Customer Reviews

Detour

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Before digging into the nuts and bolts that make up "Detour," let's briefly summarize a couple of movies. Wes Craven's low budget masterpiece shocker "The Hills Have Eyes," released to universal outrage in 1977, examined the tragic series of incidents that befell a family after their mobile home broke down in the desert. A gaggle of inbred cannibals (of course) moved in for the kill, and the movie quickly descended into a struggle between civilization and barbarism as the surviving members of each clan battled it out for supremacy. O.K. Now, in 1974 a struggling filmmaker named Tobe Hooper released a rather bloodless little film called "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," a movie about a group of kids stranded out in the middle of nowhere facing down a family of lunatic cannibals (Hmmm, a pattern). The movie quickly descended into a battle between civilization and barbarism as one of the kids battled against an evil beyond reckoning. Why am I summarizing these two unrelated movies in a review for a flick made in 2002? Because "Detour" borrows heavily from both of these efforts. Before you start groaning, however, let me say that this movie manages to do something most imitators don't do--it entertains despite its derivative qualities.

The movie opens with a five-minute sequence showing two young ladies (one of them the adorable Tiffany Shepis clad in a skintight outfit and big boots--worth the price of admission alone) dying horribly at the hands of some lunatic sporting a hook-like device attached to his arm. Then the film moves into a series of quick cuts showing a bunch of gyrating bodies at a rave out in the desert. How do we know the party takes place in the desert? Because the following scenes show a group of kids moseying down the highway in the middle of the desert, a group of kids that attended the aforementioned rave. Let's introduce the cannon fodder...er, the characters, shall we? We've got a mouthy Goth type chick named Cashie (Kelsey Wedeen), Neil (Brent Taylor), Lee (Ryan De'Rouen), Angela (Renee Madison Cole), Harmony (Jill Jacobs), her best friend Tara (Ashley Elizabeth), and Loopz (Aaron Buer). Loopz, I should note, initially ranks as one of the most irritating characters in the history of cinema. He's a white guy who thinks he's black, meaning he talks like a ghetto thug. Seriously. Lots of "Yo's!" and "Aiights" tumble from his mouth every other second. He's so irritating, in fact, that an extra on the DVD consists of nothing more than twenty or thirty seconds of him spouting off. They call this something like "The most irritating twenty seconds in film history." Funny!

Anyway, I'm getting off the point. Not that there's much of a point to this movie, mind you, but we'll slog through the rudimentary details anyway. The kids decide to head off the beaten track in search of a hidden cache of Mary Jane. Instead of finding it, they roll right into Nightmare Alley. A stop at a gas station inhabited by a younger version of Crazy Ralph from "Friday the 13th" (let's call him Crazy Petey) supplies the requisite warning about doom and gloom to come, as well as showing us the girls bouncing around in shorts so tight that I worried parts of their bodies would fall off for lack of circulation. After this nonsense, it's time for the obligatory "run off the road and get stuck" scene. I think it's Lee, Neil, and Angela that eventually wander off, but I'm not sure. Names aren't important. All three perish in extremely horrible ways, of course, thanks to a group of inbred freaks that drink some sort of liquor full of chemicals. In no time at all, the survivors back at the trailer--Loopz, Harmony, Tara, and Cashie--must contend with increasingly sinister incidents, such as finding weird symbols painted on the side of the mobile home, Cashie drinking some tainted fluid and freaking out, and a nighttime invasion that results in an abduction. I won't spoil the rest except to say if you've seen "The Hills Have Eyes" and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," you've seen the conclusion to "Detour."

A bigger bundle of cliches I've nivver seen, as my Irish ancestors might have said. "Detour" wallows in scenes and characters ripped off from other films. Inbred cannibals? Check. Wackos in a pickup truck chasing down a character? Yup. Heroic chick saving the day? You bet. False scares around every corner? Oh yeah! Mindless banter and banal insults dished out with the rapidity of machine gun fire? Uh huh. It's all here, but for some reason it works better in "Detour" than in all the other low budget crud currently clogging the arteries of horror fans the world over. Loopz, who starts out as an irritant on par with bamboo shoots stuffed under your fingernails, actually becomes an amusing--nay, endearing--presence. You could've knocked me over with a feather when I realized I liked this character! Congratulations to actor Aaron Buer for giving a stereotype some serious dimension. And then there's the gore, which really works in this movie. Legs ground into chowder under tires, more than one impalement (!), and stabbings and slashings galore gave the movie added chops. "Detour" is a delight for gorehounds.

