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REST STOP 2
(DON'T LOOK BACK)
(2008)
DIRECTOR:
Shawn Papazian
STARRING:
Richard Tillman, Jessie Ward, Graham Norris, Diane Salinger.
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When I first saw Rest Stop 2 I was really drunk and I thought I just hated it because of my total lack of attention span during said inebriation. It turns out though; I do in fact hate Rest Stop 2 even while sober. I mean, I REALLY hate Rest Stop 2. If I was at a bar drinking a pint of beer and Rest Stop 2 walked into this bar at the same time, I would glass it in the face, order another pint of beer and continue to drink in a most nonchalant fashion while Rest Stop 2 held it’s bleeding face, sobbing and lying in a pool of it’s own DVD blood on the dirty floor of the bar. Do you know why I would glass Rest Stop 2 in the face beyond any initials feelings of hate, it’s because I would be drinking a beer with Rest Stop 1 and wouldn’t want my good mate to feel embarrassed.
The film takes everything that had made people like me a fan of the original and pisses all over it. No more mystery and no more heartfelt good intentions behind a simple film that’s full of fun and potential. Just over the top bullshit, characters not feeling (or looking) the same way, terrible explanations for things that would’ve been best left a mystery if they couldn’t write something clever and to top it all off, not a drop of genuine atmosphere. What a goddamn shame, I could’ve sworn I was going to like this one, despite all the critic bashing. I stood against all opinions of the first and watched it anyway and was rewarded with a film I really enjoyed, but number two has no fucking idea what it is trying to do.
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| Another gripe as with my first one is this whole stupid sub-title thing – Rest Stop 2 (Don’t Look Back). Well yeah, I’m at a rest stop, I literally have PLENTY OF TIME to look back. “Dead Ahead” and “Don’t Look Back” are the sort of subtitles I associate with a movie like Speed, eg. Speed 2 – Cruise Control, which is implying a constant propulsion in one direction without stopping, just like “Dead Ahead” and “Don’t Look Back”, it should be more like “Rest Stop – Final Stop” or “Rest Stop – Nobody Leaves” or just fucking REST STOP 1 and REST STOP 2!! The sub-titles just don’t make any sense for a film about a rest stop in which a large section of the film is spent in the one location, waiting around, well maybe not so much the sequel – speaking of the sequel, let’s get into the details about this piece of shit. |
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^^ "WHA HOWDAY THAR! MAH NAME'S JOHN C. REILLY!". |
Remember the victims of the first movie - Nicole and Jesse? Well being victims, they are now quite dead and Jesse’s brother, back home fresh from the war, has heard news of Jesse’s disappearance (death) and he wants payback (ahhh… loose tie ins, keeping actors employed). He sets out to find Jesse with his girlfriend, ****, also Nicole’s best friend. Wow, that’s a neat little package of inter-crossed relationships. Off they go on their way to investigate the last seen whereabouts of Jesse and Nicole. Oh I forgot to mention their little wiener geek friend, Jared (who has a long lived childhood crush on Nicole), who tags along for the ride. I should mention he is so unwanted for the trip that he will be driving in his own car following the “cuppy” of love puppies.
A standout scene has the geek friend Jared terrorized by KLZ-303 inside a port-a-potty. I have to say it was most certainly standout at this point because I was glad to be having any type of fun with this movie and it most certainly wasn’t standout because the port-a-potty idea was original. Port-a-potties and horror seem to have had a connection since the late 80’s (anyone correct me if it dates back even further but I probably wont listen though), eg. Friday the 13th V (throws up), The Hills Have Eyes (remake) Pt. 2 (throws up some more). Hey wait a minute… picking up on something? All were sequels & all were shit, including this very movie.
I always thought this was going to be a good movie. Even after reading the reviews, that’s why I loved the first one so much. But I was so, so wrong. I struggle to evoke any positive thought about it. It reeks of rushed, sloppy and maybe of a little higher budget that was used in all the wrong ways.
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Remember the victims of the first movie - Nicole and Jesse? Well being victims, they are now quite dead and Jesse’s brother, Tom (Richard Tillman), back home fresh from the war, has heard news of Jesse’s disappearance (death) and he wants payback (ahhh… loose tie ins, keeping actors employed). He sets out to find Jesse with his girlfriend, Marilyn (Jesse Ward), also Nicole’s best friend. Wow, that’s a neat little package of inter-crossed relationships. Off they go on their way to investigate the last seen whereabouts of Jesse and Nicole. Oh I forgot to mention their little wiener geek friend, Jared (who has a long lived childhood crush on Nicole), who tags along for the ride. I should mention he is so unwanted for the trip that he will be driving in his own car following the “cuppy” of love puppies. |
Mourning over loved ones with penetration and fellatio ^^
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A standout scene has the geek friend Jared (Graham Norris) terrorized by KLZ-303 inside a port-a-potty. I have to say it was most certainly standout at this point because I was glad to be having any type of fun with this movie and it most certainly wasn’t standout because the port-a-potty idea was original. Port-a-potties and horror seem to have had a connection since the late 80’s (anyone correct me if it dates back even further but I probably wont listen though), eg. Friday the 13th V (throws up), The Hills Have Eyes (remake) Pt. 2 (throws up some more). Hey wait a minute… picking up on something? All were sequels & all were shit, including this very movie.
