Joy Ride 3: Road Kill (2014) Reviews

• Exactly what you would expect from the third movie in a series that didn't need a sequel to begin with.

  cosmo_tiger2014-06-15

  "You don't want to take that road, trust me." A group of street racers head off to a race and they stop in a small town for lunch. While there they ask what the quickest way to get to their destination is. When they are told to avoid the fast road because of its history they laugh and take it anyway. As a joke they decide to cut off a truck driver. This little action pits them against the dangerous Rusty Nail (Kirzinger). There really isn't a whole lot to say about this movie. The original was good and tense because it was new and different. A harmless prank that you could see yourself doing leads to something no one can imagine. Much like everything in the last 10 years if enough people like it a franchise begins. The second one was a bland version of the original and this one isn't much better. The thing that made the first one so interesting was the originality of it. This one has no surprises at all and you can see everything coming a mile away. All that said though because this is the third movie in the series and since it is a straight to video B-rate movie you really can't expect much more then that. Overall, exactly what you would expect from the third movie in a series that didn't need a sequel to begin with. I give this a C.

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• Joy Ride 3 is mediocre, but moderately entertaining

  Argemaluco2014-07-22

  I found the original Joy Ride mediocre, but it was successful enough in order to have a straight-to-DVD sequel (Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead), which abandoned the road movie/thriller premise in order to belong to the horror genre. And now, Joy Ride 3 attempts to resurrect the franchise putting the emphasis on the villain; the result is mediocre, but moderately entertaining. The characters are slightly more intelligent and less irritating than in other horror films, something which creates a reasonable level of suspense; but the screenplay lies too much on improbable coincidences and on the villain's almost supernatural capacity to always be one step ahead of the victims. For example, the victims have constant difficulties to communicate through their mobile phones and civil band radios. Meanwhile, the villain doesn't have any problem in keeping a wireless connection to the Internet while he drives his truck at 100 kilometres per hour over an abandoned highway through the desert. And in that way, jumping through logical holes and employing trite situations (including the obligatory personal conflicts and romantic tension), the film advances by fits and starts, even though that doesn't avoid the movie from being tolerable. So, even though I didn't find Joy Ride 3 a very good movie, I can give it a slight recommendation, and I would place it above the second film of the saga and at the same level of the first one. And to the fans of J.J. Abrams', don't waste the opportunity of seeing this famous director's name in the credits of a mediocre straight-to-DVD sequel (he was a co- screenwriter of the original Joy Ride, and he keeps receiving the "Inspired on characters created by" credit; I'm sure that his publicist must have nightmares in that regard).

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• Standard stuff but moderately entertaining

  MattyGibbs2015-01-06

  I enjoyed the first Joyride which was full of tension and very well done. Unfortunately as we already know the perpetrator this one does away with the tension to instead concentrate more on gore. A group of boy racers and assorted girlfriends pick on the wrong lorry to mess with and pay the price. It's all fairly predictable stuff but there are one or two good scenes i.e the opening death scene to keep you interested. At times it is extremely gory with some SAW like scenes which I'm not sure add a great deal to the movie. The acting is what you'd expect, by no means bad but not great either. Overall as long as you don't have high expectations this is an OK time filler but I doubt it's one that will live long in the memory.

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• Why Did I Spend My Time Watching this Garbage?

  claudio_carvalho2014-06-27

  A race team is driving to Canada to participate in an auto race. They decide to take a shortcut through a lonely road and when they surpass the truck of Rusty Nail (Ken Kirzinger), the psychopathic trucker hunts the down and captures each one of them to torture and kill. "Joy Ride 3" is an awful collection of clichés with the usual stupidities of the characters and situations and omnipresence of the indestructible villain. The car has a flat tire when the driver is not near his friends; the cellular never work when the group is in danger; the group splits and tries to rescue the friend that is in danger instead of calling the police; the killer does not die and is always one step ahead of the group; the girl leaves a safe position to help the good guy and only jeopardizes the situation; the police officers take always the most stupid attitude to die. The good thing is the gore and realistic special effects. In the end, I do not understand why I spent my time watching this predictable garbage. My vote is three. Title (Brazil): "Perseguição 3 – Correndo para a Morte" ("Pusuit 3 – Running to the Death")

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• Just average

  TdSmth52014-08-25

  A couple doing drugs in a motel run out of drugs and money. They decide to lure a trucker to their room and then take his drugs or money. Unfortunately for them the trucker who answers is Rusty Nail. He's got plans for them. He chains them to his truck, tapes drugs to his windshield. If they hang on while he drives for a mile, they get the drugs. They survive the mile. But the girl gets to eager for the drugs and reaches for them. That pulls the chain into the truck's U-joint and they yanked under the truck and run over. So far so good. Next we meet a bunch of rejects from an Asylum casting call for extras. They're supposed to be a racing team. They're on their way to Canada for a race. There's 6 of them, 2 girls and 4 guys, in 2 cars, an SUV with a bed and some little race car. They stop at a diner, discover on a map a shorter route and ask some trucker about the road. It's called slaughter alley because people tend to die there. The crazy trucker warns them to stay away. A cop arrives tells them it's just fine. So they take that road. The guy who says he's the mechanic is eager to drive the car. When the driver lets him, he becomes aggressive and irresponsible. He cuts a trucker off. Yup, it's Rusty Nail. Now it's getting dark off course and Rusty has got to take revenge on the kids, kidnapping some and killing those he gets his hands on. Eventually he gets the girlfriend of the driver and tries to exchange her for the car first and then for the guy. The cops get involved as well, but Rusty is always a step ahead. Joy Ride 3 offers some thrills, some gore, a bit of nudity, some good country music. Leela Savasta is very cute but doesn't get much to do. Kirzinger is a good villain, but unfortunately the dialogue overall is very weak. The least you can do is give your villain some cool lines. This movie tries to be too serious while it lacks the scares or tension or even a strong lead as the kids are entirely disposable. They should have gone for something more tongue-in-cheek given the weaknesses. Like many horror movies this one too, would have been better had they filmed everything during day light. Overall, Joy Ride 3 is a decent sequel, it doesn't stand out, it's not terrible nor particularly good. O'Brien is a better director than he is a writer and producers should keep that in mind and hire a writer for his future projects.

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