Detour

While returning to Los Angeles in a trailer through the desert, the driver Neil (Brent Taylor) convinces his friends Tara (Ashley Elizabeth), Harmony (Danna Brady), Loopz (Aaron Buer), Michelle (Jessica Osfar), Lee (Ryan De Rouen) and Cashie (Kelsey Wedeen) to take a detour to an isolated mine where it could have a plantation of peyote. The owner of a gas station advises the group to not go to the place, but the stubborn Neil does not pay attention to his words. While driving in a secondary road, Neil sees a girl and wrecks the car in a rock. He decides to walk back to the gas station to call a tow truck, while Michelle and Lee climb a hill trying to get signal to their cell phones. Sooner the teenagers find that they are under siege of a group of sadistic deformed cannibals and they have to fight to survive.

"Detour" is a teen rip-off of "The Hills Have Eyes", using the same storyline but with many silly dialogs and situations. I like horror movies, and "Detour" is not among the worse that I have seen, having beautiful and sexy actresses and a good conclusion with the scary little girl in the best scene of the movie. Unfortunately the annoying character Loopz spoils what could be worthwhile in this movie, plagiarizing the way of speaking of Eminen and having imbecile lines and attitudes. In a certain moment I was so irritated with this actor that I almost stopped the DVD. The screenplay is very weak, without suspense or tension. If you have not seen this movie yet, better off watching "The Hills Have Eyes" instead. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Detour - Rota 666" ("Detour - Route 666")

This movie has pretty much the same plot line as wrong turn (minus that fact it takes place in the desert and the characters are in search of a pot field). The best part of the entire movie is probably seeing the main cannibal, who looks like Mr. Clean's brother who was locked in an unventilated room while mixing cleaning products. The worse character in possibly the history of movies is the white kid who fronts as a thug. I can honestly say that after being introduce to this character I wish every second after that to see his untimely demise.

There were some good effects and the actual camera shots weren't that bad considering their budget. Also the extras on the DVD were pretty amusing as well (especially the auditions for each character). Being a college educated individual and in the process of finishing my major and attending grad school I know that I can fall back on B movie acting if I don't get hired right away.

This movie got a 4 from me because it did have its moments. My roommates and I were laughing throughout the movie and were able to predict what was going to happen and the order that the characters would be taken out. But like I stated before, if you are forced to rent this movie for any more than one dollar you should simply tell the cashier at your local video store to pay you for removing this movie from their presence.

DETOUR is not only an extremely poor clone of THE HILLS HAVE EYES. It also contains one of the most annoying, idiotic characters to be found in any horror movie.

Ever!

You'll know who it is as soon as he opens his mouth and utters his fabricated "urban slang". Basically, he's a hillbilly type with delusions of being a gangster. He's pitiful and as painfully irritating as a bad case of Shingles!

As for the movie itself, it's about more young, beautiful stickwomen and male models in danger. They're threatened by some very nonthreatening, desert-dwelling "cannibals" that look more like tourists who might have wandered onto the set by accident.

There is no suspense, terror, or originality to be found here...

So as not to "spoil" anything, the plot is as follows: A group of young people get stranded in the middle of nowhere and trouble ensues.

This movie has a plethora of similarities to the recent remake of "The Hills Have Eyes". The only redeeming quality this movie has is a bevy of good looking 19 year-old girls. I'm a straight woman, yet even I couldn't tear my eyes away from the numerous shots of these tanned, leggy girls with their flat abs, perfectly round, er. curves, and cellulite-free thighs. It was like watching a Bally's Fitness commercial.

So much for the good.

Other than providing nothing new in the way of story or effects, the movie manages to annoy more than entertain, unless you want to watch it MST3K-style and mock it aloud in your living room with your friends over a case of beer (because that's about how much beer you'll need to numb the pain).

It's really hard to tell one gorgeous chick from the next, but there were some memorable male characters. Notice I said "memorable" -- not "good".

The first was the guy at the gas station. He looks strikingly like Hugh Laurie from the excellent Fox series, "House".

Amongst the youngsters in the doomed RV is a guy who was spawned from both Vanilla Ice and Eminem. The 2 minute joke of a pretty white boy talking like a gansta in the hood got old after...well, 2 minutes. Then it was just embarrassing. Although it's not the actor's fault, I want to blame him anyway. "Words" such as "yo", "aww-ite" and "dog" interspersed with the usual expletives went from satirical to just plain offensive.

I don't know the budget of either this film or "The Hills Have Eyes" (2006), but either could have been made for $3M or less. It would be amusing to watch them back to back so you can see the amazing similarities -- both have motor homes, both use unfamiliar faces, both have cunning and creepy foes, and both take place in the middle of nowhere.

This film was made several years before "Hills" and I never saw the original, so I cannot compare. But comparing to the remake of "Hills", there are myriad similarities but only one difference: One works and one doesn't. And "Detour" just doesn't work.

I gave it a 5/10 for the good-looking women.

Okay, yes, obviously this is a rip-off of "The Hills Have Eyes." Let's accept it and move on. Most movies these days are ripping off something else, and if the studios can get away with it, so can the indies. But this flick transcends the stigma of "low-budget-straight-to-video-horror-rip-off" for the simple reason that it is incredibly entertaining! Simply put, this is a fun movie to watch. It takes the hackneyed set-up of a bunch of kids taking a shortcut into cannibal mutant territory and delivers it in a fast, interesting, and completely watchable way. Besides the tacked-on opening, I have no gripes with this movie. The cast, the script, the direction, and even the cinematography are all above par, especially given all of our pre-conceived notions about this genre. From start to finish, it's a fun ride (and the Loopz character is a special treat). Plus, the DVD has some good bonus features (the commentary is great). Seriously, if you're a horror fan (especially of 80's slashers, which we all love to love I guess), you're not gonna go wrong with this one. Joe Bob would say check it out.