Reviews & Ratings for
Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (V) More at IMDbPro »

Page 1 of 6:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

18 out of 24 people found the following review useful:

Pass

Author: Andrei_cinefilul from Romania
1 October 2008

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I don't usually watch direct to video films, as I guess I have certain prejudice about their quality. However, I made an exception for this one, as "Joy Ride" was quite good.

Well, let's put it this way: I won't be watching any more DTV films (especially sequels) after this one. Here are the reasons why this is bad: imbecilic plot, cheesy film making, zero suspense (compensates, as one could expect, through gore). Theoretically, I shouldn't bother going into details, but I'd really like to protect the fans of the first film from the evilness of this one. - imbecilic plotting (selection): 4 kids in the desert break into Rusty Nail's house and steal his Chevy Chevelle (yep, the man has taste!) as their car broke down in the middle of the desert. For one reason or another, they feel it's just OK to risk messing with a guy who they don't know and might very well be a psycho (weird, old house in the middle of the desert, nobody at home). Oh, and keep an eye on those Peterbilts ! They can go faster than a 60s sports car.

- cheesy film making: you can easily notice some scenes with the Peterbilt played fast-forward in order to make it look like it goes faster. Embarrassing. I understand this is low budget, but come on !

- no suspense: do not expect to find any trace of the high tension in the first film, which was so slickly directed by John Dahl. In "Joy Ride", it was about refined photography (ex the red light in the hotel chambers), realistic acting, chilling music, menacing suggestions (anyone remember the one with the camera lingering on the picture on the wall?), enjoyable homages (Hitchcock via the corn chase, Spielberg via premise etc). As I said, "Joy Ride 2" is much gorier instead. It brainlessly rehashes some of Rusty Nail's bad habits in the first movie, for ex ripping off the jaw of the people unfortunate enough to stand in his way. Unfortunately, lacking dark suggestion and moody atmosphere, it just doesn't have any effect.

However, there is one scene that will definitely please seekers of intense feelings: ***SPOILER*** the one where the two male protagonists are taken to RN's garage and tortured, forced to throw some dices and each number had it's own 'surprise' for the other one, craved on the wall of the garage. ***END SPOILERS***

I don't mean to sound overly excited for the first film, it definitely had its flaws: the script had some faulty logics of its own and it was sometimes cliché and predictable (btw, did anyone actually believe the ice truck driver at the gas station was Rusty Nail ???). But trust me, this one will make it look like "The Godfather".

It's just wrong, guys...

10 out of 14 people found the following review useful:

Was not bad

Author: sumana-m21 from United States
9 November 2008

It wasn't really all that bad. I have watched much worse horror movies than this one. Some bad things about this movie:

1. Very predictable storyline. 2. Not scary at all, but kind of funny like "The Hatchet". 3. Acting is okay.

But overall its still okay, not as bad as what the other reviewers say. Just a timepass movie. It depends on what you really enjoy watching. If you like to have a laugh while watching a horror movie then I'd suggest you watch these type of films. I usually don't like to scare myself to death while watching a horror flick.

Hope this helps!

6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:

Absolute garbage

Author: Mike Boyd from New York, USA
13 January 2010

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I don't understand why producers, directors, writers, actors etc. get involved in such absolute garbage as films like this.

I can only think they do it because they know there must be some people who think that this film will be worth watching and they can make some money. What I mean is, the photography is good, the sound is good, even the camera work is pretty good, but the story line is such total rubbish. The characters are totally unbelievable especially the irritating guy with the metal rings in his lip.

Who would go into a truckers restaurant and start talking in a loud voice and disrespecting truckers? It's just so totally unbelievable.

This is one of those films that I have to watch just to see how bad it gets.

Half an hour later: It's so bad I've decided to watch David Letterman instead. I worry about the mental stability of people who write such sadistic garbage as this film. I hope they have nightmares.

8 out of 14 people found the following review useful:

Hitch a ride on this Joy Ride!

