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Road Hell
Released by: Camp Motion Pictures
Released on: July 16, 2013.
Director: Pete Jacelone, Alex Pucci, Draven Gonzalez
Cast: Jaclyn Marfuggi, Jim Hazelton, John Link
Year: 2011
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The Movie:
Three directors, three different stories - that's what makes up the 2011 low budget horror anthology title, Road Hell. When the movie begins we meet Doug (Jim Hazelton) and Bea (Jaclyn Marfuggi), a married couple who aren't exactly madly in love these days. To get away from it all, the figure a weekend relaxing in the country might be just what the doctor ordered but along the way they wind up having to pull over and spend the night at a rundown hotel run by a weirdo named Dickey Sussex (John Link). After they interrupt him pleasuring himself, they check in. Bea uses the bathroom, Doug wanks it for a bit, and after something strange happens to the 'Happy Couple' we launch into the two other stories, starting with…
…'The One.' Derek and Dwayne (Austin Dossey in a double role) are brothers who fall under the spell of a vampire woman (Niki Rubin) out to find someone referred to as The One. Their altercation soon turns into a brawl and it soon becomes obvious that someone is going to pay for this with their life. From here we segue into 'Deep Into The Rabbit Hole' which is a cautionary tale of sorts revolving around a group of young teenage boys. See, something killed Billy's (Dylan Cleary) dog and possibly another neighborhood kid so he teams up with pals Roberta (Gianna Hodes), and Tommy (Joseph LeVinnes) to head into the woods to get revenge. It turns out that the monster is as real as it is goofy looking. 'Zombies, Zombies Everywhere!' introduces us to a zombie hunter named Dan Spencer (Edward Young) who is doing his best to rid the small town he calls home of a plague of shambling corpses. He gets calls from a remote dispatch office and then heads to the specified location to bust into action. Ultimately he hopes to find a source of the zombie menace and eliminate it, preventing future outbreaks.
Made on what we can safely assume was a very modest budget, like a lot of modern anthology titles Road Hell is hit or miss. The opening 'book end' segment is bad. It's poorly acted, it's nonsensical and it honestly doesn't set up the individual stories very well at all. Thankfully once it ends, things improve somewhat. In 'The One' we get a good performance from the lovely Niki Rubin and, intentionally or not, the fight scene that takes during the big finish is hilarious. Where the opening segment dragged, this one moves quickly and is nothing if not entertaining. 'Deep Into The Rabbit Hole' starts off reasonably well but once we get into the woods and it's time for the monster reveal? It too becomes pretty amusing. Sometimes less is more, and if you can't afford to make a cool monster, well, maybe keep him in the shadows or something. That didn't happen this time. Last but not least, despite the fact that most of us are suffering from zombie burnout these days, 'Zombies, Zombies Everywhere!' is actually the best of the three stories. It's shot documentary style which works well in the context of the story, and Dan Spencer actually makes for a reasonably enthusiastic and enjoyable lead. This one also doesn't feel the need to blow its load by showing off effects work or fight choreography that aren't even close to effective. There are moments of creative filmmaking, impressive lighting, the occasional good effects shot and good acting here and there. The end result is an entertaining enough indy horror effort.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Road Hell arrives on DVD in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen. For the most part, this transfer is pretty decent, especially when you take into account that this was a low budget indy production. Primary colors are used a lot, loads of reds and blues here to give the movie an interesting feel, and though some scenes suffer from some crush and some compression artifacts, overall the movie looks just fine on DVD, at least by the standards of micro budget SOV fare.
Audio chores are handled by a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track, in English with no alternate language options or subtitles. The dialogue is easy enough to understand and the levels are well balanced and there are no hiss or distortion related issues. No problems here, the movie sounds pretty decent - except for The One, which features some annoyingly muffled and buried dialogue.
Extras include the three shorts in their original form without the wraparound segments, a cast and crew commentary, trailers menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Road Hell is no modern classic but if you enjoy low budget horror, you'll probably have a good time with it so long as you go in with your expectations set at realistic levels. Camp Motion Pictures' DVD looks and sounds find and though it isn't loaded with extras, it does at least let you watch the three core stories without having to suffer through the lousy bookend sections!
