussing why too much gore in horror films can be a little off putting and I think I have a reason. I'm a fan of suspense over gore but I also don't have any major issues when films tend to be really gory. My only issue with it is if it all seems a bit pointless. Gore for the sake of gore doesn't work for me and that's what is presented here. If you want an example of gore that works, see "The Hills Have Eyes" remake because the images in that are deeply disturbing but it's backed by strong character development and solid set up. By the time the gruesomeness happens in that film, you've come to like the characters so the disturbing images you're seeing illicit some kind of fear in seeing them being brutalized.

None of the actors make much of an impression. Nicki Aycox now has the distinction of appearing in two very bad horror sequels. Her first blunder was Jeepers Creepers 2. Apparently she didn't learn from that disaster. The rest of the actors all play stereotypes and they don't really play them all that well. The chemistry between all of them isn't solid and they don't really bring much to the table.

Do yourself your favor, if you see "Joy Ride", let the credits role and leave it at that. Don't be tempted to see the further exploits of Rusty Nail because whatever frightening impression he made in that film, is virtually ruined in "Joy Ride 2: Dead End". This is definitely not a ride worth taking 

Trivia:

Originally titled Joy Ride 2: End of the Road in promotional artwork, Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead was filmed in British Columbia, Canada, at Cache Creek.

Like the original film, Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox, although unlike the original it did not enjoy a run in cinemas and was released straight to DVD

No mention is made of events or characters in the original film and none of the actors from the first film return to this sequel.