Film Review: Roadside

When I first heard about “Roadside”, I was interested considering that it looked like one of those thrillers that I would enjoy. It has a mysterious killer plus the trailer and story looked interesting enough to check this film out and review it.

The film follows Dan and Mindy Summers, a couple who on the road along a mountain highway that is desolate and quiet. They are forced to stop in the middle of the road when a tree falls on the road and blocks their way. Before Dan can get back inside his car, he finds out that a mysterious man hiding in the woods is threatens him and wife with a rifle that is aimed at them. This forces both Dan and Mindy to play his sadistic game in the freezing cold. They must find a way out of his dangerous game, before becoming his latest victims.

I was hoping that I would’ve liked “Roadside” considering that Eric England’s last film got a lot of praise. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t get into this film at all. This film was a flat out boring thriller from start to finish. It’s also possibly the reason why this film too so long in being released than his last film “Contacted”.

This was one of those films, where it was hard to sit through. The main reason for that was England’s direction. This felt very flat in all aspects. He doesn’t do a good job making sure the scenes stand out. The problem of that was the fact that his film takes place in one area for most of the film. Still, that is something that should’ve been corrected with the way he directs his cast. Instead, I was waiting for this film to end. Speaking of the performances, they weren’t good at all. England doesn’t make sure the performances had a certain level of intensity to them. This is supposed to be a suspense thriller, instead this felt like a drama. The reason for that was that I didn’t buy into the performances. He doesn’t make sure that they are different from each other. Instead, you have main performances that feel flat and going on one note. When that happens you’re not feeling intensity, you’re feeling bored.

The screenplay written by England was also bad as the direction. One of the things that makes this screenplay bad was the fact that the characters weren’t interesting. They weren’t giving much personality, as they felt flat. It made me not care about anything in this film. The villain felt like it was something out of the “Scream” films with his voice. The other thing that made me not like this screenplay was the fact that scenes had no tension. Most of the reason for that was that it stays at one place for a good chunk of the film. It didn’t do anything to make me feel frightening enough to be engaged with the story. This and the fact that the villain didn’t make things scary, it made this film very boring film to watch. It also didn’t help that the mysterious villain and the deaths were predictable. When that happens, you lose all suspense like this screenplay did.

I was really hoping that “Roadside” was going to be one of thrillers that keeps you interested and entertained, but I was wrong. Instead, this film is one of those films that you pass on bye when seeing it stranded on the side of the road.

Review Rating: One Star