Bridge to Nowhere (1986) User Reviews

Film that Leads to Nowhere

[851222 · 5/10 · 16 March 2008]

Greetings from Lithuania.

An independent movie that is actually leaves to Nowhere.

I saw it when there was nothing to watch on late TV, so this movie was a little surprise for my.

I was already falling asleep, but this movie got my attention somehow.

Don't get my wrong, there's absolutely nothing special in this movie, only a beautiful landscape, some nice acting and disturbing killings.

I don't recommend this movie because you won't see here nothing special or very interesting.

But if you have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do and there is nothing good on TV, watch it.

Under the bridge backwoods is where I drew some blood

[Coventry · 5/10 · 29 June 2014]

"Bridge to Nowhere" is a title of which I didn't knew it existed, but apparently it marks New Zealand's contribution to the hugely popular (during the 70's, 80's and still today!) sub genre of backwoods/survival horror. I can't give a proper reason why this movie ended up in total obscurity whereas other and similar contemporary movies easily obtained a cult following or classic status. It's not better than most backwoods horror movies, but it certainly isn't much worse, so I guess it's just a matter of bad luck, not enough word of mouth and/or saturation of the market. The concept and opening sequences are very formulaic, with five completely obnoxious and stereotypical eighties kids heading off in their ugly Jeep for a camping trip near the legendary "bridge to nowhere"; an actual unfinished building project in the middle of the wilderness. The group of kids is extremely loud and irritating – especially the self-acclaimed leader Leon – and their trip turns sour when they bump into the eerie redneck couple Mac and Lise. Mac doesn't tolerate Leon's lustful staring at Lise, even though she provokes it, and soon the group finds itself relentlessly pursued by a maniac with a shotgun. "Bridge to Nowhere" is somewhat disappointing in the blood & gore department but does feature a handful of suspenseful moments and an efficient use of marvelous filming locations. The three girls in the cast are quite yummy (that is: if you dig typical 80's chicks) and the always reliable Bruno Lawrence is a menacing backwoods-brute. "Bridge to Nowhere" is hardly fundamental viewing, but interesting enough if you're an admirer of the genre and/or Down Under exploitation.

*note: review title refers to Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Under the Bridge".

Cross the bridge tonight!

[tarbosh22000 · 4/10 · 20 August 2010]

"You Cross The Bridge, You Cross The Devil!"

When a group of teenagers (Gray, Carl, Julie, Tanya and Leon) from the city go deep in the woods to go camping and see the "Bridge To Nowhere", they run afoul of a bearded, vicious old salt named Mac (Lawrence) who chases them through the woods and hunts them down one by one. Leon loses his mind and goes missing. They played their boombox a bit too loud, apparently.

Sadly, Mac never yells "Get off my land!" (while brandishing the prerequisite shotgun), but one of the teens does say "Where's the Bridge To Nowhere?"

Bridge To Nowhere is well-made and a better-than-average clone of Deliverance (1972), Rituals (1977), Southern Comfort (1981), and Just Before Dawn (1981), but it bears the strongest resemblance to Damned River (1989). I guess you could call this a wilderness survival movie, New Zealand style.

It starts off with some typically-80's sex romp style antics but then it turns deadly. It has a nice new wave contemporary soundtrack to fuel the fun. The highlight there is Marginal Era's "You Fascinate". The kids bring their beloved boombox everywhere, even deep in the woods where they dance their way through a hiking trip (forest dancing) and even on the Bridge To Nowhere (Bridge dancing). They even break out the sleeping bags and sleep on the Bridge itself. If all they wanted to do was dance, couldn't they do that at home?

"And Matthew Hunter as Carl" is its own credit, dedicated to the kid who goes camping in patchy jeans and Doc Martens. Interestingly, future famous director Lee Tamahori was a first assistant director on the film.

Positives: The picturesque New Zealand scenery is captured well by the cinematographer, the acting is above-average, and it is lean and mean at 85 minutes. Released on the Charter label on VHS in the U.S., if you are looking for a wilderness survival film you may have missed, Cross the Bridge To Nowhere tonight!

For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Don't. Just...don't.

[nicklesu · 3/10 · 16 March 2023]

Sooo many things wrong with this that it's difficult to know where to begin.

