Freeway (1996)

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

Director:

Matthew Bright

Writer:

Matthew Bright

Stars:

Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, 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 Breer
Dan Hedaya	...	Detective Wallace
Chris Renna	...	Doctor
Kathleen Marshall	...	ER Nurse
Melinda Renna	...	Female Anchor
Guillermo Díaz	...	Flacco
Kitty Fox	...	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 | trailer park | police | school | sexual abuse | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fraternal twins Brittany Daniel and Cynthia Daniel were offered and turned down the part of twins Brenda and Bonnie.

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Goofs

At the gas station, Vanessa comes out of the bathroom, slices the cop and kicks him to the ground. She has no blood on her front. In the next shot there is blood on the front of her shirt and face.

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Quotes

[kneeling down to pray]
Vanessa Lutz: Oh God. God, that was so fuckin' bad.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Alternate Versions

The US R-rated version is missing two minutes of graphic violence and more sexually explicit dialogue.

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Connections

Features Little Red Walking Hood (1937)

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Soundtracks

CAB FARE
Written and Performed by The Hockey Boys
Produced by Kevin Anderson and Brian Reeves
Published by Brian Reeves Music and Zangle Music
Courtesy of Anderson/Reeves Music

User Reviews

I was lucky to find this one! Thanks IMDB.

I remembered Kiefer Sutherland played a psychotic killer....and IMDB lead me right to this one. I had seen bits and pieces of this movie on cable and couldn't believe how good it was, but back in those days we didn't have "channel info". This movie is wickedly funny, and Reese Witherspoon plays the most hilarious, bad-girl, tough trailer trash role I've ever seen and plays it fantastically. The slutty makeup and outfits she wears as well as the endless stream of profanity she swears are definitely a lot different than her "modern day" good girl roles she seems stuck in now. This movie is funnier than you can possibly imagine, as things keep happening that just blow you away or shock the pants off you and no main character is what they seem to be at first. Definitely unpredictable, this dark comedy is a rare lost gem I was glad to find again.

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 September 1997 (France)

Also Known As:

Freeway

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,945, 25 August 1996

Gross USA:

$295,493

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$295,493

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 104 min (uncut) 102 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1