Like most low budget productions on DVD, extras runneth over. A commentary track with director Steve Taylor, a behind the scenes documentary with plenty of cast interviews and goofing off (oddly titled "Hell's Highway," a name they should've gone with), cast auditions, trailers, and an extended opening sequence that adds even MORE gore to the shenanigans (re: innards). I got a huge surge out of seeing someone finally do a low budget ripoff right, but I'm still going to give this one four stars since it took a long time to get to the inbred cannibals. Nonetheless, if you love horror like I love horror, give this one a go posthaste.

I was suprised. I started this movie, and very quickly I felt like I was in for a night of boredom. And that held for about 15 minutes or so in to the movie. Then the characters started to grow on me a bit,even the white ebonics guy. And then things started to get really freaky! The cast works very well once they get a hold on their characters, and everyone gives their all. Yes, there are annoying elements, like the white ebonics guy, but even he starts to grow during the movie, and towards the end I wanted him to live, just like the rest of the group. The soundtrack works very well, and has a little bit of techno, a little bit of rock, and a little bit of actually scoring that sounds amazing. There are also some very well shot scenes, and the movie looks very professional. While not the best movie ever, and far from original (it's like Wrong Turn meets The Hills Have Eyes meets Scream meets a zombie movie), it is still one of the better straight to video outings that has been released recently. And to top it all off, it has a great sense of humor at times, making some of the slower scenes, and scenes of character building enjoyable. So I give it four stars. The only thing holding it back from five is the first 15 minutes or so.

This Movie was a huge let down. I knew from the start that it was going to be a low budget rip off, trying to cash in on the moderate success of Wrong Turn. I still thought it would provide an evening of mindless entertainment. The script did not give the actors and director much to work with. It was full of lame dialogue and had a weak story. There was really no background or explanation for the cannibals that I could find and the setup was about as unoriginal as you can get. The acting was pretty lousy as well. Plus the picture quality was very poor even for straight to video. The worst thing about it was the ridiculous main cannibal. What was going on with that big guy's eyebrows...if it were not for the laugh I got from that this would have been a total waste.

Though not a 'B' movie, this just about scrapes the bottom of the horror barrel. An extremely elementary effort, I found myself endeared to no character, so I wasn't frightened about what might happen to any of them. I was also bored. No character development, no background information, a predictable storyline and ridiculous gore cheapened this film effort. I even wanted to turn off the movie about 30 minutes into viewing, but I figured I'd stick it out. Not worth it.

I was surprised that this turned out to be a fun low budget horror film that had some nice bloody and gory scenes in it even though the young cast of characters were a bunch of cliches like the blonde slut, the two party girls, the goth chick, The guy that thinks hes black he was the most annoying character, I still think it was intresting and you don't know who exactley is going to survive so it wasn't predictable. The film was very cheesy and awful and some parts were hilariously bad but you have to realise that it was extremly low budget and the film turns out to be pretty good sort of, I'll give it 3 1/2 stars. You can tell that the director is a true horror fan as some scenes were stolen from the hills have eyes and other 80's horror but atleast its not a rippoff nice try. A bunch of teens head of into the dessert in an RV to a rave where they get to party, have sex and take some drugs but they soon get terrorised by a bunch of blood thirsty cannibals, the gore like I said was great and it includes lots of body parts being hacked of and a few impalments. If you like cheesy low budget horror films with young attractive women then your going to love this film but don't expect it to be a genuinly good slasher or scary horror film.

In "Detour", a group of absolutely totally stupid people take a "short cut" or a "detour" in the desert out in the middle of nowhere in order to come upon some dope. Well, they wreck their RV (sound familiar), and they get stuck in the middle of the desert. That's not their only problem though. Besides their stupidity and the fact that they are stranded in the desert, there are also some cannibals in the desert. Well, the only question is whether the cannibals will eat them all or whether some of them will sadly escape.

I know my synopsis of the movie seems harsh towards the characters, but these characters are truly stupid and ridiculous people. The makers of this movie went out of their way to create the most obnoxious and stupid "protagonists" (that's a laugh) that's ever been created in any movie, not just a horror movie. The characters are not only not likeable, but they are despicable and revolting in their idiocracy so much that the viewer is not able to become engrossed in the movie itself. The intelligent viewer does not relate to these stupid people and, in a sense, the protagonists are just as bad as the cannibals in my opinion (just in a different way), and so the movie comes off as ridiculous and absurd. Indeed, the acting is terrible in this movie, absolutely awful. While the acting does not have to be great or even good, it does have to be able to pull the viewer into the setting of the movie and the situation of the characters. The fact that the characters are so ridiculous hinders the viewer from being able to make that leap of faith.

