Review by
Sue Finn
Directed by: David Del Rio
Starring: Elizabeth Grullon, Damian Joseph Quinn, Clayton Farris, Misty Bones
We first meet the sword swinging antagonist of this movie when a couple
who, after indulging in a little sexy time while driving the car, almost
run him over.
After they are swiftly dispatched, three new fresh faced ‘sinners/victims’
are introduced as they drive through a barren landscape of salt flats and
desert. They are looking for Isola Lake for a druggy weekend camp away.
When they eventually find their destination, they are dismayed to find it
has sadly dried up due to climate change, leaving them trying to make the
best of it in the middle of nowhere.
Alex (a winning Damian Joseph Quinn) and Bryan (personable
Clayton Farris) are a couple, and want to increase their Instagram
followers with moody picturesque landscape photography.
Bryan’s friend Steph (a tough as nails Elizabeth Grullon) is
getting over her cheating ex-boyfriend David and gatecrashing their
romantic weekend.
The trio stumbles upon the two severed heads of our earlier victims and,
after striking out with the police, they are confronted by the sword
bearing stranger.
Though one of our car-trippers meets their maker here, this at least
launches the story into a more expansive narrative, yet first we have to
stumble about in the nothingness with the pair of survivors for a time.
There are confrontations, near-misses with the police and David shows up
as Stephanie’s imaginary friend whenever she feels threatened, but he
often offers no comfort and it’s an odd distraction in an already strange
movie. Unfortunately, Steph is also a wholly unlikable character as it
seems the film-makers had decided that ‘kick-ass woman’ translates to
‘aggressively hostile woman’. When they are discovered again by a bad man
in a tricked-out Thor costume, Steph is kidnapped and taken to a secret
society called The Order that she summarises succinctly as ‘Douche Lords
in cloaks in the desert’.
This is the part of the film that piqued my interest; the dialogue in this
sequence is well written and is an unexpectedly amusing point in what is
otherwise a two-hander with exasperating dialogue.
Felicity Fellatio Bones (Misty Bones) is a breath of fresh air as
the (Drag) Queen of The Order. Her wisecracks and the confusion about her
gender by other members of The Order are funny, though some of the jokes
come dangerously close to being offensive (“I used to be gay until it was
electrocuted out of me”). I’ll admit I did laugh out loud to the members
having new names in the cult, and using their old names to antagonise each
other.
Once we leave the cult (way too soon) the film falls back into a less
inspired story and ends on a fairly subdued and frankly, predictable note;
it should have finished five minutes before it did, as that was a far more
satisfying and interesting place to end things.
Written by Justin Xavier and Directed by actor
David Del Rio (the duo behind 2018’s Sick for Toys), this is a meandering film that barely scrapes into the horror genre.
Campy, but not enough to be fun, this is lensed handsomely and well-acted.
The direction is inventive and there are some unintentionally hilarious
lines, such as a shook Bryan declaring “I can’t promise I’ll stay on the
road” as they are surrounded by miles of desert and no roads, or this from
Alex after someone is injured - “Is there a hospital nearby?”
This was not a bad movie, but it could have been a good one if it had
picked a lane and stuck to it. If it had embraced the hammy farcical
shtick at its centre it could have been a deliciously fun time, but by
wanting to have its cake and eat it too it is ultimately let down by its
indecisiveness.
Next time, trust the drag queen.
Road Head is on US DVD/VOD now. A
UK/ROI release has yet to be announced.
