Teen horror with a twist - Showbiz - Evening Standard
       

Teen horror with a twist

With American teen horror a dime a dozen, it's a relief that Victor Salva's movie is scarier than most. Salva delivers the goods more or less straight, in spite of the fact that his teenage protagonists are a lively, educated brother-and-sister act who have clearly seen their fair share of horror films.

Driving back home from college for the summer vacation, Gina Philips and Justin Long are unpleasantly surprised by the arrival of a creepy, rusting old truck that runs them off the road. Shaken but unhurt, they drive on until they spot the truck parked by an abandoned church and the driver dumping a person-sized bundle down a waste-pipe. The plot might run out of gas before the end, but the first hour leaves a legacy of terror that carries it through to the downbeat horror of the conclusion.

Salva keeps things sharp and sassy, the trouble is, he can't maintain the subtle approach and once he has revealed his hand the film succumbs to a number of brutal effects that are nowhere near as frightening as the earlier suggestions of what they might be. Still, it's a pretty good ride until that point. (NN)

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