Joy Ride

After KILL ME AGAIN and RED ROCK WEST director Dahl has again made a nice good-looking, really thrilling little B-movie! He must have watched DUEL (which is still better, maybe the best S. Spielberg movie ever, and rates 10/10) and has added something here and there. The Trauma Spielberg handled in his movie is not to be found in here, but it's still and nevertheless a highly enjoyable, also well photographed movie with believable actors and a nice twisted ending (improbable, yes, but still nice). Whereas in DUEL one just had the man (Dennis Weaver is his best movie) and a truck (without the driver ever to be seen), Dahl added more characters and a more visible (actually audible) driver + police, etc, but the basic plot, people running away from mad truck/driver, is left intact. I just wish more such movies would still be made today ...

"Joy Ride" is an extremely entertaining road-set horror/thriller that was surprisingly quite good. The film is about Lewis (Paul Walker), a college coed who decides to buy himself a car and take off across the desert to pick up a would-be-girlfriend, Venna (Leelee Sobieski) in Colorado for a road trip together. He then learns that his older troubled brother, Fuller (Steve Zahn) has been arrested in Salt Lake City, so he picks him up on the way. After having a CB radio installed into the car, the two take off to pick up Venna, but end up pulling a prank on an anonymous trucker who goes by the name of "Rusty Nail" (excellently voiced by Ted Levine) on the CB radio. After the trucker learns about the prank, he attacks the brothers with his large semi, but they manage to escape. But soon after they pick up Venna, the menacing truck driver begins harassing them again, seeking revenge for the joke they decided to play on him - he'll stop at nothing to get it, and he's looking for more than an apology.

Reminiscent of "The Hitcher" in quite a few ways, but also a much different film, "Joy Ride" was a surprise for me. I was expecting something along the lines of your typical teenage-horror fare, and I was pleasantly surprised with this intelligent and heart-pounding little thriller of a film. To start off, the story in itself is very nicely written and manages to avoid clichés. The characters in this film are smart, and the audience is rooting for them the entire way through. There are some excellently orchestrated thrill sequences, one of them being the really intense chase through the cornfield, among others, and these scenes are sure to get you on the edge of your seat.

Tension builds slowly during the first 40 minutes or so, and from there it just goes rampant. The cast is led by Paul Walker, who hasn't accomplished anything too amazing, but manages to lead the film well and play his character believably. Steve Zahn in his quirky and funny older brother, and plays the part suitably. Leelee Sobieski plays the intuitive girl-next-door friend who ends up along for the ride, and she also gives a worthy performance. The psycho-trucker villain of the film is very scary, never really seen - we get to know him through the frightening conversations on the CB radio, where he makes numerous threats and has many disturbing confrontations with the group of friends. Ted Levine, who played the notorious Buffalo Bill in "The Silence of the Lambs" voices the psychopath, and his voice itself is creepy enough, and adds to the villain's overall demeanor. The ending was excellent, and I loved how ominous it was. I really didn't see it coming, and it concluded on a very unnerving note.

Overall, "Joy Ride" is a superior action-filled horror/thriller that came as a big surprise to me. It was intelligent, tense, scary, and very well-written, which was nice because of my semi-low (no pun intended) expectations going into it. People who enjoyed "The Hitcher" will more than likely also enjoy this road trip from hell. Very well done and worth seeing for both horror and thriller fans alike. 8/10.

I thought it a good popcorn thriller. Suspenseful, and lots of action. I'm no film critic or anything, but I was entertained by this and that's all that matters to me. Plus, I'm secretly in love with Leelee. Marry me!

It's got plenty of suspense, and as long as you're not looking for anything too deep, this will satisfy you. I have the idea that the original review posted was by someone who prefers a more chilling horror movie, which I do not. This is pure entertainment with a scary element thrown in.

I highly respect Steve Zahn as an actor, and Paul Walker isn't bad either. The "unknown" rig driver is properly menacing, and I can completely suspend disbelief and place myself in either of these actors' roles (more likely Walker's role as he originally goes with the prank and then thinks otherwise when the prank starts to get into the "iffy" category but his buddy eggs him on).

Like I said, pop yourself some popcorn, don't expect a deep and mind-bending thriller, turn the lights off and cozy up with your guy or girl and enjoy a satisfyingly entertaining movie with a solid storyline that will not give you nightmares.

Cheers :)

The idea of this movie is actually pretty good; two teenagers do a prank call on a CB radio, but the prank turns on them. Most teenagers have probably been in a situation where they themselves made a prank call. At the very least, everyone knows about it. The film has some excellent shocks throughout the movie, and all of the 'thrilling' sequences are very intense, sometimes bordering on the extreme. The plot is pretty good, even pretty original, as far as I know. The acting is good enough. The characters are believable and their actions are understandable, most of the time. The movie has some very good cinematography and some pretty good cinematic effects. The ending, though a bit far-fetched, was the perfect way to end it, in my opinion. I couldn't have imagined a better way to end it. I recommend this to pretty much any teen who enjoys thrillers, especially the ones who like to relate to the theme and plot. Nearly every teenager in the world can in some way relate to at least one of the main characters in this film. 7/10

This turned out to be one the few movies I liked that was geared toward a teen audience. Steve Zahn and Paul Walker weren't natural in the roles as brothers, which embodied the very nature of their relationship. While the story became rather convoluted near the end, Rusty Nail's voice and detached presence brought some actual fear to the heart of the viewer. While the sound editing made this film, the relatively simple yet complex plot really turned this film into a satisfying movie experience.