Ed's Review Dot Com

Flame Ventures, Raw Feed,

Richard Tillman, Jessie Ward, Brionne Davis, Graham Norris, Joey Mendicino, Julie Mond, Diane Salinger, Michael Childers

One year has passed since Jesse and Nicole have disappeared without a trace. Jess’s Brother Corporal Tom Hilts (Richard Tillman) has just returned from overseas to his hometown in Argyle, Texas for a ten day leave, and his plan is to set out and find his brother Jesse. He heads out with his girlfriend Marilyn (Jessie Ward) and a friend Jared (Graham Norris). With no clue where they might be, lucky for them he stops at a dilapidated old gasoline station and the clerk remembers Jesse and Nicole and remembered that they said they were taking the old road. As they end up stopping in the same rest area, they run across a really strange family with evil on their minds, and the same driver in the same yellow truck. As the boys are busy defending themselves, Marilyn keeps seeing things which may be the ghost of Nicole. Supernatural forces certainly are in play here, and the rest stop is a great place to avoid at all costs. The horror is not over just yet.

Don’t Look Back gives us the whole back story of who the man in the truck is, and tells us what the family in the camper are really up to. Told in both current time, and flash back, we see what happened to everyone involved, and this answers all of our questions from the last movie. But it’s much better done than the original. The budget must be much bigger now, and the whole thing is shinier and even scarier than the original 2006 film. It has a little more naughty stuff, and a little more blood and guts, but it is just as creepy and horrifying as the original, and maybe ratchets it up a notch. This film, just like the first one, is the stuff nightmares are made of. Imagine yourself trying to walk in the dark into a roadside rest area after watching this film. This will do for rest areas what Jaws did for the beach!

Truly a well done horrifying little film that surprised me with it’s quality. Both films are really scary, and I highly recommend watching them both!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Flame Ventures, Raw Feed,

Joseph Lawrence, Jaimie Alexander, Deanna Russo, Joey Mendicino, Nick Orefice, Mikey Post, Curtis Taylor

Nicole Carrow (Jaimie Alexander) and her boyfriend Jessie Hilts (Joey Mendicino) are living in Texas. Nicole decides to run away to California with Jessie. Along the way, Jesse took “The Old Road” which is way off the beaten path. When Nicole needs a rest room, Jesse suggests they pull over behind a bush, but soon an old nearly abandoned rest area appears and Jesse pulls off and parks. While Nicole visits the facility Jesse is abducted by the driver of an old beat up pickup truck. We never figure out who this guy is, or why he’s doing what he does, but Nicole suddenly starts seeing strange things, and mysterious things start to happen around the old Rest Area. Is a serial killer on the loose, or is it something much more sinister?

Rest Ares is a pretty creepy little horror film. It’s low budget, and shot pretty much in the car, and in the rest area. The things that happen will really creep you out, and seeing Nicole’s overwhelming helplessness and loneliness as she’s forced to spend the night in this dreadful place where things keep changing around her. There’s not way to know what is real and what isn’t as things progress from bad to worse. There is a sequel to this film, Rest Stop: Don’t Look Back (2008). I would definitely recommend watching that film as well, as the second film gives us the entire back story of what was really going on in this film, yet, though the sequel is much better done, this one is definitely nightmare inducing. I really got the chills watching this, and I really recommend it for horror fans. It’s got real terror! You’ll be on the edge of your seat! Watch this one first, then watch the sequel afterward. They’re really scary.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Dan Garcia Productions, DMG Holdings, Most Wanted Films,

Michael Madsen, David James Elliott, Jeff Fahey, Heather Marie Marsden, Andrew Sensenig, Lacey Minchew, Matt Triplett

Don (David James Elliott) and Nancy (Heather Marsden) are driving along a lonely road way out in the middle of nowhere. They obviously are not getting along very well, when suddenly they are hit by a car, twice! Stranded out along the road, they’re lucky that sheriff Cleveland comes along, but that suddenly turns to disappointment as the sheriff has a really bad attitude and obvious has some issues. He drives them to the low budget Motel Royal vista to wait for the morning to get back their car. Suddenly they are disturbed by screams coming from the room next door, and as Don tries to find out what is going on, they soon find they are in the middle of a very sick game, and they may not live through the night. Of course, that may be the plan.