The plot. Five teenagers that you hope will head off into the woods to be hunted by a madman head off into the woods to be hunted by a madman. However, it's not until the end of the movie that the so-called madman has any real reason to hunt the kids. In fact, throughout much of the film, he intentionally misses killing them, instead just terrorizing them for some unexplained reason. Along the way, general stupidity ensues. At one point one of the guys shoots a stranger and happily exclaims, "woo hoo! I got one! I got one!" only to later be remorseful (while one of the girls smiles after taking a stick from the other girl - totally inappropriate for the scene and likely missed by everyone as she's just fooling around in the background). Truthfully, there's nothing else left to the plot.

The characters. The alpha male, Leon, is a loud obnoxious boor you hope gets killed quickly. Which he does. His best mate is not much better (although he doesn't try to rape anyone); this character (Gray) goes raving mad a few times. (The best parts of the movie are when Gray gets slapped around by Carl and later one of the girls; true laugh-out-loud moments!) One of the girls, Tanya, states that she loves the loud obnoxious boor, but we're left wondering why as he's a loud obnoxious boor. And he has a very slim grasp of sanity. The second girl, Julia, is almost a non-character she's so bland. The only decent kid of the bunch is the younger brother, Carl, who didn't want to come along on the trip anyway. Mac (Bruno Lawrence), is the recluse/madman, though neither adjective fits. Finally, we have Lise who has some undefined relationship with Mac; she quickly goes insane after killing Leon.

All of the dialogue sounds as if it's been dubbed over in an echo chamber. There are a few scenes where it would be natural to have an echo, but in most scenes not. It just does *not* sound good at all. Regarding the music, the only piece that's acceptable is during the last scene and credits; the rest is either inappropriate for the scene, or, in the case of the 80s music from the "ghetto blaster," just bad. One song, in particular, is repeated many times (one assumes the producer got a deal on that one).

On a related note, during a scene on the bridge after the attempted rape, the assault victim and her brother "dance" (their word) to a relatively slow song. But it's not dancing by any stretch - they literally hold hands while jumping in a circle. Ughhh.

The scenery may have been nice, but the forest colors seem to be desaturated. Additionally, there's something between the frame rate and the digitalization and/or streaming (I watched it on Prime) that makes even the slow panning nausea-inducing.

The best part of the movie is the climax where Mac is chasing down the three remaining teenagers. We finally have something resembling acting.

It's really a two-star movie, but I'm giving it three for purely base reasons - all of the girls get their kit off.

Aside: I believe the horse ridden by Mac is actually hurt during one stunt; it sure looks and sounds like it.

Lame thriller, poorly made and mostly poorly acted

[Groverdox · 4/10 · 4 November 2020]

"Bridge to Nowhere" is a lame low-budget thriller about obnoxious, undifferentiated teens who go on a camping trip and run afoul of Bruno Lawrence as a violent, crazy hermit and the generic eighties teenage girl he inexplicably lives with, and seems to have a sexual relationship with. What is she doing there, and why does she dress, talk and act exactly like the campers, ie. like a generic '80s teen, not the hermit she's supposed to be?

The movie isn't scary or involving in the least, and the violence and special effects are pretty unconvincing. Sometimes it's even poorly edited, distracting you from what's going on, like a scene where you can hear gunshots, and the movie cuts back to the hermit, but he's not even aiming the gun, even though he's the one who is supposed to be shooting.

The hermit is played by the legendary Bruno Lawrence, a great New Zealand character actor, and he's the only good thing about this movie.

Pretty good stuff

[hunt-5 · 7/10 · 8 April 2000]

Five teenagers head off into the forest on a weekend camping trip to see the "bridge to nowhere". Fighting starts within the group, but disagreements are forgotten when the hermit who lives across the bridge begins to hunt them down. The fight-for-survival plot is too familiar to make this truly riveting, but it's enjoyable nonetheless because of the excellent acting from all involved. Much to its credit this production resists the temptation of dramatic overacting, and the teenagers are thoroughly believable (although Leon is an annoying jerk that you start to hope gets killed fast). Hermit Mark and his companion Lise are more mysterious and erratic, and Lise's relationship with Mark is never really explained, which is somewhat disappointing but adds further interest. A bit of a nostalgia trip for me with the 80's clothing styles etc., and the NZ soundtrack (Annie Crummer, Car Crash Set etc) adds a nice local touch. A good rental choice for a rainy afternoon.

