Special thanks to horror author and all around good guy Eric Woods for contributing this little ditty. If you’ve never read Old Man Woods work, then get ya ass over to Amazon and spend some money!!!
You don’t need millions of dollars from a Hollywood studio to craft a terrifying horror movie. Mando Franco’s Reaper Road is the perfect example of how to create such a film on a low budget while keeping viewers on the edge of their seats until the last frame.
The premise is simple: “Two friends end up on a never-ending road that leads into the woods, trapping them in a hellish dimension.” The film begins with a police officer answering a call about an abandoned car on what the locals have dubbed “Reaper Road” because of how many people have gone missing after traveling that road. He finds a body inside which quickly disappears. The first “oh shit” moment arrives when the dead girl pops up right behind the officer.
We are then introduced to long-time friends Ramona and Syd at a concert. A creepy guy begins stalking them to the point they leave for home. When a car starts following them, they immediately believe it’s him. They turn off on a side road in the hopes of losing him, not seeing the sign telling them the road is closed and to turn back. Soon they are lost in the woods with no idea of how to find their way out.
And this is where the fun truly begins.
A good portion of the film features the women in the car. At first, they are simply driving, not knowing where they’re headed. They begin arguing about…well, life. The actors do an amazing job bringing you into their lives and providing you a reason to care about them and what’s about to happen.
Because this is a horror movie. And you know bad things are about to happen.
Eventually, Ramona and Syd find themselves too afraid to leave the car. They think they see people running across the road. They hear voices and other noises outside, trying to lure them out into the open. Bodies are hanging from trees.
They see things that can’t possibly be real.
The suspense reaches its peak during this portion of the movie, and those with claustrophobia will likely be screaming at the characters to get out of the damn car. But what’s outside the car? The noises we hear (including a baby’s cries) only add to the already tense atmosphere that reaches its zenith when the two are forced to explore their surroundings.
Often what we don’t see in a horror movie can be more terrifying then having the conflict thrown in our faces at the beginning. Because when we do finally get up close and personal with the primary antagonists, our hearts are already pounding from the anticipation.
Reaper Road feeds off that anticipation, and it delivers a pulse-pounding finale.
For a low budget independent film, the soundtrack is hauntingly chilling, the effects are spot on, and the acting is, quite frankly, better than some of the recent mainstream offerings. Not to mention, the creatures in the woods are the things that will give you nightmares for months.
Reaper Road is a film that will make you hope for the continued success of your GPS whenever you travel at night.
