Customer Reviews

Rest Stop - Don't Look Back [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Rest Stop: Don't Look Back is a sequel to the 2006 horror film Rest Stop, about a crazed pickup truck driver terrorizing a young couple at a deserted California rest stop. It wasn't a very good film but the sequel manages to out do the original, rising to passable horror fare. Tom (Richard Tillman) is the brother of Jess who disappeared in the first film along with his girl friend Nicole. Home for two weeks on leave from the army, Tom decides to go in search of his missing sibling. He's joined for the ride by his girlfriend Marilyn (Jessie Ward) and his buddy Jared(Norris). Evidently, because Marilyn doesn't like Jared, the goof is forced to drive his own beater of a car from Texas to California.

We're treated to a replay of the "Driver's" origin. He was just a bumpkin picked up by a family of religious zealots (nuts actually) in their RV. He's killed but is resurrected as a silent spirit, haunting the highways around the rest stop for victims to torture and kill. It isn't long before the trio of friends is on his trail, tipped off by the creepy owner of a gas station (Steve Railsback). Jared is attacked while inside a port-a-potty as it is run into by the truck, spilling its disgusting contents all over him. Tom is then kidnapped by the Driver and taken to a torture chamber outfitted in an old school bus. With help from Nicole's ghost, Jared and Marilyn will try to find Tom and figure out a way to destroy the Driver once and for all.

Better than the original but still not a good film, Rest Stop: Don't Look Back is filled with inconsistencies. The Driver seems to have that annoying ability to appear and disappear at will which he uses to cheat his victims just when you think they've escaped and yet he seemingly leaves him self vulnerable. The main problem with the film is that the assailant just isn't all that scary or intimidating. He's a hillbilly in a flannel shirt and baseball cap and his attempts at a menacing glare are laughable.

Infinitely scarier and underutilized is the nutjob family in the RV. The sex-crazed mom, the fire and brimstone dad, the two kids in suits who never talk, and the dwarf son who is tormented by his older brothers. The sequel almost entirely abandons the rest stop where much of the action in the first film took place. There are only a couple of short scenes there and most of film takes place on the open road. There's a good deal of gore including victims getting their eyes scooped out, legs drilled into, and other assorted wince-inducing torments.

The cast is certainly better this time. Tillman and Ward give more convincing performances than their predecessors in the first film while Norris and Railsback provide some comic relief. Rest Stop: Don't Look Back isn't must viewing but if the video store pickings are slim you could certainly do worse.

Get the regular DVD.

I just finished watching my purchased copy of "Rest Stop: Don't Look Back" on Blu-Ray, and that's the last Warner disc I'll ever pre-order to buy.

The regular DVD of this title is chock full of extras (deleted scenes, alternate ending, commentary track, trailers), but there is nothing but the movie on the more expensive Blu-Ray. No extras at all - nada - not even the trailer! What a rip-off!


Don't Buy the Blu-Ray Version!

While this sequel fills in some of the holes presented in the timeline and story of the original Rest Stop movie, it is nonetheless unfulfilling horror with a deserted California rest stop and bathroom as a set.

Following the disappearance of the morons from the first movies, Tom (Tillman) is home on leave from the Army and looking for his missing brother. Immediately I knew he was an idiot because he had on PFC rank but called himself a corporal. Along for the ride is his alcoholic girlfriend Marilyn (Ward) - who probably would have acted better if actually drunk - and a complete train-wreck of a best friend named Jared (Norris). Animosity between the two sidekicks leads to this being a two car journey from Texas to California, and the dork is driving a beater that smokes more than a Memphis rib joint. First stupid decision of many.

Upon arrival in California, the ginger best friend gets isolated in a port-a-potty because of his IBS, and it gets tipped over by the killer from the first movie. Awash in symbolism, that kid is. Something about this movie and its locations reminds me of bowel movements. Regardless, the killer is a flannel shirt wearing hillbilly that is slightly less scary than the Brawny man. Maybe the Scrawny Brawny Man? At least he had ample supplies to clean up all the blood after he did some handy work with a drill. Do I smell a marketing opportunity here? Anyway, this dude is terrorizing innocents at this rest stop and torturing them in a refurbished school bus because a family of circus freaks and religious fanatics in a Winnebago (because that hasn't been done before) had a bloody run-in with him a few years back. Because that makes sense. Once the group makes it to the actual rest stop, there is some mumbo-jumbo explanation that eye saw right through, a few flashbacks, and a foreshadowed conclusion. The thing that gets me, though, is judging by the phonebook-sized collection of missing person flyers at the rest stop, it's apparent that the equivalent of Des Moines, IA is missing; yet, there is little police involvement. Go figure.

The positive of this film is that it the majority of the film doesn't follow an incontinent schizophrenic in and out of a feces and blood covered bathroom. Also there is no Joey Lawrence - the poor man's Keanu Reeves. Whoa!

Rent it...if you are related to one of the actors. Otherwise, skip it.

Jason Elin

Rest Stop was an interesting movie the first time around. It was an independent film that really built a lot of atmosphere and tension in my opinion. I was interested in getting some answers about "The Driver" and "The Winnebego Family." That is why I really wanted to watch Rest Stop - Don't Look Back.

We start out with Tom, the older brother of Jess Hilts (from the first movie) getting back from War in Iraq. He is determined to find out the fate of his younger brother Jess, as the Police have not been able to find out any answers for a year now. So Tom and his girlfriend Marilyn (insert a drunk sorority girl) plus an overly nerdy friend Jared set off to solve the mystery. Acting was sub-par. In the first movie, I could feel the fear as the characters were being stalked. This movie, the characters are way too brave. Almost no hesitation throughout the movie. Probably to push the story along faster.

