...this film should be ignored.
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Steve Zahn, Paul Walker and Leelee Sobieski may not be the biggest names in Hollywood, but Zahn is a fine character actor and Walker and Sobieski should at least be familiar faces. Ted Levine made a name for himself in "Silence of the Lambs" and his voice should sound very familiar. It really doesn´t matter, however, because none of the talent from the first "Joy Ride" film have been brought back on board for the direct-to-DVD sequel "Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead." Instead we are trated to Nick Zano, Kyle Schmid, Nicki Aycox and some other people that I have never heard of. Mark Gibbon at least had me thinking about Ted Levine as the replacement for the veteran actor, but the unknown cast of "Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead" didn´t leave much of an impression and neither did anything else regarding "Joy Ride 2."
"Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead" is marketed as an ´unrated´ release on DVD and I´m thinking that those in charge of reviewing these films and placing a rating on a film are happy they didn´t have to sit through this film. This is a horribly uninspired and formulaic horror picture that simply exists to capitalize on the success of the 2001 original film. I wasn´t expecting much and the two previous films I had seen from director Louis Morneau include the disappointing "Bats" and depressing "Made Men." With 33 year-old relative unknown Nicki Aycox headlining the film, my expectations were lessened. I remember her from the failed HBO series "John From Cincinnati," but it wasn´t until I researched her filmography that I realized she was the cute blonde from one episode. With a director that has delivered poorly and a pretty, but unknown lead, the only reason to watch "Joy Ride 2" is if you loved the original.
In this sequel, Rusty Nail (Mark Gibbon) returns. Of course, it isn´t the quality actor Ted Levine, but the man who played a security guard on "The 6th Day." In fact, looking at Gibbon´s credits, he played guards and cops frequently in his career, but this time he is asked to play the bad guy. He does a good job making me wish for Ted Levine and that is the best credit I can give anything in the film aside from one scene. Back to the plot, four young people find themselves travelling to Las Vegas. Melissa (Aycox) and her fiancé Bobby (Nick Zano) are off to a joint bachelor and bachelorette party and their friend Kayla (Laura Jordan) is bringing her new Internet boyfriend Nik (Kyle Schmid) along for the ride. They have some car problems and find themselves discovering a seemingly abandoned farm. Their luck seems to be changing when they find a fueled and near pristine old muscle car in a barn and they decide to ´borrow´ the car to go get help.
The problem is that the farm and the car belong to the murderous Rusty Nail. While at a diner where truck drivers are the primary customers, Nik insults the drivers and makes a scene. Bobby finds difficulty in getting along with Nik and decides to go to the bathroom and get away from the embarrassment. He is kidnapped by Rusty Nail and the good luck suddenly turns bad for the four young people as Rusty Nail places Melissa and the others into a twisted game where Rusty Nail demands Melissa deliver him one of Kayla´s toes and then demands Nik dress up as a woman and cross a large lot filled with horny truck drivers that would gladly beat a transvestite to death. The film moves along and the best scene arrives when a captured Nik and Bobby are forced to play a twisted game of torture and death. It isn´t a great scene, but I found it entertaining enough that it was the highlight of the film. I´ll save the details, but the sequel ends in a similar manner to the first film.
I had difficulty sitting through "Joy Ride 2" and it took two nights to get through the entire ninety-one minute running time. After fifty six minutes the first night, I had to turn off my DVD player and retire for a few hours of sleep and recovery. The final thirty five minutes weren´t much easier, but I did manage to watch "Joy Ride 2" in its entirety. While I don´t think it is quite as bad as "The Marine," this is not a good way to spend an evening. The scene where the poor muscle car dies is nearly as bad as the Camaro from Hell in "The Marine." The acting is nothing special and this collection of television fill-ins barely keep the audiences´ attention as the thin plot seems far too drug out at an hour and a half. There just isn´t enough story to fill up the entire length of this boring picture. There are hardly any thrills or chills, but just continual scenes of pain. This film didn´t make its way to theaters and that is a good thing.
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[release]24586[/release]