Already half a century old - that's fifty years, folks - and yet Steven's Spielberg's simple debut feature "Duel" is still one of the most influential, unsettling and disturbingly relevant thrillers ever made. In fact, the plot of a banal traffic dispute escalating into a life-altering nightmare is nowadays even more accurate than during the early 70s, since people - and particularly in traffic - have only become more obnoxious, selfish and aggressive over the years.
That's also what the Dutch, and clearly talented, writer/director Lodewijk Crijns must have thought when he penned down his modest but engaging road-rage thriller "Bumperkleef". Apart from the vehicle duel between the robust and clinically white transporter van of the killer and the family Volvo of his victim, the primary duel revolves around who is the most loathsome character. Is it the cruel killer who doesn't even hesitate to spray insecticides at young children, or is it the supposedly sophisticated family father who is too stubborn to admit his mistakes and needlessly puts his wife and kids in danger?
"Bumperkleef" is a solid little thriller from The Netherlands, with genuine moments of suspense and a couple of impressively staged bits of stunt work. The performances from the entire cast (even including the children) are terrific. It is truly regrettable this film didn't doo well at the box-office, and especially that reviewers around here are referring to it as lousy, because "Bumperkleef" honestly is as good as Dutch thriller/horror cinema gets.