5 teens tormented by deranged hermit ...pretty good

[merklekranz · 6/10 · 29 November 2007]

"Bridge to Nowhere" starts out in typical fashion. Five teens head out of their city element for a backwoods quest to find the infamous "bridge to nowhere". What they find in addition to the bridge is Bruno Lawrence and his captive teenage "bride", Alison Rutledge. The first half of the movie is straightforward hormone driven drivel, including a skinny dipping and peeper scene. Once the teen leader is confronted by a now very angry hermit, the film kicks into high gear. Genuine excitement follows as the "invaders" are driven from the hermit's domain. The violence is sudden and unpredictable. If you like hunted in the woods movies, you will enjoy "Bridge to Nowhere" - MERK

Gruesome survival horror from New Zealand.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 9/10 · 20 June 2010]

Set in New Zeland's wilderness "Bridge to Nowhere" takes place in and around an actual unfinished bridge which was abandoned in the mid-1920s. Five obnoxious and noisy teenagers head into the woods to cross the bridge and set the camping.Unfortunately local mountain dweller is not happy to see them.He decides to hunt down the kids like animals and the blood begins to flow."Bridge to Nowehere" is a tense survival horror with some exciting stalking scenes and a bit of nasty violence.The villain is an interesting character as is his mentally unstable girlfriend.If you are a fan of "Deliverance","Rituals" or "Just Before Dawn" check out this unjustifiably forgotten survival classic with beautiful and lush scenery of North New Zealand.9 out of 10.

adequate

[mattkratz · 8/10 · 27 February 2001]

This movie might catch your attention in the video store. Being a huge Bruno Lawrence fan, I liked it.

Five city kids cross the land of a hermit while on a hiking trip. They muck up his property and sense of tranquility. This irks him, and he turns out to be a very vicious and dangerous person, especially when angry. He then proceeds to follow their every move and make the remainder of their vacation a living nightmare. Sound familiar? It might remind you of other movies. A basic plot for a lot of films, but this one was fairly well done. Bruno makes a decent bad guy. The relationship between him and his "girlfriend" and their characterizations could have been done better, but that's overlookable. The main focus is on the story and chases.

The photography of the lovely New Zealand countryside in the film is a plus.

See this one if you have time to kill.

** 1/2 out of ****

A potently harsh'n'harrowing New Zealand "Deliverance" variant

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 15 June 2007]

A coed contingent of five rowdy street-savvy city kids venture into the remote woods for a weekend of fun and excitement; they get more than they bargained for when they run afoul of a mean, nasty, reclusive, obsessively self-reliant and misanthropic forest-dwelling psycho hermit (a first-rate rip-snorting villainous turn by the always excellent Bruno Lawrence, who confirms his scruffy status as the Down Under equivalent to Warren Oates) who most emphatically doesn't cotton to any meddlesome outsiders trespassing on his fiercely guarded cut off from the rest of civilization secluded sylvan terrain. Naturally, the hapless group must resort to ferocious animalistic tactics to fend off this dangerously antisocial "leave me the hell alone" loony. Tautly directed with considerable muscular élan by Ian Mune (who also co-wrote the lean, tight, compact script with Bill Baer), with breathtakingly lush and expansive outdoor photography by Kevin Hayward and an effectively spare, shuddery, skin-crawling synthesizer score by Stephen McCurdy, "Bridge to Nowhere" sizes up as a tense, edgy and gripping suspense thriller. Although Lawrence clearly dominates the film with his impressively fearsome portrayal of a cunning maniac who's not to be trifled with, the rest of the cast is equally on the money: gorgeous redhead Allison Routledge gives a warm, engaging performance as Lawrence's loyal, loving wife (Lawrence and Routledge previously acted together in the terrific science fiction end-of-the-world pip "The Quiet Earth"), Phillip Gordon is genuinely frightening as a hot-tempered brute, and Matthew Hunter, Margaret Umbers, Shelly Luxford and Stephen Judd are credible and sympathetic as the other scared, vulnerable, totally out of their depth backpackers. An undeservedly forgotten little sleeper that's eminently worthy of rediscovery.