mattkratz This movie is a good updated version of Duel. A guy springs his brother from jail and is on his way to pick up his female friend when they pull a trick on a trucker with the handle "Rusty Nail." They make him think he's meeting a woman named "Candy Cane" (the handle they use) at a motel. Unfortunately, the trucker turns out to be a bit "off his rocker" and turns the tables on them and follows them all over the highways with some "tricks" of his own.My favorite scenes are where Rusty Nail calls them at the hotel, where he drives them off the road, the scene at the diner, and the tense motel scene at the end. This was a good, tense action movie with a good vocal performance by the actor as Rusty Nail.*** out of ****

NateWatchesCoolMovies Joyride, although pretty far fetched, is a white hot highway set thriller in the vein of The Hitcher or Duel, that jabs in all the right places for wonderfully cheap thrills and a trashy, almost midnite movie style aesthetic that's refreshing. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and at the same time shows us unrelentingly grim events unfolding that might actually be possible, walking a steady tightrope between camp and genuine fear. Paul Walker, that handsome devil, plays Lewis, a nice guy on a road trip with his screw up ex con brother Fuller (eternally goofy Steve Zahn in full ham mode). They are making their way across the southwest to pick up Venna (Leelee Sobieski), Lewis's friend, which he plans to change. Also along for the ride is an old CB radio that Fuller hauls along for his own amusement, listening in on trucker jargon tossed across the airwaves. Soon they stumble on an ominous frequency, presided over by a growling denizen with the moniker 'Rusty Nail'. Something's clearly not quite right with this weirdo, but being the dumbbells they are, they foolishly play a pretty mean prank on him over the air, causing him to snap. Rusty Nail isn't just some lonely trucker, but a belligerent, unforgiving psychopath, and worse, he's smart. He launches a backroad crusade to torment and psychologically intimidate the two of them, continuing on when they meet up with Venna. The voice of Rusty Nail is provided by one other than veteran cowboy Ted Levine, using his guttural, menacing drawl to wonderful effect, and hitching the movie up a few notches just by doing so. Telling you to put the lotion in the basket is nothing compared to the threats we get to hear him utter here. Walker, Zahn and Sobieski hold up their end well enough, but are mostly there to be frantic, idiotic bullseye targets for the unseen monster trawling the interstate after them through the night. Much of it is silly and stretches the boundaries of credibility, but it's all in wicked good fun, and always has a knowing sense of what it takes to make a high concept, low morale style thriller work. Just remember... Rusty Nail needs to find Candy Cane.

Python Hyena Joy Ride (2001): Dir: John Dahl / Cast: Paul Walker, Steve Zahn, Leelee Sobieski, Jessica Bowman / Voice: Ted Levine: Effective thriller about a ride home that becomes less than joyful when a prank turns foul. Paul Walker and Leelee Sobieski are heading for Colorado but along the way Walker ends up bailing his brother, played by Steve Zahn, out of jail. There is a C.B radio in the rental car so Zahn suggests they play a prank where Walker imitates a female wanting a good time. They are answered by a deep voice from a guy calling himself rusty Nail. When the prank results in a murder the two realize that they are being stalked. Tense up until its action violence ending where improbability plays a strong factor. Director John Dahl adds suspense by using atmosphere to his advantage. He previously made a similar film called Red Rock West. Walker and Zahn deliver strong performances as they come to realize that sometimes a prank can go into overkill. Leelee Sobieski also factors in once she is kidnapped and facing a shotgun trap. Jessica Bowman is featured briefly as her college friend who is also kidnapped. Rusty is only partially effective because it is never known how he stays ahead of the game. Ted Levine, who played the nasty Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, voices the less impressive Rusty. It plays off the "cry wolf" theme well resulting in an eerie ride in suspense. Score: 8 ½ / 10

videorama-759-859391 Bar none, the best road movie since The Hitcher, Joyride, better known as Roadkill see two brothers make the fatal mistake of pranking a hitchhiker, Walker, believably masquerading as a woman, faking a voice, shows another side to his talents. I must say I was impressed, and he doesn't do a bad job, convincingly dramatic in bits. He's hounded by his older, troubled, and immature brother, Fuller (Zahn, a great comedic asset to the movie) who keeps landing in the nick. This time, even he knows he gone too far, this prank may'be costing him the rest of his life. The psychotic trucker, who goes by the name of Rusty Nail, ends up basically playing a relentless stalking game, showing them, the much fatal error of their ways, after pranking them with a sexual rendezvous at this motel, the brothers stay at overnight. When you think about it, the brothers must of been pretty dumb to leave the c.b. in sight where Rusty Nail would of seen it, and added up the dots, although they weren't expecting him to be a nut, even though, he weirded out Walker in bits earlier, and he's quick, like a pussy, to ring the manager, when they hear a ruckus nextdoor, with Walker's character, looking worried or tense, even before that. while big brother is laughing his arse off. This movie than runs high on a good flow of suspense, and a bit of disturbing violence, has been well crafted, successfully terrifying viewer, with a great plot. Rusty Nail's intentions so clear, like Max Cady, he's gonna keep tormenting these people, where in 2002, I myself, dealt, with a similar situation, but on a much smaller scale. The performances are good, yes even Walker, Rusty Nail's voice, of course that of Ted 'Silence Of The Lambs', who also worked with Walker, in the first Fast And Furious, which Levine fits those terms definitely. The climax is intoxicatingly suspenseful, it's most richest, as if we've had so much tension and suspense already. The twist of ending reinforces the tragic error, their prank has cost them, where there's a message there too. A road movie better than you expect, and Dahl throws some nice shots in, one close up in slow motion, favouring girlfriend, Sobieski's goods. Her collegiate roommate, Bowman, mesmerizingly hot. Don't overlook it.