This is a horror film that is built on a familiar premise that is taken to another level. But unfortunately the movie, which starts up with a good premise to scare the heck out of us, is plagued by really awful editing. The movie jumps around like a Lady Gaga video, and you can hardly follow the story. The acting is really wooden, and the bad guys are so ridiculous that nobody is going to believe this. It’s so hard to follow, that you may think they mixed up the clips when splicing this thing together. There are other Motel Hell type movies (including Motel Hell) which are better done than this, and even those are pretty bad, but this one is really bad.

Skip it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Nu Image Films, Millennium Films, Paradox Entertainment

Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang, Rachel Nichols, Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan, Bob Sapp, Leo Howard, Steve O’Donnell, Nonso Anozie, Raad Rawi, Saïd Taghmaoui, Milton Welsh

Conan is a remake of the original pulp fiction story of a warrior who rises to defend the people. Literally born into battle, and orphaned by the evil forces, Conan dedicates his life to seeking revenge for the death of his father.

This poor remake didn’t do very well. I’m not sure who green lighted this film, or why it was even made, but it’s very weak as compared to the original. The film tanked in the box office, and didn’t come close to making back it’s budget. It uses unknown actors, and there is a very weak story line. We run from battle to battle with little story, and nothing to tie anything together.

The action is intense, but disjointed and nothing is very impressive. With the great battle and adventure movies that came out in 2011, this one simply got lost in the shuffle. It was a bad idea to try to remake it, and then make something inferior to the original which was at least fresh and new back in 1982. There just is nothing improved in the last 30 years that made it necessary to redo the film. It’s really hard to keep your attention. It’s just not that good.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

BCDF Pictures, Group Entertainment, The, Ruminant Films,

Vera Farmiga, Donna Murphy, John Hawkes, Dagmara Dominczyk, Nina Arianda, Joshua Leonard, Bill Irwin, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Norbert Leo Butz

Corinne (Vera Farmiga, who also directed) is a Christian lady. From the time she was a little girl she was faced with how to deal with her faith. Through adulthood she struggled with life, her friends, her marriage, and the trials and tribulations that followed her while struggling to understand her faith. Based on the memoir of Caroly S. Briggs who wrote the screenplay, this film looks at the nature of faith, and how it affects different people.

This is a film about God and human beings. It’s about religion, and faith and belief, and troubles and questions. But it’s not picking sides, and it’s neither anti religion, nor is it pro religion. Unlike any film I’ve ever seen, this is a level ground look at religion and churches without taking sides.

I’ve often pondered on people who are really religious. I’ve wondered why their lives are fully engulfed by their church or their faith. I’ve heard people who give God credit for everything. Though their tires are bald, God caused that flat tire on the freeway so that I could testify to that trucker who stopped to help me. God made me choke on that piece of chicken so that I could tell the paramedics about Jesus. My child died because God had a need for him in heaven and he was too good for this world.

I have decided that many people are uber religious for different reasons. To some it is a crutch or something they need to make sense out of the world. To some it’s because they are bit off in the head. Like little children who want to believe in a wizard who will help them when they don’t know what to do. Some really, really have a deep desire to help people and do good things in their lives. Some are lonely, some are sad. And some really seem to be touched by a spirit that really does make a big impact in their life. Certainly I’m not qualified to determine what is right for anyone else, and I am ultimately responsible for my own convictions and beliefs. But this film is a really good and fair look into the lives of many people and what makes them do what they do.

I really enjoyed watching this film, and it did make me very thoughtful. I’m really not sure why there is an R rating, although it’s fine because it’s probably not going to be a big hit with the under 16 crowd anyway due to the nature of things. I guess there are a few discussions that could be a little intense for kids, but they are tastefully done.

One of the highlights for me of the film is one character who takes it upon herself to straighten out other people and point out the errors of their ways. someone who really thinks she’re right is making a jerk of herself by trying to enforce her opinion on everyone else. This is tactfully obvious, and I hope a lot of the people who act this way see themselves and what they do, and that it might do some good.

Anyway, in my opinion, this film, though directly about religion, is much more about people than anything else. I thought it was a thought provoking film, and it spawned a lot of reflection for me. Not for everybody, but if you have an interest in films that make you look at the world around you and ponder why it’s what it is, this is a good one.