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:

Sin salida

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,945, 25 August 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$295,493, 13 March 1997

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

Kiefer Sutherland and Wolfgang Bodison also starred in A Few Good Men (1992).

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Goofs

When Vanessa is attacking Bob in the caravan, she knocks a plant and some other items down, then she strangles Bob. However when the detective goes to look at Bob's body, the plant has vanished from the floor, and the mess made around Bob is different.

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Quotes

Vanessa Lutz: I felt like I had been transformed into a human urinal.

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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 UK version suffered two cuts, totalling about 7 seconds. The first occurs when Mimi Wolverton discovers her husbands porn magazine collection. The missing footage briefly showed the cover of a magazine "Cock Sucking Toddlers". The second missing shot is of Vanessa's murdered grandmother in her trailer home. The cuts were fully waived for the 2007 Blackhorse DVD release.

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Connections

References Deliverance (1972)

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Soundtracks

TWO HEARTS
Written by Alan Lee Backer
Performed by The Twanglers
Published by Rig Rock Songs and Fat Lip Music
Administered by Bug Music
Courtesy of Diesel Only Records

User Reviews

Extreme but fascinating

Teenaged Vanessa Lutz (Reese Witherspoon) is illiterate and has a VIOLENT temper. Her prostitute mother has just been jailed so she tries to get to her grandmother. She's picked up by Bob Wolveton (Kiefer Sutherland) who might be a mass murderer...

Film begins and ends like a very perverse version of "Little Red Riding Hood". The middle has Witherspoon trying to get to her grandmothers. The film is VERY VERY violent with virtual non-stop swearing and plenty of sexual talk thrown in. How it got by with an R rating is beyond me. Still, I love it. What the point of this is I don't know, but it's unlike any other film I've ever seen. It's not afraid to push over the limit of good taste and is never dull. Also the acting is just great. Witherspoon attacks her role full force and is just astounding. Sutherland is equally good as the wolf (Wolveton--get it?) and the supporting cast is full of talented actors (Amanda Plummer, Michael T. Weiss, Dan Hedaya) all doing great.

An undiscovered little gem. But be warned--the violence and language is more than a little extreme. NOT for the squeamish.