Review: Rest Stop (2006)

Review Written By: Gaius Bolling

Release Date: October 23rd, 2006

"Rest Stop" is a little direct to DVD horror film that works pretty well because of lowered expectations. I was expecting some kind of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" rip-off but due to some key plot twists toward the end of the film,  it ends up being much better than it has any right to be. This isn't a perfect horror film but it's a decent way to spend 86 minutes.

Nicole (Jaime Alexander) and her boyfriend Jess (Joey Mendicino) are headed to Hollywood, with Jess following his long-time dream of hitting it big as an actor. The lovebirds pile into their LeBaron convertible and head through the wastelands of nondescript flyover country. On the way, the couple pulls over at an abandoned rest stop. And that's when things go straight to the dogs.

Jess suddenly disappears, and Nicole, trapped at the rest stop, finds herself menaced by an anonymous wacko in a yellow pickup truck. Worse, it appears this guy might be some kind of murderous bastard who's been kidnapping and killing people for years. Nicole flips out and tries repeatedly to escape, only to be confronted again and again by the mystery man.

Even the presence of an idiot state trooper (Joey Lawrence) can do nothing to quell the bloodshed—and in fact may add to it. As the true depth of the killer's depravity is revealed, Nicole will have to muster all of her spitfire wiles to make it out alive. 

"Rest Stop" almost seems like an homage to many great horror films that has come before it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since a lot of these films played on common fears that we all have. "Rest Stop" frequently toys with feelings of isolation and being stuck in the middle of nowhere and at times you see shades of "The Vanishing" & "Breakdown" which also  toyed with this concept. I recently drove my car to Montana from Los Angeles and passed by various rest stops on the way and none of them looked too inviting to stop at. Oddly enough, I saw this film for the first time right before I took this trip. There is definitely something very unsettling about pulling over in the middle of nowhere and taking a quick break from the road. It makes you wonder what's really out there and "Rest Stop" uses this device to its fullest advantage. 

The real success here is the cat & mouse game between Nicole and the killer. This isn't some highly intelligent battle of the wits, but their back and forth does have its fair share of tension. It helps that Nicole is a pretty strong female character and despite making her seem a bit weak early on, she comes out of this thing pretty strong. Jaime Alexander deserves some credit for going all out in the role and not being afraid to get a little dirty (literally). She's a capable enough actress who has shown more promise since this female was released (She was added to the cast of the ABC Family hit, "Kyle XY").

The portrayal of the killer benefits from the fact that we learn very little about him. He also isn't shown too many times up close. The randomness of his viciousness really adds to his menace and he makes for a pretty imposing villain. There are attempts in the sequel to expand on his character but this film proves that the less you know, the scarier he is. 

"Rest Stop" also manages to throw in a little mystery into the mix. When it seems like the film is going down familiar territory, it manages to throw in a few curve balls to make pretty unique, especially for direct to DVD fare. I don't want to give away the big reveal here but I will say it works within the realm of the film and it nicely sets up the framework for future stories ("Rest Stop 2: Don't Look Back" was released recently and is actually a decent follow up). 

The one true weakness of the film is that it is a victim of its budgetary constraints. The film looks like it was made to be released direct to DVD and because of this it almost lacks a certain amount of credibility. These issues are cleared up a bit in the sequel, which probably benefitted from this film being a hit on DVD.

Don't get me wrong, this is not the second coming of horror. However, it does earn points for trying to do something a bit different and for being better than the plot description would indicate. There is enough mystery to please the casual viewer and enough gore to make all the gore hounds happy. The film definitely wears its violence on its sleeve and it manages to use this intensity to its fullest advantage. "Rest Stop" isn't a classic but it's a nice diversion nonetheless.

Trivia:

Rest Stop is the first direct to video horror film released by Warner Studios' "Raw Feed" imprint on October 17, 2006.

There is also an unrated version of the film