Road Rage

The truck driver Eddie Madden (Jere Burns) loses his family in a car accident while driving leaving town on vacation. Some months later, he becomes a deranged man, and his boss waives his faults and keeps his job expecting for his complete recovery. When the real-state agent Ellen Carson (Yasmine Bleeth) accidentally cuts his truck off, Eddie threatens her with his vehicle. Ellen calls the 0800 and presents a complaint against his aggressive behavior in the traffic. Eddie is fired, finds her identity, and stalks Ellen, her husband Jim Carson (John Wesley Shipp) and her fifteen years old stepdaughter Cynthia Carson (Alana Austin), manipulating them and menacing their safety. Although having many clichés, a ham actor (John Wesley Shipp) and an actress completely miscast (Alana Austin), and lots of exaggeration in the plot, "Road Rage" is an efficient low-budget thriller. It is hard to believe the inefficiency of the police to arrest Eddie, or the lack of safety in the Carson's house, but anyway the story hooks the attention of the viewer until the last scene, mostly supported by the excellent performances of Yasmine Bleeth and Jere Burns. I saw this movie on VHS, I had the chance to repeat the scene and I noted the terrible edition of the car accident in the beginning of the film: there is a cut, when the red car stops, and in the next scene, it crashes Eddie's truck. See this movie without a great expectation, and the viewer may have a reasonably good surprise. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Pânico na Estrada" ("Panic in the Road")

Jere Burns plays a psycho driver in this movie who was cut off by Yasmine Bleeth. Personally, I side with Jere Burns in this movie. No one should be able to cut you off and get away with it. (Hint, Hint, my comments reflect what the movie is about). This is a cat and mouse movie, Yasmine Bleeth being the Mouse, and Jere Burns being the Cat, or rather should I say the Psycho Beast Cat who wants revenge against the mouse for cutting him off on the road. If you have a chance to watch this movie, do it. It is a very suspenseful, action filled, and fun movie.

Yasmine Bleeth cuts off the driver of a delivery truck and spends the next 2 hours fighting for her life. How appropriate the man is driving a bevRAGE delivery truck. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation you can use this movie as a blueprint for how to avoid disaster. This movie pretty much goes through the motions without too much effort. A little more raving by the villain would have added some camp value.

I have seen some real cheesy made for tv movies in my time but this one really takes the cake. For one, why is it called ROAD RAGE? This movie is 80% about some sick guy obsessing over some chick that cut him off. I have to admit that I did get a nightmare after I watched this movie. It did freak me out a little. The movie was not horrible but it could have been better. With TV movies like Noah's Ark and Merlin standards should have been set.

My issues with this movie....

1.) Nobody gets THAT angry about being cut off, seriously. The movie is not even about road rage.

2.) Yasmine Bleeth files a restraining order against a guy she's never even laid eyes on, how will she know if he violates it?

3.) John Wesley Shipp sucked as her husband, he finds out the psycho was in their house and automatically accuses her of banging him.

4.) Alana Austin plays her new step-daughter. Would a newly married woman really care THAT much about someone else's kid? Psycho thinks so.

5.) Are cops really THAT naive? They buy Psycho's lies as facts, and disregard Bleeth's statements from the get go. Why?

I had to watch this just to see how the hell the writer summed it all up. Does Psycho die or go to jail? Stay tuned to Lifetime channel Saturday mornings. My God, I watched this whole movie.