I’m definitely a sucker for what I like to term the “psychos on the highway” sub-genre. Everything from Duel to the original The Hitcher. Hell, even The Car was an underrated little gem, methinks. On the other hand, there’s been more misses than hits in this sub-genre more often than not. Joyride, despite J.J. Abrams involvement was wildly uneven, and Aussie effort Wolf Creek was, in my opinion, hugely overrated.
Speaking of Australians, it seems British producers Paul Cowan and Chris Weldon of Territorial Film Development (a fitting production house name for this upcoming production) have teamed up with Oz producer Michael Robertson to make Road Train, which apparently takes place Down Under.
I guess after the producers had some success with Black Water, a tale about fisherman being attacked by crocodiles in Northern Australia, they decided it was time to go back to the well.
The story for Road Train supposedly revolves around a gang of youngsters in the Australian outback being hounded by a driverless road train.
Hasn’t anyone figured out going into the outback is just a bad idea? Why the hell do people have an overwhelming urge to go places where they can easily be killed?
I’m diggin’ the fact there’s a supernatural element (at least outwardly) to this one. Hopefully, it can avoid the pitfalls of recent offerings in this sub-genre. Can you say The Hitcher, 2007? Just don’t let it fall into Scooby-Doo country should the supernatural element turn out to be a hoax, folks, that’s all I ask.
Clive Hopkins (Holiday Romance) penned this one, while first-timer Dean Francis takes the helm.