Rest Stop (DVD)

Rest Stop is the flagship film of Raw Feed, a production company founded by John Shiban, Tony Krantz and Daniel Myrick (who, between them, have worked behind the scenes of TV's hottest shows including The X-Files, Supernatural and 24). Rest Stop premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel with commercial interruptions and editing, but now you can watch the movie in all its gory glory on DVD, complete with three alternate endings.

The story follows an impulsive young couple, Jess (Joey Mendicino) and Nicole (Jaimie Alexander), on their cross-country trip from Texas to California, where Jess hopes to find work as an actor. Nicole is reluctant to make such a bold move, but it's preferable to putting up with her overbearing parents. Everything seems to be going along smoothly until, after hours on the road, an aggressive driver behind the wheel of a beat up yellow truck runs them off the road. Shaken but unhurt, Jess and Nicole drive to the nearest rest stop to take a breather and clean up. Nicole disappears into the women's room, and Jess? He just disappears.

Nicole comes out and finds her boyfriend gone. But that's not the only strange thing… there's a creepy family in a motor home, a terribly traumatized girl seemingly stuck in the 70s, and an abandoned sheriff's post that's eerily empty except for an inviting desk and C.B. radio. It's here that Nicole starts to communicate with The Driver (Nick Orefice) and finds out that the rest stop is not of this world. Her philosophy that everyone has their own personal demon turns prophetic as she struggles to escape the surreal — and deadly — rest stop.

Rest Stop is a very slow-starter and it has some annoying musical montages straight out of a chick flick (particularly the one that shows Nicole in an endless loop on a drunken binge set to a dramatic tune), but it does deliver on the gore and grue. The Driver is a nasty customer who has no compunction when it comes to torture, and he's not shy about taunting his victims to the breaking point. Through Nicole, we witness shotgun blasts to the head, drills up the nose, hot-branding via license plate, fingers bitten off, and so much more. The creepy family is a nice touch, and their connection with The Driver is a carrot that keeps you guessing till the end.

The acting in Rest Stop is decent, but the standout is the star with the smallest role — Deanna Russo as Tracy, the Rolling Stones fan, is one to watch in the future. There's an interesting cameo from Joe Lawrence (whose fans from the Blossom days might be horrified by his buzz cut), and the diminutive Scotty Post does more than shake it like a Polaroid picture as Scotty.

The Rest Stop DVD offers some good additional release material, including three alternate endings that really are pretty different from one another. There is also a seedy crime scene video montage, and Scotty's family album.

If you like gory flicks with just a touch of the bizarre, then Rest Stop is definitely worth the price of a rental.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson