Bickering brother and sister, Darry (Justin Long) and sister Patricia Jenner (Gina Philips), are driving home cross country from college. Suddenly they are harassed by a rusty ugly truck. Later on they see the truck at an old church where the driver seems to be dumping bodies into a drainage pipe. The truck races out and runs them off the road. The truck continues on, and Darry convinces Patricia to go back to investigate the pipe. What they find there sets off a series of horrors and killings.
This is a well done horror movie. Victor Salva has created a new evil in the movie universe. The first part is mostly just brother and sister interaction. Long and Philips have great sibling chemistry. They just feel like people who have known each other for all their lives.
The major problem I have is the motivation behind going to look for bodies. It's way too crazy to go back to the house of horrors if you don't have to. The sister was completely right. They are better to try to find some cops. They got run off by the truck, so the cops would have to go to the church to investigate. There could have been others at the church. It's more than the usual 'Don't go down there!' complaint.
I'm glad that they finally got the cops. Usually the cops never get call in these kinds of horror. It does lead to a well made series of kills by the monster. I wish the monster could look better, but it's pretty good for a B-movie horror. Both parts of the movie work on their own terms. The first is much more atmospheric. The second is more traditional run and hunt. If only they could set up better why the siblings went to investigate the church in the first place.
This is a well done horror movie. Victor Salva has created a new evil in the movie universe. The first part is mostly just brother and sister interaction. Long and Philips have great sibling chemistry. They just feel like people who have known each other for all their lives.
The major problem I have is the motivation behind going to look for bodies. It's way too crazy to go back to the house of horrors if you don't have to. The sister was completely right. They are better to try to find some cops. They got run off by the truck, so the cops would have to go to the church to investigate. There could have been others at the church. It's more than the usual 'Don't go down there!' complaint.
I'm glad that they finally got the cops. Usually the cops never get call in these kinds of horror. It does lead to a well made series of kills by the monster. I wish the monster could look better, but it's pretty good for a B-movie horror. Both parts of the movie work on their own terms. The first is much more atmospheric. The second is more traditional run and hunt. If only they could set up better why the siblings went to investigate the church in the first place.