Far from Home (1989)

A teenage girl and her father driving cross-country become stranded when their car runs out of gas in a remote Nevada desert town and they're forced to stay in a dilapidated trailer park where a serial killer lurks.

Director:

Meiert Avis

Writers:

Theodore Gershuny (story) (as Ted Gershuny), Tommy Lee Wallace (screenplay)

Stars:

Matt Frewer, Drew Barrymore, Richard Masur

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Matt Frewer	...	Charlie Cox
Drew Barrymore	...	Joleen Cox
Richard Masur	...	Duckett
Karen Austin	...	Louise
Susan Tyrrell	...	Agnes Reed
Andras Jones	...	Jimmy Reed
Dick Miller	...	Sheriff Bill Childers
Anthony Rapp	...	Pinky Sears
Connie Sawyer	...	Viney Hunt
Jennifer Tilly	...	Amy
Stephanie Walski	...	Sissy Reed
Murrill Maglio	...	Man in Trailer
Teri Weigel	...	Woman in Trailer
John Spencer	...	TV Preacher

Storyline

Charlie Cox is a divorced writer who lives in Los Angeles. Charlie and his daughter Joleen are on their way home from a cross country vacation when they run out of gas in Banco, Nevada; a small town located in a remote part of the desert. It's one day before Jolene's 14th birthday. Charlie and Joleen check a nearby gas station owned by a Vietnam war veteran named Duckett, but Duckett doesn't have any gas, so they head to the local supermarket to find a phone. Sheriff Bill Childers is in the store and he advises them to go to the trailer park to ask for gas. Joleen spots the body of the store's owner, Ferrell Hogus, in a pool of blood. The Sheriff states that the murderer is most likely a drifter. The man and daughter check into the nearby Palomino Guest Ranch and Trailer Park, which is owned by a hostile woman named Agnes Reed. Whilst her father uses the phone, Joleen speaks to Agnes's rebellious teenage son, Jimmy Reed, who she briefly came into contact with earlier at the gas ...

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Plot Keywords:

watching tv | killer | trailer | trailer park | nevada | 

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Taglines:

Growing up can be murder.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Apoplanisi kai viasmos

Filming Locations:

Carson City, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,763, 4 June 1989, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lightning Pictures,Planet Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

A safety harness is visible when Pinky is chasing Joleen up the ladder of the microwave relay tower and the mechanism it is attached to is rolling up the front of the ladder with her.

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Quotes

Pinky Sears: [Last distraught lines] I thought you loved me?
[gets shot in the thigh causing him to lose his balance]
Pinky Sears: ... Bye.
Joleen Cox: [screams as Pinky falls onto an antenna impaling him] NO!

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Connections

Features Tweet Tweet Tweety (1951)

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Soundtracks

Tweety, Babbit and Catstello
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Inc.

User Reviews

strange and ultimately disappointing

Matt Frewer and Drew Barrymore, plus 1989 Jennifer Tilly -- and Susan Tyrrell too? Gotta see this!

I liked the first half or so of this one pretty well. It jumps right into the quintessential creepy small town in the middle of nowhere right off the bat, but we quickly discover that the people here are tongue-in-cheek stereotypes and give us some surprising laughs. So we have a movie that's a cross between a dark comedy and a low-budget suspense/horror movie. Oh, plus jailbait Drew in a 2-piece and other skimpy clothes. She's an adult *now*, so... that makes it OK... right???!? Eek.

Anyway, among others, Susan "acquired taste" Tyrrell is in fine form here; she made me laugh out loud several times. I think the director was having some fun in a few of her scenes. I know I was! The whole cast does fine. In most ways the movie is competently-enough made. There are some good moments here. However, in the end, the quirky mix of horror and dark comedy which starts us off with such promise loses out to a traditional horror third act, leaving the comedy out. I felt that the movie let me down at that stage.

It's still a watchable movie, but it misses being a great movie (at least for a B movie) by changing formula horses in mid-stream. As a result I can only give it a 5.

For the record, I hope Hollywood can let kids be kids and not sexualize 13-year-olds in the future. As much as I roll my eyes when a 23-year-old plays a high schooler, there is something worse, and that's putting a kid in front of a camera and inviting us to view her as a sex object. Drew played this role well, and she seems to have grown into a really attractive and healthy adult lately, so I guess there's no reason to go on a warpath over this now. Still, I was uncomfortable watching some of these scenes. Yes, she had a great body, but she was 13 (or maybe 14)! Come on.

In spite of the flaws, if you like off-beat movies (or Drew Barrymore), you will probably find this worth watching, especially prior to the third act.