Joy Ride 3 (2014)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The acting in this movie is really good.

RELEASED TO VIDEO IN 2014 and directed by Declan O'Brien, "Joy Ride 3: Roadkill" depicts horrific events on the backroads of the American prairie when a youthful racing crew on their way to Road Rally 1000 mess with the wrong trucker, Rusty Nail.Rusty Nail obviously moved from his former location in the desert wilderness far outside Las Vegas, Nevada, to the lonesome prairies of Texas (note his license plate and the Kansas plates of the racers). The change in locale to the flatland prairie/forests (shot in the Winnipeg area) makes for a slightly different ambiance to "Joy Ride 2," but story-wise it's more-of-the-same, minus the obnoxious goth-punk.The first "Joy Ride" (2001) was akin to a modern-day "Duel" (1971), but with eye-rolling improbabilities, particularly in the last act. "Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead" took that template and added slasher & 'torture porn' elements, which is what you get with this one. But I like the protagonists better, led by Jesse Hutch, the race car driver. Kirsten Prout and Leela Savasta are effective in the feminine department with Kirsten being particularly adorable, but both need to gain at least 12-15 lbs.This is the first movie that reveals Rusty from the get-go (Ken Kirzinger), which is interesting, but they should've kept his identity a mystery IMHO, like in "Duel" and the first two movies, not that it matters much. At the end of the day this is a throwaway slasher thriller, but it works for what it is, an over-the-top slasher-horror on the American highways. Turn off your brain and enjoy the quick, implausibly horrific ride. If you can't do this, stay away. THE MOVIE RUNS 95 minutes and was shot in Winnipeg and Provincial Rd 305, Tourond, Manitoba, Canada. WRITER: Clay Tarver. ADDITIONAL CAST: Benjamin Hollingsworth, Gianpaolo Venuta and Jake Manley play the remaining race crew.GRADE: B-

A group of young car racing enthusiasts are on their way to enter their car into a race in Canada, and after stopping for a bite to eat and to ask for some directions, they decide to take a route that is known as Slaughter Alley (after being warned not to, of course). It's here that one of the racers decides to toy about with a truck driver, but that, as they soon find out, was a mistake. What was supposed to be a non-eventful road trip has now turned into a deadly cat-and-mouse game for survival.This will be a pretty short review because in all honesty there isn't much to write about Joy Ride 3. The first film was a good, tense thriller with a good cast. Joy Ride 2 wasn't a patch on the first movie but it was still a watchable film. This one however, well, let's just be polite and say it's gone to the opposite end of Joy Ride.There is plenty of gore but not much of a storyline, so at least the splatter fans might get something out of the movie. There's the usual casting of stereotypical characters as well....street racer jock types along with their stick insect scream queen girlfriends, and of course the now indestructible serial killer, Rusty Nail.This only JUST made it into a 3-star rating for me purely because some of the scenes are not too bad. Well, that and I never lost the will to live while watching the movie.It's watchable but only just barely.

You've seen this before. Actually you probably saw it before ... "Saw". This could be considered Saw light or at least a mixture of "Duel" and "Saw". Not sure Steven Spielberg would totally approve, but this is what you get. And listening to the audio commentary, I am surprised how much effort was put into the movie.You might not really care (which makes sense at this point of the "franchise"), but the director has some knowledge and he is making an effort. Still story-wise we don't get anything new, but the effects are good and you might wonder what is going to happen next. The beginning with the "couple" is really great (visually and tone-wise), but the movie loses some of its drive along the way. You just won't care anymore. The ending is not really a surprise either ...

This movie sucked ass!!! The acting was horrible and there were so many flaws. That girl(jewel, I think was her name in the movie) could have totally out ran that semi truck and not have gotten kidnapped! I was really hoping the blonde girl would live in the end, but no she gets tied to the top of the truck and is splattered by running into the bridge!!!! That's where I turned off the movie, I did not watch passed that part!! There are so many other things that could have been done in the movie to prevent a bad thing from happening!! When the main character(forgot his name, blond girls boyfriend)found the video of his girlfriend screaming in the car trunk, how did the truck driver get back in his truck without him or the other girl (brunette, only other girl in the movie, with the main characters) seeing him get up, after she ran him over with the Subaru, and get back up in his truck? THIS MOVIE SUCKS Don't WATCH IT!!!! IT PISSSED ME OFF WHEN RUSTY NAIL(truck drivers name forgot to mention that earlier) KILLED THE BLOND GIRL LIKE THAT!!!