Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (2008 Video) User Reviews

Was not bad

[sumana-m21 · 5/10 · 9 November 2008]

It wasn't really all that bad. I have watched much worse horror movies than this one. Some bad things about this movie:

1. Very predictable storyline. 2. Not scary at all, but kind of funny like "The Hatchet". 3. Acting is okay.

But overall its still okay, not as bad as what the other reviewers say. Just a timepass movie. It depends on what you really enjoy watching. If you like to have a laugh while watching a horror movie then I'd suggest you watch these type of films. I usually don't like to scare myself to death while watching a horror flick.

Hope this helps!

Passable sequel.

[poolandrews · 4/10 · 8 September 2011]

Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead starts as four friends are driving across the open desert on their way to Las Vegas for a party, sisters Melissa (Nicki Aycox) & Kayla (Laura Jordon) & their boyfriends Bobby (Nick Zano) & Nick (Kyle Schmid). While driving down an old dirt road their car breaks down & they find themselves stuck, with no option but to walk they eventually stumble across a house that seems abandoned but as luck would have it a nice car is sitting in the garage full of gas & ready to go. The four decide to borrow it so they can get back to civilisation but when the owner returns later he isn't too pleased that they took his car. A serial killer who calls himself Susty Nail (Mark Gibbon) he sets out to teach the four friends a lesson & starts to psychologically & psychically torture them with his intent to kill them after he's had some fun but the plucky Melissa fights back & tries to outwit & out-think Rusty Nail & save herself & her friends...

This American & Canadian co-production was directed by Louis Momeau & is a reasonable time-waster if your desperate & there's nothing else on telly but I would struggle to call it anything else other than watchable. A direct to video sequel to the theatrically released Joy Ride (2001) this is a fairly routine sequel that is more of a rehash of the original than something significantly different, as I said it's not too bad for what it is but Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead feels a little predictable & a little forgettable. The character's are alright but again with it's cast of perfect looking teens you get the impression Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead was written & made with demographics in mind, we never learn anything about Ruty Nail & why he decides to play games with the four teens, why not just kill them & be done with it? Why does he not follow up on wanting Kayla's middle finger after making such a big issue of it? The ending feels a little rushed too, how did Bobby get to Melissa so quickly & how did he know where she was? Come to think of it how did Melissa know where Rusty Nail had parked his truck? At just under 90 minutes it moves along at a decent pace, the game of cat & mouse occasionally works but sometimes feels like padding & the body count is maybe a little on the low side. Not bad I suppose but not exactly great either, watchable enough for what it is in a teen horror thriller sort of way.

A I said the body count & gore factor is a little disappointing, a woman is decapitated, there's a severed finger, a ripped off jaw & someone gets a steel rod rammed through their head but otherwise not a lot. In fact out of the four lead teens two of them are still standing at the end. There are a couple of impressive looking crashes & explosions including Rusty Nail's truck falling off a cliff in slow motion at the end & exploding at the bottom. Available in an 'Unrated' version on video & an edited cut which gets shown on telly it's safe to assume the Unrated cut is a lot better with added gore (not that there's much to begin with), added nudity (not that there's much to begin with) & added profanity (not that there's much to begin with).

With a supposed budget of about $5,000,000 this has good production values & looks nice enough, filmed in British Columbia in Canada although set entirely in the US. The acting is alright, the material isn't great & one dimensional so it was never going to award winning stuff.

Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead is a passable time-waster, it has a decent enough story with some thrills, a bit of gore, a bit of tension & the ultimate question of what will happen next & how will our teen stars get out of it but not much beyond that. Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead is the sort of film you watch & enjoy it perfectly enough but within a day or two you have completely forgotten it.

