The Curse of Buckout Road (Movie Review)

PLOT: After returning home to see his grandfather, a young man discovers that a cursed road may be leading some of the local townsfolk to their death.

REVIEW: In the opening scenes from the independent horror flick THE CURSE OF BUCKOUT ROAD (WATCH IT HERE), a teacher is speaking to her class as they discuss the balance between faith and fact. While this is happening, this same teacher (Mayko Nguyen) has a strange encounter with her husband during the night. The two scenes are edited together in such a way that it’s slightly off putting, but as the film plays on, the transition begins to make more sense. This is the fictional story of a true life, reportedly cursed road that runs through Westchester County in While Plains/West Harrison, New York. It’s also very much a love letter from writer/director Matthew Currie Holmes to all things genre – the script is co-written by Holmes and Shahin Chandrasoma – and if you have that adoration of spooky flicks as well, you’ll likely have a good time with this. So let’s take the wheel and head on over to Buckout Road.

This supernatural tale revolves around a young man named Aaron Powell (Evan Ross). After he returns home to spend time with his grandfather, Dr. Lawrence Powell (Danny Glover), their strained relationship becomes even more problematic when Evan begins to take notice in one of Powell’s patients, a pretty girl named Cleo (Dominique Provost-Chalkley). Things get really bizarre when both Cleo, and fraternal twins Derek and Erik Ganzer (Jim Watson and Kyle Mac) all find themselves plagued by dreams of scary albino twins, a ghostly woman in the woods, and a creepy witch trial, all of which begin to haunt the troubled Aaron. Things get more problematic for Aaron when people start dying, and Cleo’s detective father (Henry Czerny) begins to suspect that Dr. Powell’s grandson may be the culprit. What is behind the nightmarish visions and the horror on display? Well, I'll leave most of that for you to discover.

BUCKOUT ROAD is an intriguing blend of sub-genres in horror. In many ways, this indie has more in common with the cult classic THE CABIN IN THE WOODS than your typical haunting flick. One sequence involving a group of kids parked by the side of the road is drenched in 70’s horror from the look of the film to the fun, old school slasher feel that it offers. If you appreciate grindhouse scares from the late Seventies and early Eighties, it should put a smile on your face. From a ghostly woman wandering the woods, to a murder/suicide of an abusive husband and his pregnant wife, the urban legends that are explored here help give this chiller a unique style – albeit one that took time to grow on me as the film’s secrets were revealed.

One of the most impressive things that BUCKOUT ROAD has to offer is the inclusion of actors such as Danny Glover, Henry Czerny and Colm Feore. It was a pleasure seeing these fine talents take on a feature such as this, with each one adding a bit of gravitas to the spooks and scares. While Mr. Glover doesn’t get too much screen time as the story progresses, he shares a few nice moments with Evan Ross. Having that kind of on-screen talent in a low budget horror movie is impressive enough, thankfully most of the younger cast is quite good as well. This is especially true for Ms. Provost-Chalkley. The actress brings a mix of vulnerability and strength to the tortured character she portrays, which certainly helps the viewer connect to the supernatural frights on display.

For the viewer, there was a slight disconnect during the first half hour or so of the film as to the way the film is edited together, and how much of the terror is told with a series of nightmares the characters suffer through. However, as the film progresses, the unique mix of supernatural subplots and urban legend nightmares began to paint a fun and clever nod to horror in general. As well, Holmes does a nice job of not only paying tribute to classic horror, but by adding a few twists and turns throughout. A few times, the director takes us down a path that seems to be obvious, but he thankfully adds a much needed element of surprise. This is a movie made by a true horror fan, one that embraces the haunting atmosphere and offers good performances throughout. 

Matthew Currie Holmes urban legend frightfest is a fun and entertaining little thriller. While it certainly doesn’t feel like your average folk legend come to life horror show, its love of genre is certainly clear. Instead of taking lessons from your modern haunted house story like THE CONJURING, BUCKOUT ROAD seems to be more interested in the approach of cult classics like THE CABIN IN THE WOODS and WAXWORK instead. The cast is solid, and the soundtrack even offers up a couple of good tunes – definitely a rare thing for a indie horror flick. If you are going to be cursed by something, THE CURSE OF BUCKOUT ROAD will likely put a smile on your genre loving face.