Night Drive

I had no idea what this film was before watching . The info button on my remote gave a brief synopsis that it was about a bunch of tourists who find themselves stuck in the remote South African veldt . Sounds exactly the premise for some torture porn along the lines of WOLF CREEK . Is this how it turned out ? Well yes and no

Certainly it's an unpleasant film in parts but where as traditional torture porn the whole selling point is the camera lingering voyeuristically on the victim trying to sicken the audience as the victims anguished , pain stricken pleas fall upon deaf ears here the camera cuts away from the on screen carnage leaving it to the audiences imagination as to the horrors befalling the hapless victim . I'm guessing this is trying to be a psychological torture porn horror rather than a traditional one but it's still very unpleasant

Another turn off are the characters . It's been mentioned by some of my peers on this page is that they've been given a lot of backstory and this is true and no doubt was done so that don't appear as mere cyphers come victims like you see n most horror movies . That said all the characters are either boring or unlikable or both and this sort of sums up the movie which is boring and unlikable at the same time

NIGHT DRIVE is one of two English language contributions to the horror genre from South African film makers and it was also refreshing to see a South African film that didn't revolve around Apartheid or racism and for the life of me I still don't know why there has to be so many films that are about Apartheid and racism, they're like a dozen remakes of one film about a subject that's been exploited up to a point where you need to tell script writers to find a new hobby.

Anyway I really enjoyed NIGHT DRIVE, it was very much along the lines of WRONG TURN and a not so well known but very good horror movie called BORDERLAND that revolved around three young people taking a trip to Mexico and becoming potential victims of a cult sacrificing people in their rituals and its based on true events.

However, like the negative comment on NIGHT DRIVE's IMDb web page stated this film is offensive, South African critics were divided in a way I never saw before but that is what a film of this genre has always done, there is also a golden rule a film maker needs to know, if you're afraid to offend people then don't make a film like this because that's exactly what it will do, this film will rub a few people the wrong way mainly because the plot revolves around poaching and black magic but what the film isn't is thin on plot, the characters are well developed even though they're not very likable some of the fates that befall most of the victims here are acts you wouldn't even wish on your worst enemy and that automatically makes you cheer for the protagonists, that's what this film does very well, it depicts killers that are just that evil.

The acting is good all around, its not as plastic as in South Africa's favorite soap opera called 7DE LAAN, the cast here really do a good job with the material.

Overall, fans of films like WRONG TURN and THE HILLS HAVE EYES should probably like this film, the gore effects are well done as well its not that digital crap its gore that's actually there and the acting is very good too and for a South African production it doesn't look cheap at all, it has great production values for a South African film.

Night Drive is arguably one of the most publicized and controversial films in South Africa's history. Never before have local critics been so divided about one of this country's feature films. Most liberal critics were offended by its portrayal of the so-called 'Dark Continent', whilst others relished the country's first all-or-nothing thriller/horror flick.

The film is what is. I don't think it had any aspirations to be the country's next Oscar hopeful. It certainly doesn't give the proverbial intellectual hand-job. But if you're looking for 'bloody' good Saturday night entertainment, Night Drive delivers.

My biggest problem with Night Drive is the distinct lack of hot chicks with big boobs in wet t-shirts. Isn't there always at least one in a film like this? Or maybe this was their idea of a departure from the formula, but still...

There was something about Night Drive that did strike a chord with me though. While I've been living in the relative safety of my white middle-class suburban existence, people are being murdered daily for witchcraft purposes in SA. The victims are usually from impoverished communities where superstition is rife. Night Drive turned the tables on this one and put me in their shoes. This is a case where the truth is in fact more horrifying than fiction.

Turned it off in less than 5 minutes i dont why film makers think the f word is cute a few of those repeately in first couple minutes and off it went

Firstly, I'm reminded of my favorite now gone horror review site and a "rule" they mentioned sometimes - a horror movie shouldn't run over ninety minutes unless it has something special for audience members.

Additionally, I'm reminded of the fifty movie pack I once bought, and some among those films share the habit of padding the film with a sequence that adds little to the movie. Night Drive's was worse - it rendered the central characters as unlikable.

Apparently drugged people experience motion like a 1st-person Nintendo 64 shooter - their walking viewpoint looking like the perspective of someone sliding across the ground instead of walking.

It's also kinda like the inverse of the haunted house film Dead Birds, where the crew mixed an atmospheric film with gory scenes, here its a character-driven splatter flick, which doesn't really work because the characters aren't that endearing. The elderly couple were probably the most charismatic characters and contributed little.

Ultimately the film falls flat because the pieces, well, technically fit together, just not very well.