1 step forward 2 steps back

[bjt55 · 6/10 · 6 December 2008]

I felt tormented watching this film. Not that it was a bad film, but it was really hard to rate. For example the opening scene was soo awesome! Then I got to meet a few of the main (somewhat cheesy characters). Then I liked the acting of a few from their group. I mean they were a group of quirky people. There was pretty good dialog in this movie, which almost shocked me at first. This movie also had some cool twists. Not in a twisted ending type way, but more like "wow that was pretty messed up" kind of way. There also wasn't a huge build up. Nothing really jumped out at you. There wasn't anything terribly original or cliché about this film. If you want to see a decent movie you can watch it. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it, but if you cant think of anything else go ahead. I say if you want to watch a movie similar and yet better than this, watch Duel! Now thats a suspenseful movie.

Pass

[Andrei_cinefilul · 3/10 · 1 October 2008]

I don't usually watch direct to video films, as I guess I have certain prejudice about their quality. However, I made an exception for this one, as "Joy Ride" was quite good.

Well, let's put it this way: I won't be watching any more DTV films (especially sequels) after this one. Here are the reasons why this is bad: imbecilic plot, cheesy film making, zero suspense (compensates, as one could expect, through gore). Theoretically, I shouldn't bother going into details, but I'd really like to protect the fans of the first film from the evilness of this one. - imbecilic plotting (selection): 4 kids in the desert break into Rusty Nail's house and steal his Chevy Chevelle (yep, the man has taste!) as their car broke down in the middle of the desert. For one reason or another, they feel it's just OK to risk messing with a guy who they don't know and might very well be a psycho (weird, old house in the middle of the desert, nobody at home). Oh, and keep an eye on those Peterbilts ! They can go faster than a 60s sports car.

• cheesy film making: you can easily notice some scenes with the Peterbilt played fast-forward in order to make it look like it goes faster. Embarrassing. I understand this is low budget, but come on !

• no suspense: do not expect to find any trace of the high tension in the first film, which was so slickly directed by John Dahl. In "Joy Ride", it was about refined photography (ex the red light in the hotel chambers), realistic acting, chilling music, menacing suggestions (anyone remember the one with the camera lingering on the picture on the wall?), enjoyable homages (Hitchcock via the corn chase, Spielberg via premise etc). As I said, "Joy Ride 2" is much gorier instead. It brainlessly rehashes some of Rusty Nail's bad habits in the first movie, for ex ripping off the jaw of the people unfortunate enough to stand in his way. Unfortunately, lacking dark suggestion and moody atmosphere, it just doesn't have any effect.

However, there is one scene that will definitely please seekers of intense feelings: ***SPOILER*** the one where the two male protagonists are taken to RN's garage and tortured, forced to throw some dices and each number had it's own 'surprise' for the other one, craved on the wall of the garage. ***END SPOILERS***

I don't mean to sound overly excited for the first film, it definitely had its flaws: the script had some faulty logics of its own and it was sometimes cliché and predictable (btw, did anyone actually believe the ice truck driver at the gas station was Rusty Nail ???). But trust me, this one will make it look like "The Godfather".

It's just wrong, guys...

Absolute garbage

[mboyd1986 · 1/10 · 13 January 2010]

I don't understand why producers, directors, writers, actors etc. get involved in such absolute garbage as films like this.

I can only think they do it because they know there must be some people who think that this film will be worth watching and they can make some money. What I mean is, the photography is good, the sound is good, even the camera work is pretty good, but the story line is such total rubbish. The characters are totally unbelievable especially the irritating guy with the metal rings in his lip.

Who would go into a truckers restaurant and start talking in a loud voice and disrespecting truckers? It's just so totally unbelievable.

This is one of those films that I have to watch just to see how bad it gets.

Half an hour later: It's so bad I've decided to watch David Letterman instead. I worry about the mental stability of people who write such sadistic garbage as this film. I hope they have nightmares.

I enjoyed part 1, but this one made me want to harm all involved in making this

[Netscape_Navigator · 1/10 · 3 December 2009]

Story: Four idiots break down on the road, they break into a house, steal a car, after which the psychotic owner kidnaps one of them, and the rest of the movie is based on them trying to recover their friend.

