Freeway (1996)

A twisted take on 'Little Red Riding Hood' with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker traveling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer/pedophile.

Director:

Matthew Bright

Writer:

Matthew Bright

Stars:

Kiefer Sutherland, Reese Witherspoon, Bokeem Woodbine

6 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Bob Wolverton
Reese Witherspoon	...	Vanessa Lutz
Bokeem Woodbine	...	Chopper
Paul Perri	...	Cop #1
Robert Peters	...	Cop #2
Ben Meyerson	...	Cop at Truckstop
Craig Barnett	...	Cop #3
G. Eric Miles	...	Cop #4
Wolfgang Bodison	...	Detective Mike Breer
Dan Hedaya	...	Detective Garrett Wallace
Chris Renna	...	Doctor
Kathleen Marshall	...	ER Nurse
Melinda Renna	...	Female Anchor
Guillermo Díaz	...	Flacco
Kitty Fox	...	Naomi Frohlegger - Grandma

Storyline

Little Red Riding Hood for the 1990's: After her mom and step-dad are arrested, 15-year-old Vanessa Lutz decides that instead of once again being put into a foster home, she'd rather go and search for the grandmother she's never met, and live with her. "On the way to grandma's house," (actually a trailer park) Vanessa's car breaks down, and she's picked up from the side of the road by Bob Wolverton, a counselor at a school for troubled boys. Bob slowly earns Vanessa's trust, and eventually convinces her to talk about her sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather. When Vanessa realizes that Bob is enjoying what she's saying, she realizes that he's "The I-5 Killer," from the news. She tries to get out of his truck, but the inside door handle has been removed...

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Plot Keywords:

freeway | little red riding hood | police | school | prostitution | 

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Taglines:

Her life is no fairy tale.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong lurid violence and sexual dialogue, some sexual situations, drug content and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1997 (France)

Also Known As:

Auto-Estrada do Inferno

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kushner-Locke Company, The, August Entertainment, Davis-Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 102 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally rated NC-17, reduced to R after the removal of some explicit dialogue.

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Goofs

During the fight with Bob at the grandmother's house, Bob's hairnet falls off, but then appears back on his head in subsequent shots.

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Quotes

[Imitating Bob]
Vanessa: "My dick may not function, but I have not lost my smile!"
[from some TV closed-captions]
Vanessa: "My neck may not function, but I have not lost my smile!"
[from DVD subtitles]

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Crazy Credits

The beginning credits play over a series of color drawings (in a style similar to cartoonist 'Robert Crumb (I)' (qv)) in a hip retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story.

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Connections

References Deliverance (1972)

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Soundtracks

"SHERAP"
Written by Bruce Sterling and Miles Christensen
Performed by Duce -5
Published by Grooveyard Music Inc.
Courtesy of Grooveyard Music

User Reviews

Extremely twisted black comedy

Reese Witherspoon has never made a better movie than Freeway...Although I respect her for wanting to do more romantic/family oriented movies because of her daughter, I don't think even she realizes how amazing she was playing this role...She was completely foul mouthed and hot tempered, but her timing and attitude was fantastic..I recently realized how this movie is and has been potential for cult classic....Reese Witherspoon never mentions this movie in any interviews and I wish she would because I would like to hear her thoughts on playing Vanessa Julia Lutz...