- Intriguing villains
- Good production value
- Unlikable characters
- Uneven plot
- Standard torture porn action
- Starring Richard Tillman, Jessie Ward, Graham Norris, Brionne Davis, Michael Childers, Diane Salinger, Julie Mond
- Directed by Shawn Papazian
- Not Rated
- DVD Release Date: September 30, 2008
Rest Stop: Don't Look Back seems aimed at those who were left scratching their heads at the end of 2006's Rest Stop, an admirably odd tale that mixed backwoods torture porn with a supernatural twist.
After taking a trip back to 1972 to explain the connection between the yellow pickup truck-driving killer and the weirdo Winnebago family, the sequel fast-forwards to a year after the events of the first film. John, the soldier brother of that movie's protagonist, returns home from Iraq and sets off to find his missing brother. Accompanying him are his girlfriend Marilyn and their comic relief, Jared.
The threesome traces Jesse and Nicole's path and end up on the haunted stretch of road that claimed them in Rest Stop. Before they know it, the pickup truck and Winnebago show up and torment them in the same manner as occured in the first movie.
Don't Look Back succeeds in filling in some of the gaps in the original's mythology, but it's clear that writer Shawn Shiban (who wrote and directed Rest Stop) never planned out the first film -- explaining its frustrating murkiness -- and is desperately applying spackle with the sequel.
As such, the villains' actions are ambiguous and inconsistent -- same as the original. The pickup driver purposelessly toys with his victims, tormenting them and then inexplicably driving away.
If you found enough to enjoy the mediocre first film, you should like Don't Look Back just fine. The only real differences are a heightened sense of humor and the moving of the action from the rest stop to nearby locales, like a motel, a gas station and a port-a-potty.
The array of colorful characters and the solid production value keep our attention, but like the first film, the end product fails to rise above the level of mild diversion.
The DVD
Special features include commentary, a featurette and deleted scenes.
Movie: C-
DVD: B
