From some of the same makers as the horror omnibus trilogy
“V/H/S,” the clever “Twilight Zone”-esque indie-horror
anthology film, “Southbound,” presents a quintet of tales, each centered around
people on the run from someone or something they’d like nothing more than to
put squarely in their rearview mirror. Set within the same stretch of lonely
desert highway, each story follows some poor lost soul on a road to nowhere,
all united by one common trait: guilt.
“Southbound” ditches the typical connective framing device
that slows the pace of many films of its type; here each story flows seamlessly
into the next. They’re all linked by a pulsing, retro synth score, and
periodically, a Wolfman Jack-like DJ, voiced by
horror icon Larry Fessenden, chimes in to offer some existential commentary. As
with any anthology, some stories are better than others, and the standouts
include “Siren,” from writer-director Roxanne Benjamin, about a female rock
trio left stranded when their Volkswagen van gets a flat in the middle of
nowhere. They hitch a ride with an eerily pleasant couple, who naturally turn
out to be part of a satanic cult. Before their ordeal comes to an end, the
girls are forced to confront a past tragedy involving their missing fourth
member.
From there we segue into the film’s highpoint with David
Bruckner’s “The Accident,” in which a momentarily distracted driver
accidentally hits and severely injures a pedestrian (to put it mildly).
Attempting to make things right, the driver follows the
instructions of a concerned 911 operator and EMT dispatcher who attempt to
guide him through some hasty surgery to hopefully save the victim’s life. The
goriest of all the film’s segments, “The Accident” walks the devilishly
entertaining line between gross-out effects and slapstick humor.
The least successful story in the collection is “Jailbreak,”
from director Patrick Horvath, which finds a man on the hunt for his long-lost
sister. But when he finally locates her, she’s less than happy to see him.
“Jailbreak” dabbles in some intriguing supernatural elements, though in the end
it never quite comes together.
Directing team Radio Silence open and close the film, with
their first tale following two bloodied criminals attempting to escape demonic
floating wraiths out to make the pair pay for their transgressions. The final
tale involves a home invasion, with a family staying at a roadside motel suddenly
under siege from a band of very persistent masked intruders.
Sprinkled with the same twisted morality that powered some of
the best “Tales From the Crypt” stories, “Southbound”
is a fiendishly fun ride while it lasts.
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2016.
