2 road films in one day.
The makers from Down Under have impressed with their efforts in recent times, but this is one very decent Ozzie idea executed terribly.
The central premise of the road train and it's workings are intriguing, and the visuals flashing before the 4 central characters add a lot of surreality to the proceedings (including the 3 wolves with red eyes, signifying Cerebrus), but instead of a gripping, semi-decent story, we are treated to a hackneyed plot about teenagers camped in the middle of nowhere in the Australian wilderness, a completely unnecessary and graphic sex scene to open the movie, and character development which is non-existent. The only semblance of development happens with the lead male character, but even he takes some really unbelievable turns for the worst and ultimately he, along with the movie, goes downhill. The lead actress does her best, but it's too little and too late.
Things unexplained can be given slight nudges of explanation (remember
The Car from the 70s), but here we have nothing to go on. The film takes itself too seriously and that's it's biggest downfall. Maybe a more campy approach could have salvaged it. Either that or a more serious, sinister approach could have enlivened the proceedings. Watch it only if you get a kick out of road movies and love yourself some gorgeous cinematographical shots of the Australian outback.
In short,
Duel has just met
The Mangler. If you have seen those two, skip this.
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