"Road Kill" (a/k/a/ "Road Train") - DVD Review

Road Kill, an Australian import directed by Dean Francis was originally titled Road Train, a title that would have little significance to American audiences. It is violent, blood soaked, and—at times—revolting, but after a somewhat goofy start, it grabs our attention and forces us to see it through.

Four moody teenagers (two boys and two girls, of course) are touring the Australian outback in an SUV when a “road train” (a huge truck with two trailers) comes up behind them and rams the back of their vehicle then passes them. For some reason they think catching up to the vehicle, passing it, and screaming at the driver that he’s a bastard will settle the score. The driver doesn’t agree, and again repeatedly rams them until he sends their vehicle flipping over off the road. Perhaps if they had noticed the three-headed wolf-like dog ornament they would not have been so cavalier.

One of the boys has a severe arm injury—the kind that makes your stomach clench when you see it, their car is wrecked, and they’re miles from civilization. The good news is that they have at least a week’s worth of supplies and someone is sure to happen upon them.

When the kids notice that giganto-truck has stopped by the side of the road, the uninjured boy, Marcus (Xavier Samuel), and the brave, slutty girl, Liz (Georgina Haig), decide to speak to the driver. When they approach the cab they find that there’s no one in it. There are keys and a radio, but of course they don’t try to summon help. This is a luxurious cab—the back seat is a mini, red, leather and velvet bordello. Soon the injured boy, Craig (Bob Morely), and the practical girl, Nina (Sophie Lowe), arrive at the truck to see what’s happening.

As they inspect the truck, shots ring out and an armed man comes running toward them. Their escape plan consists of hijacking the truck. Driving down the road, the teens, including the driver, fall asleep. Through some miraculous stroke of luck, they are not killed, but instead end up even deeper in the middle of nowhere than they’d already been. And…oops…the truck won’t start. Fortunately practical girl Nina knows all about truck mechanics and she can figure out what’s wrong when she’s not trying to break into the cargo compartments trying to establish what it is they are hauling. 

When a plane flies over, Nina attempts to build a signal fire (she was a Girl Guide), and injured boy Craig stays in the cab to hallucinate. Hallucinating is actually a good thing, since it leads him to a key to open one of the trailers, which may or not be filled with ravening wolves that eat him. The red-eyed wolves are more Cerebrus than Runespoor, and their presence is menacing.

Marcus and Liz (the uninjured boy and the cheap, nasty girl) leave Craig and Nina in the truck to go look for a shack that Liz thinks she saw. Because of a slight misunderstanding, they split up, Liz finds the shack, and Marcus, while drinking his own urine, finds the man with the gun. Or, to be accurate, the man with the gun finds him and starts shooting. Liz isn’t doing much better inside the shack where she drinks something noxious and discovers a purse full of something repulsive.

Meanwhile, back at the truck, Craig has not been eaten by demonic wolves but he is graphically vomiting which causes him to disappear. Marcus somehow kills the truck driver and returns to the truck. Liz has already returned and magically got it running. Meanwhile, the demonic wolves continue to look demonic. 

What the viewer doesn’t know when the film opens is that the two teenagers engaged in loud sexual relations happen to be Marcus’ best friend Craig and Marcus’ girlfriend Liz. Hence, the tiff between Marcus and Liz. This also accounts for the general testiness of the group, as if being involved in a serious road accident weren’t enough.

Once everyone is back at the truck, we learn there is no safety in numbers. Craig kills Marcus, then Eve, and next attempts to do terrible things to Nina, the practical girl who smartly pushes him into a trailer and bolts him in. Doing the impossible Nina manages to turn the truck around, still towing the two trailers, and get it moving down the road. If all this sounds ridiculous, it is. But it’s also suspenseful, and the viewer will hang in just to see where the filmmakers are going with it. Is the truck haunted. Is Craig possessed? Are Marcus and Liz actually dead? Will Nina free Craig? Since nothing is at it seems, we crave closure.

As Nina escapes in the truck there is a sudden explosion of violence that is nothing compared to what happens in the trailer. Suffice it to say that when the movie ends the audience will not be in the mood for rare steaks and Hawaiian Punch. If you pay attention to the entire film, you will know where it’s all heading. Do yourself a favor and don’t try to figure it out. This kind of thing is so much more enjoyable without the mental gymnastics. While the ending is somewhat predictable, it does not fail to satisfy as it neatly wraps up this extravagant exercise in gore.

Road Kill will be released under the Fangoria Frightfest Banner, in conjunction with Lightning Media, on September 28. The advance copy I viewed did not include any extra features. While I wouldn’t make a special trip down to the video rental store (do people still do that?) or want to spend theater-ticket prices on it, it is definitely a film I would catch streaming.