Aside from the horrendous acting and ridiculous characters, "Detour" really is nothing more than an inferior rip-off of "The Hills Have Eyes", which is a decent but not a great horror movie in and of itself. In all honesty, if you've seen "Hills" (original or remake), you've pretty much seen "Detour", although as I have said, "The Hills Have Eyes" is much better all the way around, but that's not saying much. The villains in the "Detour" do not look nearly as gruesome or as formidable as the villains in "Hills". In fact, in a sense, one could argue that some of the villains in "Detour" looked more normal than our protagonists in this truly backwards flick. Particularly obnoxioius was the Vanilla Ice look-a-like who was absolutely repulsive in his stupid role. One actually hopes that he gets killed by movie's end. Yeah, it's that bad.

If you love movies like "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Wrong Turn", you might want to check this out, but I would advise against it because, as I said, it's nothing more than a "Hills" ripoff/rehash with no significant deviations or distinctions to give it an identity of its own, save for the absolute and total stupidity of its sad and pathetic protagonistic characters.

A group of LA youth are in a mobile home attend a rave in the desert. On the way back to the city, the driver decides to take a short cut so that he can swing by a ploy of peyote and make some quick money. At a rest stop just before their destination they are warned to stay away by the strange clerk. Of course if they listened there wouldn't be a movie. So, on a back road they get stuck and cannot get a phone connection. While the driver heads back to the rest stop to borrow a phone, another pair head into the high ground to try and get a signal.

Now that they have split up the terror begins. Someone or something is in the desert and wants them dead. Soon the deaths begin and the survivors band together. They know a way out if they can just get a few free moments to get the RV unstuck. The local hills are home to a clan of violent cannibals. They may have a connection with the peyote but they definitely have something that can throw them into a berserker rage. But as vicious and violent as they may be, the cannibals can be out-thought and that is what the survivors try to do. The ending is different than one would expect but works well and keeps the film on the fresh side.

Although this is often compared to The Hills Have Eyes it only has superficial similarities. While the cannibals will attack people stuck in the desert they don't seem to orchestrate their getting stuck. There is some nudity, plenty of violence, and a truly annoying character trying to be a gangster rapper. All in all it is not as cheap as it could be and remains a fairly original treatment of a classic theme. Much of the movie centers around the youths trying to overcome their predicament and less on the slaughter of the innocents. Better than I expected. Check it out.

This movie has a lot in it that I usually despise, like cliched plot, almost non-existent actors, and desert dwelling psychos. How many times have we seen that particular movie. However, Steve Taylor created a movie that really worked for me, even though it had so many of the things that I hate. The part that worked best for me were the characters in the van. They were some of the most obnoxious people I'd seen in a while in a movie and I found myself rooting for the desert psychos. This movie really held my interest and kept me laughing, even while the blood was spilling. It's definitely worth the $10.

Before I slice and dice, I think it's important to know I approach reviewing from my standpoint. I don't label a movie as lousy for everyone, it's just my take, and I hope people who read my reviews will know from what I've said if their take on things is similar to mine or not, and decide from there where to go.

I'm impressed by the long, positive review for this film. It's the perfect example of how something can be viewed very differently by various people. My take was more or less the opposite. Incidentally, I like a great deal of what I'd characterize as the contemporary B-movie, meaning movies a lot of others thought really sucked! This one, however....

Some spoilers ahead, but nothing you haven't read in other reviews (if you have).

What I liked? There were two or three beautiful shots of clouds, and some of the rugged landscape looked great. Otherwise, the glaring yellowish tint to most of the movie bugged me. It could have been artsy, but it didn't work for me.

Characters. I thought they were all weak and boring, with one exception (more later). I was offended by the opening scene, in which two teen "lesbians" get the hook, and the inane way they reacted to events once things started going wrong put me off.

I'm way away from the age group of the kids portrayed in the film, but I see and hear people in their age group frequently enough (and I'm in California -- they're supposed to be from the L.A. area) that these kids appeared to have nothing in common with what I've experienced. The "rave" looked hokey. The white kid who talked like he was from the 'hood was excruciatingly annoying, in great part because I can't imagine anyone behaving the way he did and not getting the stuffing kicked out of him by anyone within earshot! Now, the fact that these kids are all white and appear to come from the same background could -- at a stretch -- allow for the toleration of his antics, but once back in L.A. this kid would be stomped like a bug as soon as he opened his mouth.

Similarly to their background, they were all about equally vacuous, and the attempts to make them feel "real" (so I'd sympathize with them) were sad. Even sadder, apart from the white kid from the 'hood, I didn't care enough about them that I even wanted them dead!

The other players -- the gas station attendant, the "cannibals" -- looked and acted even more dismally than the kids.

As far as story goes, it was transparently a zero-budget rip off of The Hills Have Eyes. Picture THHE but take away everything and substitute what I've described and that's what I got out of it.

I purchased this along with an assortment of movies of this ilk, and I bothered to write this review only because it stood out so sharply from the rest, and others of this type, in a negative way. Nevertheless, I know plenty of people will like it; I hope I've saved the $10 for those who wouldn't.

