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Route 666 [2001]


RRP: £5.99
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Take a walk down this highway . . .
Review date: 2007-12-24 Rating: 6 out of 10

Director William Wesley hasn't made a movie in years (after his excellent debut with the dark and atmospheric SCARECROWS), so I was interested to see how his latest film fared. The story is easy. FBI agents Lou Diamond Phillips and Lori Petty are escorting escaped informant Steven Williams back to the witness stand so that he can testify against the mafia. The problem is that they have to get back home, and to do that, they have to drive through the notorious Route 666 of the title. This strip of road is the site of a long buried secret concerning four hardened convicts (who are part of a chaingang) who are killed in a bizarre accident in 1967. These four criminals now roam the highway as ghosts, only drawn out into the daylight by the passing motorists.

The movie itself zips along at a fair pace. The lead threesome are very good: Lou Diamond Phillips and Lori Petty in full action mode with Steven Williams (so good as the serial killer hunter in the lacklustre JASON GOES TO HELL) playing it for laughs and keeping the audience on side. The movie itself benefits not only from strong leads, but also from a great supporting cast who give the movie a strong anchor. The soundtrack is excellent and extremely fitting for the look of the picture plus the atmospheric cinematography is great (the movie is always set in daylight, so when the ghouls show up you see them in full and yet this natural disadvantage of always showing your villain helps the look of the picture tremendously). Director Wesley shows he still has the knack at creating bangs for your buck on a low budget. The disc itself boasts a pretty decent transfer of the film, and benefits greatly from the widescreen format (even on DVD and my home TV screen, the movie still looks big and has an epic feel to it). It's a pity their are no actual extras to speak of (only a trailer) as a commentary track and documentary would have helped this package further.

All in all, a nifty little horror movie that has great central performances and excellent direction. Its a shame it was dumped straight to DVD, as the film may have had movie theatre legs. Recommended.

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Reviews


SURPRISINGLY GOOD!!
Review date: 2007-08-30 Rating: 8 out of 10

Lou Diamond Phillips plays Jack La Roca, a U.S. Marshall and former Navy SEAL assigned to pick up "Rabbit" (Steven Williams), who is in the federal witness protection program but has been on the run. La Roca is to take Rabbit from Arizona to California to testify in court, but along the way they run into a variety of obstacles, mostly horrific, the most serious of which are the result of La Roca's decision to take a shortcut on Route 666.

Lou Diamond Phillips is a B and C-movie king. Route 666 nicely fits in with his oeuvre. The film is much better than it should be, perhaps, given the relatively small budget and a number of questionable decisions on technical aspects (life reflecting art, as the film hinges on a questionable decision). But although goofy at times, Route 666 is a fun-to-watch action/horror film. It actually ended up as a 7 out of 10 for me.

A number of things quickly drew me in, even though they do not directly have an impact on the quality of Route 666. The first two were the presence of Williams and character actor Dick Miller. I'm a big fan of Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993). Williams plays Creighton Duke, one of the main characters, in that film. Miller is a genre veteran with over 100 titles to his name, and well loved by many genre fans, including me. The third immediate attraction for me is that Route 666 is set in a Joshua Tree-filled desert. I love deserts, and I especially love Joshua Trees. Director William Wesley actually acquired permission to shoot in Joshua Tree National Park, one of my favorites. This was the first film in about 10 years allowed to do so.

Wesley quickly builds an effective, sarcastic and usually witty rapport between La Roca, his partner Steph (Lori Petty) and Rabbit, although Petty can be a bit over-the-top at times. But Williams is particularly funny. There are other standout performances here, as well, especially L.Q. Jones as the Sheriff.

At the beginning, Route 666 seems like it will be an actioner. Although these aren't the most exciting shoot-out scenes ever filmed, they have a nice feel to them, partially due to the setting and lighting, and there is a pleasantly unusual tangent when Phillips has a bizarre "flashback" as he looks at a victim's blood spreading on the dirt.

There is an eerie atmosphere to the whole film, and especially when the horror material starts, it is very refreshing that Wesley chose to keep the proceedings in broad daylight. It also helps that there are two sets of villains, with the second, and possibly the most effective, not being very obvious until late in the film. The more traditional horror villains are very satisfying, with an interesting, unusual yet immediately recognizable look, and they are worked into the backstory of the characters extremely well. Their methods of dispatching victims are creative, although I wish Wesley would have gone into a gorier mode with the deaths. But one death, at least, near the end of the film, is particularly brutal in its abruptness. Even though this isn't Wesley's masterpiece, he shows that he has one in him.

Sure the film has flaws--Phillips plays much of the film with what looks like a large wad of raspberry gum stuck to his forehead, the shaky cam and other effects didn't work very well for me during the horror attack scenes, the score sounded fairly generic and repetitive (it reminded me of playing a video game), and there are some plot points that don't make a lot of sense if you think about them too much. But most horror fans probably will not expect a masterpiece when watching Route 666. With appropriately lowered expectations, you'll likely be pleasantly surprised at just how good this film is.

Entertaing Zombies!
Review date: 2005-01-25 Rating: 8 out of 10

US Marshall[Lou Diamond Phillips] and FBI agents taking a Federal witness/prisoner to court, decide to take a road across country which hasnt been used for many years. They encounter Zombies who are State prisoners of 40 years previous who had been killed and buried underneath the road. Not in the least scary but interesting entertainment.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Lou Diamond Phillips
L.Q. Jones
Dale Midkiff
Lori Petty
Steven Williams

Creators:
Lou Diamond Phillips (Primary Contributor)
Lori Petty (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Cinema Club
Manufacturer: Cinema Club
EAN: 5022153185019
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-01-13
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 86 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2001
Language: English (Original Language)

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