Although I've seen plenty of bad movies in the past year, I'm not sure if any one of those had the combination of being this flagrantly bad in terms of BOTH acting and writing. Usually it's a combination of both, where one aspect might be pretty bad, while the other only makes you want to kill yourself just a little bit. This pile of trash is literally at the lowest end of the scale for both acting and writing, and here are some reasons:

**As a bad writing example, the fact that the main girl left her number for the owner after they stole the car. If anything, she should've left a note saying they'd return the car as soon as they could, and apologize. Since this is basically the catalyst to jumpstart the movie, I'll let this pass.

**Bad acting by the main girl after she runs into the parking lot after learning her boyfriend is kidnapped. In general, her dialogue and emotion didn't fit- at times where she should've been panicked and desperate, she comes across sounding angry, wrong choice. By the way, when her cell phone rang in this scene, why did she answer "Bobby are you OK?" as if there were any chance that it would even BE Bobby on the other line? She just got done talking to the kidnapper, why is she assuming it's her boyfriend that would be calling?

**I don't see how that emo dude should've so confidently talked trash about truckers in a diner FULL OF THEM. Also, I thought it was unrealistic how the two girlfriends were sort of going along with the emo dude's insults about the truckers, just smiling. It came across like they genuinely though it was funny, most girls would've told him to shut up and get his act together.

**In that strip tease scene, when she approached the truck assuming that Rusty Nails was behind the wheel, when the decoy shows his face, her reaction is just..all wrong. Yes, WE as the audience are taken by surprise that it's not the actual kidnapper and instead it's some hillbilly retard, but HOW DOES SHE KNOW?? Why did she immediately come to the conclusion that they'd been tricked and he wasn't the actual kidnapper? And the way she screamed "Bobby" was worse than Darth Vader's "noooooo."

**The scene I hated most was when the emo dude was chosen to dress up in a wig and dress, and the way the main girl went into movie cliché 'badass' mode to convince him to do so. After he refuses, she puts a scalpel to his neck and calmly tells him what he needs to do. Any other emotion would've been fine, she could've acted hysterical by screaming at him to please do what the kidnapper says, cry, panic, act desperate, but for her to calmly and confidently tell him in the stereotypical low voice that he's GOING to do this, made me want to kill her myself.

**When the emo dude gets captured, and the two girls are watching, who's holding who back? WTF were they doing? Girl #1 acts like she wants to go run to him, only to be held back by Girl #2, but then Girl #2 is now trying to run towards him, only to be held back by the Girl #1. Who's holding who back? WTF was this?? I can only imagine what the director must've told them to do in this scene ("yeah, just act panicked and stuff, that's all I've got.")

**After the main girl's sister got killed in the collision, she had NO EMOTION. Ridiculous.

**When they had the two captured guys in Rusty's shed, how coincidental was it for the emo's favorite game to be craps, since Rusty's wall was covered with the consequences for each dice roll outcome. So what if he would've said his favorite game was Monopoly or something?

**Again, not something I can criticize too much since every movie is guilty of it, but when the main girl knocks out Rusty with the shovel, of course she doesn't make sure he's out cold or dead, she just throws her shovel away.

**Along with death and taxes, here's something else that's guaranteed; I can guarantee that during the scene where Rusty was on top of the truck, anyone watching that scene was thinking the same thing: "hit the f*****g brakes."

**In this same scene, it was nighttime when he was on top of the truck, then early daytime when he was inside. OK, so she must've drove throughout the night right? Well how the F**K did her boyfriend show up seconds later after she jumped out of the careening vehicle? That's gotta be miles that he would've hobbled on one leg, OVERNIGHT. Nevermind the fact that he appeared seemingly within seconds.

**I'm gonna give this movie the benefit of the doubt and assume that the ridiculous ending line where the boyfriend asked "is it over," as she looks heroically over the cliff and kicks the wallet and says "it is now," was tongue in cheek. I really, REALLY hope this was meant to be campy and not a serious scene.

**It's ridiculous that they made this trucker into an omnipotent supernatural demigod, being able to see your every move, come in and out of cars without being seen, and able to survive crashing in an exploding semi going over a cliff.

My god, that main girl is one of the worst actresses I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot.

