Remind me to give any “Road Trains” I see on my visit to Australia a very VERY wide berth. You know, if I ever make it to Australia, that is.
Initially I started watching this because I had just done a podcast with an Australian, and wanted to see what their horror movies are like. It was almost like watching it as a joke. However, as the movie went on, I actually really started to enjoy it and was glad I had stumbled on it.
Road Train takes place entirely on a long stretch of road in the Australian outback. A group of four kids, probably college age, are on a trip together. No real information is given on where they were going, nor why. At one point one of the guys asks the other “Where the bloody hell are we?” he responds “… middle of bloody nowhere. Just how we like it.” Pretty much sets up the backdrop for the entire film.
As the group travels further down the road to nowhere, they encounter the titular “Road Train”. For those that may not know, a “Road Train” is a series of trailers pulled by a large tractor trailer. They are usually used in the long stretches of road in the outback to carry MASSIVE trailers full of goods over long distances. Anyway, this particular road train rams into their car and then speeds off. Not satisfied to let it go, the teens end up with a case of road rage and put themselves right in the path of the tractor trailer again. This time, however, the semi crashes their car, totaling the vehicle. After they recover they notice that the road train has pulled over, and they proceed to investigate.
Once the group reaches the tractor trailer, they notice that the driver and passenger are gone. Being kids in horror movies, they decide to steal the truck to carry them to their destination. This turns out to be a bad decision as the group mysteriously ends up off the beaten path and stuck on the side of a quarry cliff. From here on, the movie takes a decidedly darker turn, and that’s where it really starts to get good. As silly as it sounds, the truck is the main villain in this movie, as the group would soon find out.
I was surprised by how much I was actually enjoying Road Train. Not to say that I thought it would be bad, but I was surprised by how well it turned into a thriller/horror movie. I’ve seen Christine, and Maximum Overdrive, but those were campy and not the slightest bit scary. While I wasn’t scared by Road Train, it did come off as a serious movie about a (lets be honest) goofy topic. I mention those movies because Road Train is part that, and part Amityville Horror. The truck makes the kids go insane, give them powers, and forces them into doing horrible things to each other. The truck possesses the kids and, as the movie alludes to, any other person that comes in contact with it. Again, it’s kinda goofy, but is done well here. If you are looking for a movie to fill some time Road Train is free on Youtube, and is worth seeing. Fair warning, it starts off with a rather vocal sex scene.
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