Rest Stop

(2006) ***


This direct-to-DVD cheapie resurrects the Spielbergian Duel idea of the faceless assailant in a big truck. In Rest Stop young lovers Nichole and Jess run away and head for Los Angeles. A quick detour to a dingy, out-of-the-way rest stop turns horrific when, after using the restroom, Nichole discovers that her boyfriend is missing. Adding to her problems Nichole finds herself drawn into a cat and mouse game with an unseen man in a big yellow truck. Seeking refuge in the gross rest room (think Trainspotting), she begins to read the graffiti written all over the toilet stalls. The graffiti, dating back to 1971, refers to the yellow truck and it’s license plate number. Coupled with a huge bank of “Missing Persons” flyers posted on a bulletin board outside, it appears that yellow truck-driver man has been torturing people for 3 decades. Eventually she hooks up with Joey Lawrence.

Whoa!

Dimwitted Joey is quickly taken down by the man in the big yellow hat, er I mean truck and Nichole is again on her own. Will she be able to stop this menace once and for all?


Rest Stop had the potential to rise above its direct-to-DVD status. However, despite its simple creepy premise, a few strong scenes of gore and some pretty decent action sequences, it ultimately misses the mark due to the improbability of it all. Yes I know this is a horror film so I should suspend some disbelief. But come on, are we really supposed to believe that the police haven’t been able to figure out what’s going on in 30 years when (a) our protagonist figures it out within 5 minutes; and (b) there is graffiti all over the restroom identifying the bad guy, including his license plate number? It would be national news if this many people disappeared from a tiny rest stop and the FBI would be all over it. Also, given that the bad guy appears to operate around this rest stop, wouldn’t your first instinct be to get as far away from it as possible? Our protagonist keeps returning to it throughout the movie. We never learn the motivations of the bad guy except that he appears to get off on raping and torturing women. The fact that there are 3 alternate endings (none of them satisfying) suggests that the director had no idea what to do with this thing. A fun rental but nothing you would watch twice.

Poor Joey