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Jesse and
Nicole disappeared last year and now
that Jesse's older brother has returned from
the war he decides to go searching for him
together with his girlfriend and a friend. They
find out about the old highway where Jesse
was last seen, and it's unfortunate that they
end up stopping at the same rest stop where the
terror once ensued. Why? Because history is
just about to repeat itself.
Rest Stop was Raw Feed's first production and
became a surprise smash hit when it hit DVD.
I actually believe it went on to become one of
the most successful DTV horror films in history.
The movie was filled with potential and could
have been outstanding had it not been for a few
minor details. I remember mentioning in my
review for Rest Stop that we were left with many
questions unanswered and while this sequel answers
several of those questions, it raises many new
ones. Why make the exact same mistakes twice?
History repeats itself when three 20-somethings
hit the road in search of Jesse and Nicole. It
doesn't take long before they stumble onto the
serial killer and the psychotic family from the
first movie (why couldn't they just drop the
whole psychotic family thing this time around?).
The terror increases as the friends try to
escape from the rest stop of the damned, but will
they succeed? I don't really know if anyone cares
that much. As far as I understood no one really
liked the first movie and I bet ya that not many
will fall for this one either since it's actually
worse than its predecessor (if anything I thought
that it would be on par but nope).
Once again everything about this movie screams
potential. It's got some great torture scenes
(if far from as gory as the ones in Rest Stop),
great production values and a surprisingly
talented cast. We even get a little back-story
which was a nice touch. However, the movie
stumbles more than once and doesn't even manage
to sustain a level of mediocrity as it felt
like a cash-cow in so many ways. First of all,
the story was pretty much the same (though how
much can you do with a story about a haunted
rest stop), the dialogues were flat and uninspired,
the twists were confusing and didn't make any
sense, and the entertainment value just wasn't
there. Fine, it'll keep you watching until the
end, I will give it that because it has got a
solid pace through and through, but you may find
yourself muttering "what a piece of shit" when
the end credits start to roll.
Rest Stop: Don't Look Back isn't really a piece
of shit though. It's a bad movie, I'll admit
that but it's got its moments of sheer brilliance
and like I said before, it will keep you watching
until the end - and that's not a task that many
DTV horror flicks manage to live up to these
days. If you liked the first one more than I did,
you may enjoy Rest Stop 2 to a certain extent
and I'm sure that teens will eat this right up
since most teens don't care about logics in horror
flicks. On the other hand, if you didn't care much
for the first one, there's no way in hell that
you're going to be able to enjoy this.
Some nails in ones leg, an eye gouged out, some
gore flashes from the first movie and some blood
splatter. I was not very impressed.
The fast-paced rock beats worked for most of the
time but had a tendency to be a little overpowering.
Rest Stop wasn't a great movie and the sequel
certainly isn't any better. It could've been
written by anyone and it wasn't very inspiring.
It does keep you watching until the end though
due to its fast pace, good cast and nice
cinematography but ultimately not worth a rent.
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