Only watched it for Rusty

[DiscoNurse · 7/10 · 18 June 2009]

I have to admit, the only real reason I wanted to watch this movie was to hear what Rusty could come up with next. I liked the original a lot, and figured they can't do anything worse than, oh, say, Hell Asylum? After popping it in, I was greeted by a nice, gory, self-explanatory opening scene; a rare sight in today's horror films. However, before realizing his intentions, I thought the new Rusty would be more perverted; lucky, he quickly dismissed this hunch.

During the body of the movie, I was happy to see some new twists from Rusty; i.e., claiming that the middle finger one of the characters stuck up to him was now 'his property.' He made me laugh in that I'm-glad-I'm-not-her way.

Sadly, the movie doesn't really surprise if you've seen the original. You already know how Rusty is, so his cruel threats and demands don't seem as terrible as they could be.

Overall, it was a pretty good movie with some A- moments. A fun watch if you're in the mood for some unsympathetic chuckles.

Decent for this kind of film

[Wizard-8 · 16 July 2015]

I've seen a lot of movies that went direct to DVD, so I can say with confidence that "Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead" is an above average example. It doesn't beat the first movie, but if you go in with lower expectations as I did, it does provide a reasonable amount of entertainment. For what was a low budget (just $5 million), the movie all the same looks fairly professional. Director Louis Morneau shoots the movie on picturesque locations (believe it or not, this desert-set movie was shot in British Columbia), the cinematography is good, there is ample set decoration, and there are some good vehicular action sequences and stunts here and there. The story does make for some somewhat tense moments as well, though I will admit that the protagonists are not terribly likable - though on the other hand, seeing these guys put through various tortures is amusing and satisfying. Most importantly, the movie is never boring. If you are into B movies as I am, you'll probably find the movie entertaining enough.

Stupid Story

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 14 March 2009]

While driving to Las Vegas for the bachelor party of her sister Melissa (Nicki Aycox) and her fiancé Bobby (Nick Zano), Kayla (Laura Jordan) stops the car in the gas station to meet her date Nik (Kyle Schmid) that she met in Internet. Nik convinces her to take a secondary road under the protest of Bobby and the car stops with melted engine. They find a house in the middle of nowhere and decide to take the car parked in the garage to the next city, and return with a rented car to pay for the damages provoked by Nik; Melissa leaves her cell number. However, they discover that the owner of the place is the sadistic truck driver Rusty Nail (Mark Gibbon) and they have to pay a high price for what they did.

"Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead" has a stupid story using with elements of "The Hitcher" and "Duel" with the pretext of sadism. Unfortunately the argument is too silly and never works. When Bobby is abducted, for example, the attitude of Melissa is ridiculous since they knew where the deranged driver lived. Rusty Nail is unreasonably omnipresent and indestructible and the conclusion with the intention of a sequel is also awful. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Perseguição 2 – O Resgate" ("Pursue 2 – The Rescue")

A decent sequel, though it does slap the first one in the face

[Dragoneyed363 · 6/10 · 31 December 2008]

I loved Joy Ride. It was a very amusing and well balanced thriller that you were pleasantly surprised to admit you enjoyed, and that is really the only reason I gave the sequel a chance. Well, if this would have been given a different title, quite honestly people would have thought immediately while viewing that it was a rip-off of the first. Except for the same killer, nothing resembles the first, which goes back to my summary of how it is a slap in the face. I would have appreciated minor acknowledge to the first in some shape or form, but sadly I did not receive that. I know though how most sequels of this caliber are quite mediocre and disappointing, so I guess that is allowed to be my major disappointment for this one.

