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 | 15 year old | trailer park | police | school | 

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Taglines:

No Exit

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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 France

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:

104 min (uncut) 102 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

She can't read, so it would seem her parents can't read, but there's a newspaper in the living room when Vanessa is fighting off her stepdad. Also, the newspaper seems to disappear.

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Goofs

When Vanessa is fighting Bob, they roll over the bed, and a tray of medicine bottles slides off a bedside table. In a later shot, the tray and some of the medicine bottles is back on the table.

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Quotes

Mesquita: You will think I'm sound all feminist and shit. It's like, the one thing I learned in jail is that girls gotta help out other girls, you know? Especially con girls, because if they don't, they ought to be fucking dead.

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Crazy Credits

Except for the main characters of Bob (Kiefer Sutherland) and Vanessa (Reese Witherspoon), the rest of the cast is listed alphabetically according to the character's name.

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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

Referenced in Legally Blonde (2001)

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Soundtracks

EL MICHOACANO
Written by Demetrio Farias
Performed by El Mariachi Tepalcatepec de Michoacan
Published by Two Crowns International Music Publishing
Courtesy of Discos Dos Coronas

User Reviews

A Funny and Poignant Story Under a Gritty Exterior

This film is somewhat deceptive, in that the characters seem so outwardly stereotypical of the kind of the sub class of the under-educated, drug or sex addled teenagers and the people who prey on them, which makers of slasher films have doled out in the last couple of decades. But Witherspoon brings a fighting charm to the lead character, Venessa Lutz, who has just about everything bad thrown at her that a young person can have thrown at them while growing up. She survives and prevails with grittiness, will and humor. As far from an angel as you can get she becomes vigilante and enforcer of her own brand of justice to a particularly malevolent form of evil visited on by Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland) and an uncaring and unbelieving law enforcement system. It's really a small classic and should be viewed without any predjudice of youth crime. It then becomes an eloquent statement for better and more rational treatment of young offenders.