Top 10: Road Horror#1

Last Updated on July 27, 2021

Written By Serena Whitney:

A sub-genre of movies I
happen to love is the “road movie” genre.   I love this particular type of
movie because it seems to be different in every genre it’s portrayed in.

In dramas, road movies
usually consist of the main character going through a journey of
self-discovery. In comedies, road movies are usually about a couple of
buddies going on an adventure that leads them on a wacky and fun filled
adventure, but in the horror genre, it’s a whole different story.

A horror road movie may
start out like a typical road movie, but the movie usually soon takes a turn
for the worse and most likely consists of a single or group of characters
that must fend themselves off from a psycho on the road.  (Finding their
true selves or having the best road trip of their lives are the last f*cking
things on these characters’ minds by this point.) Here is my list of horror
road movies that have made me want to take a train or a plane for whenever I
have to travel to a far destination.

WARNING – SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!

10.
Freeway

Reese
Witherspoon may have won an Oscar for her performance in Walk The Line,
but I will always think her portrayal as Vanessa Lutz, (the trailer trash
and tough as nails girl who kicks Kiefer Sutherland’s ass) is her best
performance.  This “Little Red Riding Hood” meets “The Hitcher” road
flick was unique, frightening at parts, full of dark humor and extremely
underrated.  I recommend this movie as a must-see for fans of the road
genre.

9.
Joyride

Before his
surprisingly well done performance in this year’s Running Scared, I
would usually only watch movies with Paul Walker in them simply for eye
candy.  Although, Joy Ride was an exception.  I remember sitting on
the edge of my seat and biting my nails in theatres wondering how the
psychotic trucker, Rusty Nails was going to take out his revenge on the two
brothers that played the mean joke on him.

(Thankfully I
wasn’t the only dramatic loser in theatres who was reacting that way.)  This
thriller also has an awesome special edition DVD with 4 alternate endings.
(*One ending is a half an hour long and changes the entire outcome of the
movie.)  Pick it up if you haven’t already.

8. Jeepers
Creepers

This movie to me felt like
two different horror movies put together.  The first (and superior) half was
a beyond creepy road movie, and the second half was a poorly executed
creature feature. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed this movie.

Although, if the second
half of this movie kept the same strong elements as the first half, I think
audiences would have liked it more.   Seeing Darry and Trish getting stalked
by The Creeper throughout the movie gave me chills up my spine, and with the
exceptions of the stupid psychic subplot and The Creeper ending up being
some gargoyle-like monster, the movie was a great addition to the road
horror genre.

7. Maximum
Overdrive

When someone mentions the
Green Goblin, I don’t think of the villain from the Spiderman comics, I
think of the possessed truck chasing Emilio Estevez. (Sad, I know.)   This
movie was nominated for quite a few razzies, and is considered to be one of
Stephen King’s worst film adaptations, but I don’t care. It still scared me
as a child.  Seeing that kid getting rolled over by a steamroller scared the
f*ck out of me when I was little. (Never had I been so freaked out by a
death since the kid getting eaten by a shark in Jaws.) Sure it’s bad,
but it’s not as bad as that god-awful Wicker Man remake. (Which in my
opinion, is the Gigli of Horror films.)

6. Kalifornia

This movie has a
bit of a cult following, although mention this movie to most people around
my age, and they probably won’t know what you’re talking about. (Unless
they’re extreme movie nerds) I found this sad fact out, when I asked a lot
of my friends if they’ve ever seen the movie where Brad Pitt played a
disturbed and merciless serial killer. Most of them looked at me with blank
looks in their eyes.   This movie starts off at a slow pace, but immediately
picks up with some frightening turns and gruesome kills by (then) “B star”
Mr. Pitt. 

LOOK OUT FOR PART 2 OF THIS LIST SOON!