Still, with that peeve stated, I rather enjoyed this. It was very entertaining and, in ways, very smart and cunning where you did not think it would be so brilliant, but I am not exactly calling this a masterpiece thought-provoker with those words at all. I also thought it had decent and interesting characters enough to where you were actually amused with the story, though at times a lot of them were very faceless due to the casts' lack of strong acting ability, though I honestly can't state that I was expecting that in the first place. Also, the plot was very acceptable, to say the most. The movie entertains, and it was a satisfying enough sequel to a very great first. Certainly don't be expecting it to live up to Joy Ride if you are going to watch it, though/

Definitely unworthy

[gerardolandini · 2/10 · 28 July 2015]

Shoddy and tasteless. To all those people who are rightly curious to watch the sequel of "Joy Ride", just don't do it, if I may suggest. Very cheaply made, rare intriguing scenes, the acting is poor and stunt scenes are catastrophically bad. This is the perfect example of a forced sequel. Overall you can't just get into it because of the pumped up characters themselves. Typical situation were apparently tough rocking guys change attitude after messing up and weeping silly girls becoming invincible and unrealistically able to fight monsters. And this might be pleasant when the story takes you on their side, but it just doesn't happen. You don't get involved at all. Just enjoy the first movie and don't go further.

NonStop Action and Good Fun

[reagentz · 8/10 · 11 October 2008]

I have watched my fair share of horror films, from backyard "B" flicks to big budget horror. I ran across this movie at my local movie store, instead of renting it something told me to just buy it and add it to my collection. I usually do not buy horror sequels without first viewing it, but I thought "why not." From the time the movie came on it kept me entertained! I could not just stop watching it because I wanted to see what would happen next. Even though the movie has some painfully obvious moments, you just want to see it for myself.

This movie has nothing new and/or original, while watching it you feel as if you have seen this storyline time and again, yet it was done in an entertaining, not really over-done fashion. The movie reminded me of The Hitcher meets Maximum Overdrive (without free thinking machines) meets The Car (though not a demon possessed car) meets Break Down with Kurt Russell.

The lead antagonist does sound like Berry White like one review said, but he is only a guy with a deep voice. The other actors in the movie seem to keep the movie together and it is not at all over-acted.

If you are looking for just some good thriller/horror fun with some splashes of gore effects and suspense on a Friday/Saturday night, then this would be great (my wife even thought it was entertaining/suspenseful and she is not a horror fan like I am).

Do not listen to the 1 star reviews, from what I have read these people think a good horror movie is a teen scream fluff film like Disturbia or well… Scream… Take it from someone who has seen just about every horror and gore film including foreign; this is definitely not the worst movie on the block and seriously not worth a 1 star rating, I've seen so much worse, try an independent backyard Zombie movie for starters.

Hey, what happened???

[craftercool · 7/10 · 15 January 2009]

Well, actually my vote is 7.5 But hey men, what happened with the Leelee Sobieski's character? (see Joy Ride's first part) I'm just kidding, the movie is good even when it have missed the Sobieski's character, but men, the Trailer's Driver is kind of inmortal, you can send him to a big hole and I don't know but he is going to survive, and he will get a new trailer to continue killing people, hey, I wanna be like him, a guy without fears and inmortal, sounds cool huh? If I have to decide between the first and the second part, I'm sure that the better one is the first part, it was a new idea of killing people, never seen before, it has a great dialog and... do I have to say it again? Leelee Sobieski appears in the first part

One of the worst endings in the world

[rahmanster · 1/10 · 31 May 2011]

We watched the big truck jumping out of that cliff, then it exploded, the worst and the most disappointing thing was when I saw Rusty Nail again with a new truck , as if nothing happened to him , the question is : from where did he buy a new truck again? and I thought that I saw his body falling with his truck , right? Is he immortal or something? and I thought he killed those people because they made him angry but in the end , we saw him taking that woman without any reason, her car was just broken down please , it does not deserve 5/10 and please warn us about similar movies, I lost one hour and a half watching this movie at 2

Terrible Terrible Terrible Terrible times 10

[damitch · 2/10 · 11 October 2008]

My god, this was one of the worst movies I've seen in ten years. The acting sucked, the characters' behaviors were ridiculous, the villain "survived" somehow.

This was honestly one of those stupid blood-and-gore thrills that thought since all the sheeple liked the Saw movies, they would copy it.

I thank the gods that I downloaded this movie. Because if I had actually PAID money to see it, I might have to go on a homicidal/suicidal rampage.

DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE! it was 100000000x worse than the original with no plot twists, no original ideas, and no good acting!

My Review

[joemamaohio · 2/10 · 5 October 2008]

He's back! Our favorite lovable serial killer trucker has decided to grace us again with his presence in this straight-to-DVD sequel to the widely popular original.

This time, Rusty Nails torments four young people on their way to Vegas. Melissa(Nicki Aycox), her fiancé Bobby (Nick Zano), Melissa's sister Kayla (Laura Jordan) and her online boyfriend Nik (Kyle Schmid) are innocently driving along when their car breaks down. They inadvertently visit the home of good ole RN, steal his car, and proceed to be hunted down by the maniac behind the wheel.

Take the name of the movie, add in the throaty voice of Rusty Nails, and those are the only two aspects from the original movie that made it to this lamer than lame sequel. There's no real character buildup, no superb acting from the likes of Paul Walker, Steve Zahn or Leelee Sobieski...instead we have four stock characters who have no emotional value and who couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. The thrills are replaced with over-the-top gore, and instead of making the semi truck seem like the villain like they did so wonderfully in the first, it's just another prop used by the director to try to make his lame point across. What the point is I haven't the foggiest, but still it minimizes the importance of the semi truck.

The more I watch this movie, the less I like!

[atinder · 4/10 · 13 July 2012]

(I still can't believe I seen 3 times now)

Everyone times I see this movie, i also seem find it that I like much less the my last watch.

The fist movie was great as it had some really great Thrill Ride of scary and tense moment in that movie, sadly I can not say the same for this movie.

This is was stand alone (Which I was Gutted about), No one of first movie as come back and even have new person playing the killer.

This movie never feel had any suspense in action seen and the lead in this movie was very annoying throughout the whole movie, so don't really feel sorry for her and I don't think her acting helped out all.

This movie as some good bloody moment in it and some torture scene, which I thought that scene was ruined by the silly screaming from the goth kid.

The acting from some of cast was just really bad and very annoying.

4 out of 10 (Why did l Like this on first watch. i must of been drunk lol) __________________

Bleak, and neither here nor there

[eddax · 6/10 · 27 May 2009]

Like with Wrong Turn 2, I enjoyed the prequel of this movie, the first Joy Ride. Maybe it was the thrills but I think it was more likely because of the actors.

Also like Wrong Turn 2, Joy Ride 2 is actually competent. The acting was good, which made it a pity that they had two of the four leads being stupid, annoying ****s. The one person (the heroine's boyfriend) who had any common sense at all was removed from the picture early - probably because he had common sense.

But unlike Wrong Turn 2, I didn't enjoy this movie, though not because it wasn't a pretty tense thriller. It just came across as too bleak for me. Whereas the characters in the other movie had a fighting chance, it felt like the ones here were pretty much going to be subjected to torture after torture. There was also not much sense to it all. A psychotic trucker is the villain but it might as well be a psychotic ____ (fill in profession here). This movie would fit better as torture porn instead of thriller but there's not nearly enough gore for it, so it's kinda neither here nor there.

Pure Trash

[gascap · 1/10 · 16 January 2010]

As a true horror film fan, I thought this sequel might be somewhat enjoyable. Wow, was I mistaken, or rather taken for a ride. Suspense? Nope. Ingenuity? Nope. Enjoyability? Zero. After suffering through this film (and I use the word "film" lightly) I really wished I had done something else. Perhaps pouring salt in my eyes while listening to an old Barry Manilow tape at maximum volume would have been better.This piece of garbage should be a resounding cry for institutionalization. The people involved with creating this mess as well as the misguided minds that enjoy it do not belong in a civilized society. Torture is not a joke or to be taken lightly and watching this film was pure torture. Plotwise, it is on the level of a demented teenager's sick rape-filled wet dream. Acting is akin to a bad cat food commercial. Predictable and stupid, violent for the sake of prurience, and absolutely no redeeming quality whatsoever. I simply cannot say enough bad about this steaming pile. Two hours of my life wasted.