Author: Prolox from Canada
8 October 2008

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Four friends on their way to Vegas, run out of gas while traveling down a long lonely stretch of back road. Hitch hiking down the road, the stumble upon an old farmhouse that appears to be empty, after breaking in, they discover a car in the garage & decide to "borrow" it, with the intentions of returning it. However as it turns out the car & home belongs to the psychopathic trucker from the first film, who is none to pleased at his property being taken. Soon he kidnaps a member of the group & if they want him to survive, the remaining three will have to do what he says or else... JOY RIDE 2: DEAD AHEAD is well crafted suspense tale that packs a lot of punch, good acting, directing, stunts, explosions, suspense & a few gory kills to help it rise above most direct to DVD fare. The film doesn't match the original but comes pretty close to it & should be a mild treat for fans bored of the usual Hollywood remakes or over the tops 70's style gorefests that provide none of the things I mentioned above. Highly recommended, especially to fans of the original.

***1/2 stars

12 out of 22 people found the following review useful:

Heck of a Joyride, isn't it!?

Author: halloweenuk
30 September 2008

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I've been waiting for a sequel to Joy Ride ever since I walked out of that cinema back in 2001. The whole Rusty Nail idea was fresh and also chilling. Finally I heard news of a sequel, probably about 10 months ago, and the wait was over. I have watched this movie three times now, to soak up all the little one liners and bits I missed from the first viewings! Overall, I think this is a great sequel. OK, so it didn't have the budget which the first movie had, so there will be some factors which other fans might not like, but I think it turned out good. Rusty Nail (Mark Gibbon) is very different from the first Movie, where Ted Levine and Matthew Kimbrough played him. He is gruffer, thinner and we get to know him a lot better. The movie focuses on Rusty a lot more this time, and we get to see glimpses into his personal life including his car, his home and his past times. The opening to the movie is short and efficient. It sets the mood as a good slasher/thriller which will keep you entertained. Rusty is a lot more confident in this one, and this makes for a more complex plot at times, some may like this, others may not. I felt it worked well. The movie feels very much like 'The Hitcher 2' which I think is a great thing. Most straight to DVD flicks are unbearable, but this director is different. Good movies for staying in with a bowl of pop corn on a rainy night! I felt the acting from Rusty was very good, and really set the mood well. There were some great trick scenes to keep you on your toes, and some rather creepy moments, especially when Rusty plays his 'favourite game' with his victims! The movie had a strong plot, and a good ending, especially if you're a fan of Duel. At the end of the day, I'm grateful they put the time & money into making a sequel and I hope they do more in the future. Well done to team Joyride 2, you get a thumbs up from me. -Steve

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

Passable sequel.

Author: Paul Andrews (poolandrews@hotmail.com) from UK
8 September 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead starts as four friends are driving across the open desert on their way to Las Vegas for a party, sisters Melissa (Nicki Aycox) & Kayla (Laura Jordon) & their boyfriends Bobby (Nick Zano) & Nick (Kyle Schmid). While driving down an old dirt road their car breaks down & they find themselves stuck, with no option but to walk they eventually stumble across a house that seems abandoned but as luck would have it a nice car is sitting in the garage full of gas & ready to go. The four decide to borrow it so they can get back to civilisation but when the owner returns later he isn't too pleased that they took his car. A serial killer who calls himself Susty Nail (Mark Gibbon) he sets out to teach the four friends a lesson & starts to psychologically & psychically torture them with his intent to kill them after he's had some fun but the plucky Melissa fights back & tries to outwit & out-think Rusty Nail & save herself & her friends...

This American & Canadian co-production was directed by Louis Momeau & is a reasonable time-waster if your desperate & there's nothing else on telly but I would struggle to call it anything else other than watchable. A direct to video sequel to the theatrically released Joy Ride (2001) this is a fairly routine sequel that is more of a rehash of the original than something significantly different, as I said it's not too bad for what it is but Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead feels a little predictable & a little forgettable. The character's are alright but again with it's cast of perfect looking teens you get the impression Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead was written & made with demographics in mind, we never learn anything about Ruty Nail & why he decides to play games with the four teens, why not just kill them & be done with it? Why does he not follow up on wanting Kayla's middle finger after making such a big issue of it? The ending feels a little rushed too, how did Bobby get to Melissa so quickly & how did he know where she was? Come to think of it how did Melissa know where Rusty Nail had parked his truck? At just under 90 minutes it moves along at a decent pace, the game of cat & mouse occasionally works but sometimes feels like padding & the body count is maybe a little on the low side. Not bad I suppose but not exactly great either, watchable enough for what it is in a teen horror thriller sort of way.