Ok, heres the deal. Detour is a direct to video horror film that ROCKED. On a visual and fundamental level. I realized the makers of this movie wanted to make a movie for guys and girls who LOVE sleazy fun horror. If you are a fan of GREAT B movies and know what a B movie is supposed to deliver, this movie wins on ALL levels! Its also visually a lot better than most B movies too, very clear picture sound and camera angles. (those who complained of the picture quality are nuts, theres nothing wrong with it on DVD!) The people here who rated it a 1 or bad and said how lame it is, have NO clue about what a person who watches a movie like this wants to see- KILLS, SEX, CAMPINESS, NUDITY, BLOOD, HOT CHICKS, ZOMBIE CANNIBALS, COOL HERO etc. Not ONE review mentioned those things and the best thing of this movie- the BABES!! Holy crap...4 little hotties! Why is this movie good, because it delivers the goods and is fun as hell! In this day in age, movies made like this usually suck BAD, Why? Because they fail to do these things right. If you think its going to be one of these pathetic Kevin Williamson cloned modern false horror fluff garbage, ITS NOT. The movie has a cast that works brilliantly! This movie has such a tiny budget, yet they managed to find 4 girls who are all REALLY SEXY!! There not super model hot or over the top B movie sexgoddess's ala Julie Strain but straight out sexed up high school chicks, that you could actually see at a mall on a friday night somewhere near you looking as trampy as possible! 3 of the girls look like this 2 are HOT, one is a "goth" chick, but even shes not bad and one is like the older more playboyish looking babe. More modelesque hot and she gets naked and gets it on with one of the guys So she rides some dude before getting wacked! But its the other 2 girls that win the cake.. they dont get naked...but wait..Ill get to those two in a sec.. The second ingenius thing. The Director must love BOOTY because filmed some of the best butt shots I've seen in a mainstream movie, B movie or otherwise! He put them to show off as much rear as I have ever seen in a movie like this! Its GENIUS! I can't believe no ones mentioned this stuff yet!? Are you guys blind or just sad! There is one particular scene if anyone has seen this movie they will know what I mean, when they stop at a gas station, the two girls step out of their winnabago and are wearing little tiny half shirts and the SMALLEST booty shorts EVER! They both have perfect asses! You never would see some chick like Eliza Dusku do that for a horror film or Neve Campbell or whoever. You might see it from a Julie Strain or Tiffany Shepis for sure with that insane bubble butt of hers, but you expect that from vamped out voluptous sex kittens, but these are like 2 smoking hot 18 yr old high school looking chicks and they are just walking around with half their buttcheeks hanging out! LITERALLY! For all guys..Amazing! The other thing is the Main "lead" in the movie is this guy everyone's calling the "white ebonics guy" ok, I am a METALHEAD, I LOVE METAL, don't listen to rap and what hes into, but SO WHAT! I thought this guy was HILARIOUS, dude you rocked in this movie! Why hate his character?? The guy totally made it a riot! Its clearly a goof on people who act like that. The guy has charm and your sympathetic to him because he is a good kid, he really is just doing what he can to flirt with the babes and eventually save them from the cannibals. This kid who is a total unknown has to have one of the funniest scenes Ive EVER seen in a horror movie, when he accidentilly rubs his hands in smeared "poop" on the winnabago the cannibals left and he realizes what it is and he freaks out! Its so well done and his reaction OWNS ALL YOUR SORRY ARSES!!! The other Great part is the role of the Gas Station owner! Funny Creepy dude!! Seems freaked out about the killings going on but is just as delirious looking at the two sweet tushes walking through the shop! Cant forget the brilliant movie opening, Troma movie queen Tiffany Shepis makes a cameo as a lesbian eloping to Vegas with her lover as they speed down the highway in their car making out, she is wearing an outfit you have to see to BELIEVE!! They both are greeted by an evil disgusting cannibal on the side of the road! Seriously this is one of the best fun teen horror movies of the video market that came out in the last few years. Its got more edge and fun energy and good old gore like a classic sleazy 80's movie but with a prettier cast that is not afraid to go the extra mile! The main female lead, the Latina is sexy as all hell and has a butt you will be talking about for the rest of the night! The Blonde is also equally charming and sexy. You can go to a blockbuster and rent so much crap and be pissed you wasted money on Turbulence 4 or House of the Dead and then hang yourself for being truely hit with a dead fish but I rented this and I was so happy I saw a movie with super hot chicks, the funniest lead since I can remember, violent cannibals, good gore, great acting for a B movie, story holds together fine, Tiffany Shepis in some insane butt hugging outfit and a cool desert outdoors atmosphere. I bought the movie! 5 stars for sure because its FUN!!!!! Watch gore horror, listen to true heavymetal and have lots of sex \m/