Bridge to Nowhere

This movie might catch your attention in the video store. Being a huge Bruno Lawrence fan, I liked it.

Five city kids cross the land of a hermit while on a hiking trip. They muck up his property and sense of tranquility. This irks him, and he turns out to be a very vicious and dangerous person, especially when angry. He then proceeds to follow their every move and make the remainder of their vacation a living nightmare. Sound familiar? It might remind you of other movies. A basic plot for a lot of films, but this one was fairly well done. Bruno makes a decent bad guy. The relationship between him and his "girlfriend" and their characterizations could have been done better, but that's overlookable. The main focus is on the story and chases.

The photography of the lovely New Zealand countryside in the film is a plus.

See this one if you have time to kill.

** 1/2 out of ****

"Bridge to Nowhere" starts out in typical fashion. Five teens head out of their city element for a backwoods quest to find the infamous "bridge to nowhere". What they find in addition to the bridge is Bruno Lawrence and his captive teenage "bride", Alison Rutledge. The first half of the movie is straightforward hormone driven drivel, including a skinny dipping and peeper scene. Once the teen leader is confronted by a now very angry hermit, the film kicks into high gear. Genuine excitement follows as the "invaders" are driven from the hermit's domain. The violence is sudden and unpredictable. If you like hunted in the woods movies, you will enjoy "Bridge to Nowhere" - MERK

Greetings from Lithuania.

An independent movie that is actually leaves to Nowhere.

I saw it when there was nothing to watch on late TV, so this movie was a little surprise for my.

I was already falling asleep, but this movie got my attention somehow.

Don't get my wrong, there's absolutely nothing special in this movie, only a beautiful landscape, some nice acting and disturbing killings.

I don't recommend this movie because you won't see here nothing special or very interesting.

But if you have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do and there is nothing good on TV, watch it.

Five teenagers head off into the forest on a weekend camping trip to see the "bridge to nowhere". Fighting starts within the group, but disagreements are forgotten when the hermit who lives across the bridge begins to hunt them down. The fight-for-survival plot is too familiar to make this truly riveting, but it's enjoyable nonetheless because of the excellent acting from all involved. Much to its credit this production resists the temptation of dramatic overacting, and the teenagers are thoroughly believable (although Leon is an annoying jerk that you start to hope gets killed fast). Hermit Mark and his companion Lise are more mysterious and erratic, and Lise's relationship with Mark is never really explained, which is somewhat disappointing but adds further interest. A bit of a nostalgia trip for me with the 80's clothing styles etc., and the NZ soundtrack (Annie Crummer, Car Crash Set etc) adds a nice local touch. A good rental choice for a rainy afternoon.

"Bridge to Nowhere" is a title of which I didn't knew it existed, but apparently it marks New Zealand's contribution to the hugely popular (during the 70's, 80's and still today!) sub genre of backwoods/survival horror. I can't give a proper reason why this movie ended up in total obscurity whereas other and similar contemporary movies easily obtained a cult following or classic status. It's not better than most backwoods horror movies, but it certainly isn't much worse, so I guess it's just a matter of bad luck, not enough word of mouth and/or saturation of the market. The concept and opening sequences are very formulaic, with five completely obnoxious and stereotypical eighties kids heading off in their ugly Jeep for a camping trip near the legendary "bridge to nowhere"; an actual unfinished building project in the middle of the wilderness. The group of kids is extremely loud and irritating – especially the self-acclaimed leader Leon – and their trip turns sour when they bump into the eerie redneck couple Mac and Lise. Mac doesn't tolerate Leon's lustful staring at Lise, even though she provokes it, and soon the group finds itself relentlessly pursued by a maniac with a shotgun. "Bridge to Nowhere" is somewhat disappointing in the blood & gore department but does feature a handful of suspenseful moments and an efficient use of marvelous filming locations. The three girls in the cast are quite yummy (that is: if you dig typical 80's chicks) and the always reliable Bruno Lawrence is a menacing backwoods-brute. "Bridge to Nowhere" is hardly fundamental viewing, but interesting enough if you're an admirer of the genre and/or Down Under exploitation.

*note: review title refers to Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Under the Bridge".