Rusty Nail is a bully and virgin. Any time, punk!

[StanleyCupBruins · 6/10 · 4 March 2021]

Rusty Nail is the biggest loser in this movie. How about a fist fight? He sounds mentally challenged and probably never had sex with a human being.

Waste of time

[sake78 · 1/10 · 6 October 2008]

The problem with this movie is the shallow script and breakaway from the original. Nowhere in the first movie Rusty Nail is hinted to be a cold blooded killer (remember that in the end no one died, not even the college friend with the BMW); furthermore the first movie is set as a fable and not a bad one either.

Here enter The Sequel: lacking depth , trying to make up for the lousy script through mindless gore, poor acting, lame voice; Rusty Nail is now a killer on the loose which pretty much kills his character, the acting is what you can expect from B rate movies and his voice is... very weak.

In the end, if you liked the original Joy Ride for the psychological side of it you will HATE this movie. However, if you enjoy movies with no plot and lots of blood then you might like it

Heck of a Joyride, isn't it!?

[halloweenuk · 9/10 · 30 September 2008]

I've been waiting for a sequel to Joy Ride ever since I walked out of that cinema back in 2001. The whole Rusty Nail idea was fresh and also chilling. Finally I heard news of a sequel, probably about 10 months ago, and the wait was over. I have watched this movie three times now, to soak up all the little one liners and bits I missed from the first viewings! Overall, I think this is a great sequel. OK, so it didn't have the budget which the first movie had, so there will be some factors which other fans might not like, but I think it turned out good. Rusty Nail (Mark Gibbon) is very different from the first Movie, where Ted Levine and Matthew Kimbrough played him. He is gruffer, thinner and we get to know him a lot better. The movie focuses on Rusty a lot more this time, and we get to see glimpses into his personal life including his car, his home and his past times. The opening to the movie is short and efficient. It sets the mood as a good slasher/thriller which will keep you entertained. Rusty is a lot more confident in this one, and this makes for a more complex plot at times, some may like this, others may not. I felt it worked well. The movie feels very much like 'The Hitcher 2' which I think is a great thing. Most straight to DVD flicks are unbearable, but this director is different. Good movies for staying in with a bowl of pop corn on a rainy night! I felt the acting from Rusty was very good, and really set the mood well. There were some great trick scenes to keep you on your toes, and some rather creepy moments, especially when Rusty plays his 'favourite game' with his victims! The movie had a strong plot, and a good ending, especially if you're a fan of Duel. At the end of the day, I'm grateful they put the time & money into making a sequel and I hope they do more in the future. Well done to team Joyride 2, you get a thumbs up from me. -Steve

There's Some Joy in This Ride.

[Mr_Censored · 6/10 · 15 February 2010]

While the original "Joy Ride" was a classy, suspenseful and stylish film, its direct-to-DVD sequel, "Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead," goes more for the gore and cheap thrills, playing as sort of a cross between the first film and films like "Hostel" which derive much of their horror from placing their characters in excruciatingly uncomfortable situations.

In the original film, we had characters we cared about, who found themselves at odds with an unstable trucker known only by the handle Rusty Nail after a seemingly innocent prank. Here, the characters -- as cardboard as you would expect from a cash-in sequel -- seem to be making as many poor decisions as they can at every turn and are just begging to be a part of Rusty's game. Rusty himself, who has been re-cast from Ted Levine to Mark Gibbon, comes across less-human than before and seems to have an even meaner streak. Here, the attempt is made to cast Rusty Nail as some sort of franchise villain, worthy of carrying future films on his back, but unfortunately, the film adds nothing new to the character's mythology or motivations. He's just a mean guy who can't be reasoned with.

In spite of its flaws and the fact that it can't hold a candle to the original, "Dead Ahead" gets a pass for delivering some decent thrills and for attempting to milk some tension in its final act. Also, the actors seem to be trying to deliver more than just the stereotypes they were written as, and for that, they should be commended. For the most part, it works, and to be honest, there have been much, much worse direct-to-DVD sequels in recent memory. It's also a bit tough to follow-up such a strong act as the first, so with that in mind, you'll be able to turn off your brain and enjoy a ride with "Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead."