It takes them almost no time at all to run into "The Driver." Now, the reason I wanted to watch this movie was to get some background on "The Driver" and "Winnebego Family." The background story is delivered, and I must say that I was not impressed with the mythology. However I will not spoil it for those who have not seen it. Lets just say that it all gets pawned off to Indian legends. Seems like they got a little lazy to me. I was really hoping for an interesting story line about these supernatural phenomena.

Once the group get to the titular Rest Stop, everything pretty well happens the way the first movie went. Add a lot more ghost sightings and tougher characters for the most part. I would say that this movie could have been a lot better. However, due to the low budget, I would like to give it the benefit of the doubt. I feel like I was entertained, but I was also disappointed in the writing. I truly believe that they dropped the ball. They could have created a unique story and captitalized on the intrigue that was created in the first movie.

Crapulent. I kind of liked the first one. Even though it had a silly ending, it scared the pants off me. But this, was just stupid. I didn't mind the characters, they all did a decent job. The acting, the directing, the scenery and the cinematography are all okay. It's the story that is weak and full of holes. They tried to turn Rest Stop 2 into a ghost story. Too bad it really doesn't work. There are just too damn many holes and things that make absolutely no sense. I didn't hate it, but it was frustrating to watch.

I actually liked rest stop, the first one that is. With the end of the first one giving you the idea that the killer in the truck is a ghost, it is confirmed and expanded on in this sequel.

This time around the brother of the guy from the first movie, his girlfriend and immature side kick go hunting a year after the last movie took place now that the brother has returned from military service.

They track down a few things and end up at the rest stop from the previous film and find themselves in the same situation being hunted by the ghost of a yellow pick up.

This one expands and explains how the ghosts come to be and seeing as how the cats out of the bag, it's more of a ghost story about the whole area surrounding the rest stop, which gives room to get out of the rest stop area that was the scene for about 80% of the original movie, and this one uses that rest stop for like 10% of it and takes you elsewhere to see how all this stuff came to be.

In the first film I didn't understand what the freaky family in the Winnebago was about and thought it should have been cut out of the first movie as it did not fit in with it, this movie explains what that was about and who that Addams Family on acid is and why.

Also a good thing they did is the gratuitous nudity is hardly scene in this, the first movie threw it in for no reason other then to attract an audience of perverts, least they realized they did not need it for this film.

And as I suspected, it leaves open an opportunity for a 3rd sequel which I would like to see if it gets made.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first movie, but it's watchable. It's not like it's one of those movies that leaves you thinking, "what did they have to do with the first one" - or "that just kills the rules of the first movie" it actually explains it all and is a fun little ride for the hour and a half it goes for.

I wouldn't say this movie is anything special, but it's a decent pop corn movie for what it is.

One year after running away from home, Nicole (Julie Mond) and Jesse (Joey Mendicino) are still missing. When Jesse's brother, Tom (Richard Tillman), returns home from active duty, he sets out with his friends Marilyn (Jessie Ward) and Jared (Graham Norris) to locate the lost couple. Their search leads them to the stretch of old highway with a mysterious Rest Stop, where they find themselves in the same predicament as Nicole and Jesse: confronting the madman (Brionne Davis) driving the menacing yellow truck. As their search continues, a run-in with the ubiquitous Winnebago Family leads Marilyn and Jared to ghostly encounters with Nicole. Meanwhile, Tom is kidnapped and tortured by the psycho, but upon his escape he uses the arsenal at his disposal to take his revenge. But bullets alone may not be enough to stop this sociopath bent on death and dismemberment.

One year after couple Jesse (Joey Mendicino) and Nicole (Julie Mond) disappeared, Jesse's brother, Tom (Richard Tillman), asks his friends (Jessie Ward, Graham Norris) to join him on a search for his brother. On the way, they stumble upon the same isolated Rest Stop that Jesse and Nicole were brutalized. Unfortunately for Tom and his friends, the yellow-truck-driving madman still haunts the roadside looking for victims. . . and they're next on his route.

While not a fan of the below-average first (simply Rest Stop), I decided to give Rest Stop: Don't Look Back a fair chance. In the first film, an average idea (a couple gets stranded at an isolated rest stop and a crazed killer stalks them down) is ruined by an impossible twist (and you thought Haute Tension's was unbelievable), subpar performances by actors we've seen do better, and a script so contrived my head was pounding in annoyance. So, the sequel came out with a LOT of ground to make up if it wanted to be even worth a passing glance. One major thing holds back the sequel before even it even begins: there's not a lot you can do at a rest stop. The first didn't do too much, but I think it took advantage of the few things possible at a bathroom. Therefore, as Rest Stop: Don't Look Back progressed, it felt kind of like Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning in comparison to the remake. . . the same subject matter with just a couple twists in the plot and different characters. That's not a very good thing. A subpar first doesn't warrant a sequel to begin with, but if a sequel MUST be made, do something special with it! Surprise your audience, give us something new, give us a reason to say, "I'm glad I picked that up." Do NOT, under any circumstance, feed us the same trite garbage you gave us in the first. This is all where this sequel failed. Well, there. . . and with the horrendous script, the stiff and unrealistic acting, horrible story progression and pacing, and dizzying camerawork. I won't completely put it off as terrible, however, as there was some good gore and violence, much more than what I remember from the first. Unfortunately, we missed some of the best violence (eye gouging and the like) due to scene cutaways, but I attribute that to a low budget. The gore wasn't enough to save the film, however, and it ends up being just as lame, predictable (and somehow ridiculous), and forgettable as the original.

Final verdict: 3.75/10.

The Movies good, Not as good as the original rest stop, but worth a rent at least. kinda gives you a little back story on both the creepy family in the RV and the Guy in the Yellow truck. Its not what you think!

i liked it it kept you in suspence not sure what was going to happen next.