After accidentally killing his wife (whom he's cheating on), a photographer puts her body in the trunk and brings her to Black Lake. But along the way he gets visions of his dead wife and encounters other obstacles (mentally unstable men, police officers, etc.) and will have to battle to retain his sanity.
Before I say anything else, I want to give a huge round of applause to the band Maximum Indifference. When I saw their name in the opening credits, I was confused -- what is a "maximum indifference"? Aren't you either indifferent or not? But they provided the music for this film, and it is fantastic. I strongly suggest you check out their web site and if you're a filmmaker consider hiring them to make some music for you. They are specifically prepared to help with movie background tunes, and I can't say I've ever heard better. If there was a strong point to the film, it was them.
Now, I also have to defend this movie. I have seen other reviews that say the acting is horrible and that all negative comments are understatements. Yes, the acting is not the greatest. But it's not the worst I've seen. And some other qualities about this film cannot be ignored. I found some of it to be quite creepy: a dark road, middle of the night, strange occurrences... with camera shots trapping us in to see only what comes into the light at the last second. I never knew what would jump out next.
The suspense and tension were well done. When the cops visit him (more than once) I wasn't sure if he was going to be busted, or if he wasn't how he was going to get out of it. I enjoyed the blood splatter. There was a lot going for this film, especially if you consider the fact everyone involved is a fresh face. Also, despite starring Americans, this film had more of an Asian feel -- if you judge it as an Asian film, it was actually much better (as I've said in other reviews -- I believe "Dream Cruise", for example -- Asian films have an element of the supernatural that would seem cheesy or stupid in American films but works for them).
What made this film fail, besides the less than stellar acting, was the fact there really was no story. Time was filled with extra shots of his driving, we see some repeated things (lighting cigarettes, similar road scenes). Most if not all of the flashbacks told nothing crucial or helpful to the story. In short, this film could have been a 30-minute television feature. Compare this to the "thanks for the ride, lady" sequence from "Creepshow 2". That was only about 15 minutes and got the point across. This could have been done in the same way... it never should have been a full-length film.
When the film wasn't giving me bad acting or boring me to death, it was a good film. I cannot make something like this myself (well, probably not). 2006 saw more horror DVD releases than any time in world history (or at least it seems that way), so unless you're watching as many as I do, you'll never find this one floating to the top of your must-see list. I guess the Japanese girl is sort of cute, but not cute enough to really sell this film. Sorry, "Haunted Highway", you're a dead end.
Before I say anything else, I want to give a huge round of applause to the band Maximum Indifference. When I saw their name in the opening credits, I was confused -- what is a "maximum indifference"? Aren't you either indifferent or not? But they provided the music for this film, and it is fantastic. I strongly suggest you check out their web site and if you're a filmmaker consider hiring them to make some music for you. They are specifically prepared to help with movie background tunes, and I can't say I've ever heard better. If there was a strong point to the film, it was them.
Now, I also have to defend this movie. I have seen other reviews that say the acting is horrible and that all negative comments are understatements. Yes, the acting is not the greatest. But it's not the worst I've seen. And some other qualities about this film cannot be ignored. I found some of it to be quite creepy: a dark road, middle of the night, strange occurrences... with camera shots trapping us in to see only what comes into the light at the last second. I never knew what would jump out next.
The suspense and tension were well done. When the cops visit him (more than once) I wasn't sure if he was going to be busted, or if he wasn't how he was going to get out of it. I enjoyed the blood splatter. There was a lot going for this film, especially if you consider the fact everyone involved is a fresh face. Also, despite starring Americans, this film had more of an Asian feel -- if you judge it as an Asian film, it was actually much better (as I've said in other reviews -- I believe "Dream Cruise", for example -- Asian films have an element of the supernatural that would seem cheesy or stupid in American films but works for them).
What made this film fail, besides the less than stellar acting, was the fact there really was no story. Time was filled with extra shots of his driving, we see some repeated things (lighting cigarettes, similar road scenes). Most if not all of the flashbacks told nothing crucial or helpful to the story. In short, this film could have been a 30-minute television feature. Compare this to the "thanks for the ride, lady" sequence from "Creepshow 2". That was only about 15 minutes and got the point across. This could have been done in the same way... it never should have been a full-length film.
When the film wasn't giving me bad acting or boring me to death, it was a good film. I cannot make something like this myself (well, probably not). 2006 saw more horror DVD releases than any time in world history (or at least it seems that way), so unless you're watching as many as I do, you'll never find this one floating to the top of your must-see list. I guess the Japanese girl is sort of cute, but not cute enough to really sell this film. Sorry, "Haunted Highway", you're a dead end.