Trucking hell.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 11 May 2011]

Horror/thriller Roadkill had a nifty plot and a rather cool killer, but a reluctance to get seriously nasty (the film was rated 15 in the UK) and a weak ending ultimately made it a very unmemorable affair; part 2 is certainly a lot nastier, even entering Hostel/Saw-style torture territory towards the end (and earning itself an 18-certificate in the process), but it is also one of the dumbest sequels I have ever seen.

The film opens with Melissa (Nicki Aycox), her fiancé Bobby (Nick Zano), and sister Kayla (Laura Jordan) driving to Las Vegas for a bachelor/bachelorette weekend; when the trio stop at a gas station, they are also joined by Kayla's douche-bag internet boyfriend Nik (Kyle Schmid). To save time, the foursome decide to take a desert back-road (doh!) and inevitably experience car trouble. With no sign of any other traffic, they have no option but to set off on foot, and eventually happen upon a deserted house.

A search of the property and surrounding buildings results in the discovery of a fully-fuelled Chevy, which they decide to 'borrow', unaware that the owner of the vehicle is psychotic trucker Rusty Nail, who is none to pleased about strangers meddling with his things. Returning home shortly after his unexpected visitors have left, Rusty sets off in pursuit, eager to teach them a lesson.

What follows is moronic in the extreme.

Whilst taking a leak in a truck-stop restroom, jock Bobby is somehow abducted by tubby, chain-smoker Rusty Nail (without being spotted or any kind of commotion). Rusty then calls Melissa's cell phone, demanding that she and her pals do exactly as he says or Bobby will suffer. Do they call the police, explaining their predicament and telling them where Rusty lives? No, they agree to do exactly as the trucker says, beginning by disposing of their mobile phones.

Rusty then informs Melissa (over the CB in the car) that to save Bobby, they must cut off one of Kayla's fingers and take it to him. Do they call the police now? No, they break into a handy nearby funeral parlour and cut a finger from a corpse, hoping that Rusty won't rumble their plan.

Rusty rumbles. He cuts off Bobby's ring finger and puts it in Melissa's glove compartment for her to find. Surely she calls the police now? Nope, she apologises to Rusty and continues to carry out his orders.

Rusty tells Nik he must dress as a woman and try to score some drugs from a load of wild truckers (apparently, all truck drivers are gak-fiends). Nik reluctantly agrees, but as he totters around in high heels, wig and dress he is also abducted by Rusty. Amazingly, Melissa and Kayla still don't call the police (they do have cops in Nevada, right?—I'm beginning to wonder).

Hell, Melissa doesn' t even call in the cops after Rusty kills Kayla by crashing his rig into her as she lays trapped in his Chevy (proving that he couldn't have been THAT fond of the bloody car after all); instead, she steals a police bike and sets off to rescue Bobby and Nik herself—a pretty stupid idea if you ask me, although not as stupid as knocking the trucker unconscious with a shovel and NOT finishing him off while she has the chance—which is precisely what she does!!!

As if all of this wasn't unbelievable enough, the finalé sees Melissa fighting the psycho off as she powers his big rig towards a cliff (Chevy/police bike/Peterbilt truck—is there nothing this girl can't drive/ride?), leaping to safety at the last moment (and escaping with hardly a scratch), but still failing to rid the world of Rusty Nail for good, since he returns from the dead before the end credits, complete with brand new truck!

nothing different.... maybe funny

[petrostsach · 3/10 · 30 May 2009]

Completely predictable if you have seen some other road thriller movies. Just for fun and pop corn.You can predict who will die from the first 15minutes and maybe the exact order. Actually i laughed more than scared. Nothing different. The first Joy ride much better. The acting is quite ridiculous and the script too. Also very funny this "scary" guy that never showed his face! Actually ,the track is the leading actor in the film. The only thing that worth to see is the falling and explosion of the track at the end of the movie. This was the most interesting to watch. Maybe another good moment was the scene with the striptease.