Death Valley (2015)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Katrina Law, Lochlyn Munro, Victoria Pratt
Directed by T.J. Scott
With all the looks and feels of a 50’s crime-noir thriller, director T.J. Scott’s Death Valley delivers not only strong performances, but a pretty tightly-wound plot that entertains even through some slagging moments.
A desolate stretch of highway, a liquored up driver (Munro), and one half-naked woman with an itchy trigger-finger set the stage for what surely will be an interesting road trip flick…and to think all my road trips end up with a stiff back and multiple bathroom stops. After the scantily-clad lass gets mowed down, our vehicular nomads, including Law, Pratt, and Nick Tarabay, concoct a devious little plan to bury the body and take to the road on foot, now that their ride has been rendered out of commission due to the crash.
It’s hotter than hell, and what little secrets this foursome has to be revealed are of equal blinding harshness to the sun that beats down upon them all. Munro’s character is a typical “I can do no wrong” character, and his attitude towards the problems at hand is nothing less than impertinent, with an unharnessed boozy-brashness – simply put, he NAILS the performance. Law simmers in her portrayal of Munro’s one-night stand turned impending bride, and backed up by notable performances by Pratt and Tarabay as a recent prison parolee and his squeeze, the look and feel of a sultry and sexy cast is all around the viewer.
Scott uses the barren desert and seemingly endless highway to enhance the film’s already beautiful visuals, and with an air of mystery that is heavily laden, the entire film (although a somewhat scant 88 minutes) moves along at a fairly decent pace, even with a few indolent scenes that require a little patience to get through. It’s no terrible instance to deal with, however, as the movie speeds up to a blistering finish, and what you thought you’d been peeping at for the course of the film switches gears and explodes into a full-blown mind-bender. This is straight-up fun, and aside from some stretches in logic, Death Valley is one road trip I wouldn’t mind taking again… minus the bodies, the heat, the bullets, and the blood – you get what I’m sayin! Give this one a peek when you have the chance.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