A I said the body count & gore factor is a little disappointing, a woman is decapitated, there's a severed finger, a ripped off jaw & someone gets a steel rod rammed through their head but otherwise not a lot. In fact out of the four lead teens two of them are still standing at the end. There are a couple of impressive looking crashes & explosions including Rusty Nail's truck falling off a cliff in slow motion at the end & exploding at the bottom. Available in an 'Unrated' version on video & an edited cut which gets shown on telly it's safe to assume the Unrated cut is a lot better with added gore (not that there's much to begin with), added nudity (not that there's much to begin with) & added profanity (not that there's much to begin with).

With a supposed budget of about $5,000,000 this has good production values & looks nice enough, filmed in British Columbia in Canada although set entirely in the US. The acting is alright, the material isn't great & one dimensional so it was never going to award winning stuff.

Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead is a passable time-waster, it has a decent enough story with some thrills, a bit of gore, a bit of tension & the ultimate question of what will happen next & how will our teen stars get out of it but not much beyond that. Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead is the sort of film you watch & enjoy it perfectly enough but within a day or two you have completely forgotten it.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

Tumbling Dice

Author: pantagruella (susanbalaka@googlemail.com) from London, UK
13 July 2011

Cheese is a matter of taste. Some people like strong Cheddar. You can even get seriously strong Cheddar. It's the same with skiing. Extreme skiing is not for everyone.

Extreme horror is not for me. I think many enthusiasts would regard this as being mild horror. Oh well, it's strong enough for me. Not really up my street. I prefer monsters and the supernatural, but this film is well-produced, well-acted and delivers the good.

The usual tradition with teen slasher films is that the teens are not very nice from the first and we perversely do not wish them well. Here, for a change, three of the people involved are eminently decent. There is an annoying character but he is the agent of the action. Fair play to him, he acted well through several different emotional situations.

The villain is appropriately sadistic. A kind of Johnny Cash, I would say, and everything Johnny Cash represents in my limited world view.

Production values good. A limited play set but the pieces are handled well.

Oh, the scene where the irritating Facebook guy doesn't want to do something is very good. That's where he's arguing that he doesn't want to buy something. I've been in that situation and the Joy Ride version is very true to life.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

Trucking hell.

Author: BA_Harrison from Hampshire, England
11 May 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Horror/thriller Roadkill had a nifty plot and a rather cool killer, but a reluctance to get seriously nasty (the film was rated 15 in the UK) and a weak ending ultimately made it a very unmemorable affair; part 2 is certainly a lot nastier, even entering Hostel/Saw-style torture territory towards the end (and earning itself an 18-certificate in the process), but it is also one of the dumbest sequels I have ever seen.

The film opens with Melissa (Nicki Aycox), her fiancé Bobby (Nick Zano), and sister Kayla (Laura Jordan) driving to Las Vegas for a bachelor/bachelorette weekend; when the trio stop at a gas station, they are also joined by Kayla's douche-bag internet boyfriend Nik (Kyle Schmid). To save time, the foursome decide to take a desert back-road (doh!) and inevitably experience car trouble. With no sign of any other traffic, they have no option but to set off on foot, and eventually happen upon a deserted house.

A search of the property and surrounding buildings results in the discovery of a fully-fuelled Chevy, which they decide to 'borrow', unaware that the owner of the vehicle is psychotic trucker Rusty Nail, who is none to pleased about strangers meddling with his things. Returning home shortly after his unexpected visitors have left, Rusty sets off in pursuit, eager to teach them a lesson.

What follows is moronic in the extreme.

Whilst taking a leak in a truck-stop restroom, jock Bobby is somehow abducted by tubby, chain-smoker Rusty Nail (without being spotted or any kind of commotion). Rusty then calls Melissa's cell phone, demanding that she and her pals do exactly as he says or Bobby will suffer. Do they call the police, explaining their predicament and telling them where Rusty lives? No, they agree to do exactly as the trucker says, beginning by disposing of their mobile phones.