I always thought this was going to be a good movie. Even after reading the reviews, that’s why I loved the first one so much. But I was so, so wrong. I struggle to evoke any positive thought about it. It reeks of rushed, sloppy and maybe of a little higher budget that was used in all the wrong ways.
A welcome addition is Steve Railsback and I tell you, goddamn, I’m just a big fan of his. I liked the Ed Gein movie with Railsback (NOT the Hodder one - to those of you who didn’t understand when I wrote “I liked the Ed Gein movie with Railsback” just now), so everyone who hated it can fuck off and join Rest Stop 2 on the floor of the bar clutching their glassed faces. He brings a well performed creepy gas station attendant to this sequel and although not really needed, I enjoyed his time on screen. Moving on… I have a casting issue with the actress who replaced Jaimie (nice spelling you trendy douche) Alexander as Nicole. They seemed to have made no attempt to even match her appearance. Couldn’t they have re-written the script to not involve her? Old-school Jesse was on board – that’s enough! |
| Another gripe as with my first one is this whole stupid sub-title thing – Rest Stop 2 (Don’t Look Back). Well yeah, I’m at a rest stop, I literally have PLENTY OF TIME to look back. “Dead Ahead” and “Don’t Look Back” are the sort of subtitles I associate with a movie like Speed, eg. Speed 2 – Cruise Control, which is implying a constant propulsion in one direction without stopping, just like “Dead Ahead” and “Don’t Look Back”, it should be more like “Rest Stop – Final Stop” or “Rest Stop – Nobody Leaves” or just fucking REST STOP 1 and REST STOP 2!! The sub-titles just don’t make any sense for a film about a rest stop in which a large section of the film is spent in the one location, waiting around, well maybe not so much the sequel – speaking of the sequel, let’s get into the details about this piece of shit. |
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^^ Splashing poo while inside a truck rammed port-a-potty cam |
Unfortunately with Rest Stop 2 (Don’t Look Back) we have what could’ve been a good movie that really gave some answers to what the fans were asking and then gave us a little more to ponder for a possible third. Instead it feels like only let downs. I’m not one to give spoiler warnings because I’m an asshole, so consider that the warning. Early on in the movie we see our killer, KLZ-303 broken down on the side of the road with his truck. He is picked up by the Winnebago family, where the mother starts hitting on him. Now there goes almost ALL OF THE MOVIE’S MYSTERY RIGHT THERE! BAM! It’s gone without a trace. Because there we have full shots of the killer, looking like a total idiot, nowhere near as cool as I had imagined. He looks like John C. Reilly but with MORE redneck in him – that’s right – MORE REDNECK! He’s not even evil at this point, just goofy and “rednecky” (made up word - check!), this is sort of the “what made him a killer” part of the movie, a flashback.
Anyway, the Winnebago pulls over and they start setting up for a BBQ. The mother and KLZ-303 start fucking each other in the back of the van. Well despite their best efforts to be discreet, screaming and Winnebago rocking aside, the father finds out what’s going on and kills our pre-killing killer. The BBQ ensues and loving family times are had, but what’s this, the killer is back, in GHOST form! He kills the entire family and now they’re all ghosts. Wait a minute, they’ve all died at the Rest Stop! Their souls doomed to spend an eternity killing people at the Rest Stop as ghosts. Bam – questions answered, but in a really lazy stupid way. To say disappointed is to say the least. The only part of this intro I enjoyed was seeing Scotty (our little deformed midget friend) fall over in the Winnebago! Why was this enjoyable? Because when isn’t it funny seeing a deformed midget – especially when they’re falling over! Later on this movie someone even uses a big gun and things explode - WOW! I guess something had to happen, but it still comes off as ridiculous.
My apologies for an un-detailed review of this movie, all I could do was pick on it's flaws, I disliked it THAT much and even then I left out some! I’m feeling a little sick now… so if you excuse me I’m going to spew over Rest Stop 2 who is still on the ground crying over a glassed jaw.
How could they fuck up such a sweet deal – if Rest Stop 2 comes back to the bar with his mate Rest Stop 3 – I’m going to glass him in the face too!
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As I stab kick Rest Stop 2 in the head with the help of Rest Stop 1, I give this movie: |
1.5 OUT OF 5 JAGER-BABIES. |
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