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wondered why almost every character you see in B-horror movies that lives
anywhere beyond the city limits (re: in the "sticks") are all clichéd
"redneck" types? It's really simple: most horror filmmakers were born
and bred in the city, and never having actually traveled beyond the borders of
their fair city (or indeed possessed the desire to do so), all they know (or to
be more precise, all they think they know) about rural life (re: people
who aren't like them) is derived from the likes of "The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre". As a result, dumb and bellicose rednecks have become tropes of
the genre, much to the genre's detriment, as blind devotion to tropes precludes
overt originality, which is, for the most part, the case with
"Detour".
Perhaps realizing that their film is a bit clunky
in the early parts, director Steve Taylor and co-writer Steve Grabowsky
tosses in a bloody killing in the desert to open the film. Soon, we are
introduced to our seven main characters, college kids who have journeyed
into the desert for a rave last night. On their way back to L.A. in
their RV, the group decides to take a detour into the desert to locate a
massive stash of peyote. Too bad for them that the area where the stash
is, well, stashed is full of cannibalistic killers, one of whom just
sliced and diced two raging lesbians in the beginning. Can you say,
"Oh damn, these guys have seen 'The Hills Have Eyes' one time way
too many"?
The thing about the cast of characters in
"Detour" and other films with similar cast makeup is this: in
real life, these people would never even speak to each other. The Goth
chick is annoyingly anti-social, the Wigger (a white guy who talks and
acts like a "ghetto gangsta") belongs in another universe, the
RV driver has drug dealer "contacts", and Tara and Harmony are
flirtatious sorority sister types. No surprise that there's almost zero
chemistry among the different groups, and even when they're occupying
the same RV for long periods in the beginning, they mind as well be
communicating from different planets. The most convincing relationship
is between Tara and Harmony, which is really the only natural
interaction among the cast.
Highly influenced by the outback cannibal movies of
the '70s and immersed in new millennium sensibilities,
"Detour" is predictable from the word "go". Who
didn't know Tara would eventually take charge of the situation and come
out like Sarah Conner, guns blazing? Or that the two lovebirds would get
the shaft first, most likely while shagging in the shade? Or that Loopz,
the Wigger, will most likely survive through the whole ordeal, as Odious
Comic Relief characters in B-horror movies made after the millennium
tend to do?
While Taylor's obviously intimate knowledge of the
seminal works of his genre has resulted in a very formulaic movie, it
also benefits the genre fans in other ways, namely an attractive cast
not opposed to wearing as little as possible. Even lead Ashley Elizabeth
spends the better half of the film wearing cut-off jeans that barely
covers the top half of her ass. And although there is plenty of gore,
the killings are unfortunately just serviceable, with no real inventive
scene in the bunch. As well, the villains come across as more stuntmen
in Goodwill clothing rather than the cannibalistic mad dog killers
they're supposed to be. Even the head killer is just barely a notch
above lame.
"Detour" does have some things going for it,
namely Aaron Buer providing the film's many comedic moments. The
ultimate Wigger, Buer's Loopz (real name Larry) is the film's bright
spot, constantly eliciting laughs with his faux gangster posing. Some
may find the kid annoying (fellow horror movie reviewer
Arrow-in-the-Head didn't particular care for him), but I could help but
laugh at his many oblivious gangsta-speak. Ashley Elizabeth as the Sarah
Conner-in-waiting Tara has some good moments, although curiously for
someone who has just shot and killed a half dozen cannibals (in the
fashion of one-shot, one-kill, no less), it's silly that Tara would
revert back to hysterical damsel in distress moments later in the film.
The rest of
the supporting cast is hit and miss, with Jill Jacobs doing the best
work as Harmony, who curiously gets bitten twice in the film (both times
shot by Taylor as being brutal attacks) but never seems to be worst for
wear. I guess the girl just heals really fast. Either that, or poor film
continuity. Jessica Osfer as the Slutty Girl seems to be suffering from
California lisp, the same condition that affects Drew Barrymore; but
other than that, she provides the film's only real nudity. Anthony
Connell plays The Old Guy Who Knows Stuff and, predictably, warns the
kids off the desert.
It goes without saying that only genre fans need bother
with a film of "Detour's" caliber. It is what it is, and in
this case it's a derivative, formulaic film with predictable moments
throughout, but is still nevertheless too amusing to really take to the
shed. Director Steve Taylor makes great use of his desert location, and
the film is very pleasing to look at, with some nifty capture of the
stark surroundings, even though the desert is never really made to look
dangerous. Then again, when your script calls for a small army of
faceless cannibals in Goodwill clothing, I guess making the desert
surroundings look ominous isn't really necessary.
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