Rusty then informs Melissa (over the CB in the car) that to save Bobby, they must cut off one of Kayla's fingers and take it to him. Do they call the police now? No, they break into a handy nearby funeral parlour and cut a finger from a corpse, hoping that Rusty won't rumble their plan.

Rusty rumbles. He cuts off Bobby's ring finger and puts it in Melissa's glove compartment for her to find. Surely she calls the police now? Nope, she apologises to Rusty and continues to carry out his orders.

Rusty tells Nik he must dress as a woman and try to score some drugs from a load of wild truckers (apparently, all truck drivers are gak-fiends). Nik reluctantly agrees, but as he totters around in high heels, wig and dress he is also abducted by Rusty. Amazingly, Melissa and Kayla still don't call the police (they do have cops in Nevada, right?—I'm beginning to wonder).

Hell, Melissa doesn' t even call in the cops after Rusty kills Kayla by crashing his rig into her as she lays trapped in his Chevy (proving that he couldn't have been THAT fond of the bloody car after all); instead, she steals a police bike and sets off to rescue Bobby and Nik herself—a pretty stupid idea if you ask me, although not as stupid as knocking the trucker unconscious with a shovel and NOT finishing him off while she has the chance—which is precisely what she does!!!

As if all of this wasn't unbelievable enough, the finalé sees Melissa fighting the psycho off as she powers his big rig towards a cliff (Chevy/police bike/Peterbilt truck—is their nothing this girl can't drive/ride?), leaping to safety at the last moment (and escaping with hardly a scratch), but still failing to rid the world of Rusty Nail for good, since he returns from the dead before the end credits, complete with brand new truck!

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

One Truck Drivers Opinion

Author: ehrldawg from illinois
11 April 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The second installment in the series. This time a quartet of young people break into Rusty Nails house and steal his Chevelle.

This dark comedy isn't as good as the first Joy Ride film,but still amuzing. This time we find out more about Rusty Nail. He is a diverse trucker. We first see him pulling a 53' dry van,but then we see him hook up to a livestock trailer at the end of the film. Which means he is a valuable driver in the trucking world. We also learn that if ya give something to him,he usually wants to keep it. Its a fascinating thing to see our quartet in the sweltering Utah heat and then walk into a barn where we can see there breath. And yes Nic. Us truck drivers a jacked up speed freaks that can only get a date with a disease ridden hooker.

Mark Gibbons drives the Peterbuilt 18 wheeler.

Nicki Aycox drives the same Peterbuilt big truck.

Mark Gibbons and Nicki Aycox are permanent A List actor.

Nicki Aycox,Laura Jorden, and Krystal Vrbe are hot!!

erldwgstruckermovies.com

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

Okay for a movie, bad for a sequel.

Author: shinsrevenge from Germany
15 June 2010

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

As a sequel, it's is somewhat disappointing. It's not as bad as some other sequels and if it would have been a stand alone movie, it would be even okay. It's hard to watch it this way, though. But at least you get the feeling, that it wasn't a total waste of time after you're through.

The story has some flaws. Even though the acting isn't that bad, they behave pretty stupid and obvious all the time. Also, they didn't manage to make you feel any sympathy or compassion for the characters and the agonies they go through.

The gore in the movie is mostly out of place and not even exciting or shocking. It doesn't suit the situations and seems to have been build in only to make the movie more interesting. But it doesn't work, with one exception. I found the dice torturing game at the end of the movie quite interesting. It remembered me of the saw movies and it had more potential. Unfortunately, they kept the game too short. A few more rounds with no early game over for the opposite player would have been better. There is one of the plot errors, too. Why would Rusty Nail bother with the most cruel and brutal deaths in the movie and then return to such "harmless" things like heating up a letter in order to burn Bobbys breast? You'd expect at least that he would burn his breast with the blowtorch. Maybe he got bored by the dullness of the movie by himself.

Even Rusty Nail seems to have changed since the first movie. In Joyride, you could understand why he did the things he did. He had some deeper motives and a reason. In the sequel, he's been degraded to a plain sadistic psycho with a habit of torturing people for trivial things.

If you don't have high expectations or haven't seen the first movie, you might enjoy Joyride. I like trucks in movies, so I didn't mind much about the flaws.

Page 1 of 6:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Add another review

Related Links