Rogue River

The film starts off innocently enough. A woman (Michelle Page) goes to the river to spread her father's ashes. When she goes to leave, her car is missing. Fortunately, Jon (Bill Moseley) is available to giver her a ride. You wonder why he is there, but whatever, he is there and takes her home to meet his wife Lea (Lucinda Jenney).

They convince her to stay the night instead of going to a motel, and that's when the fun begins.

These two are definitely psycho, and the bizarre behavior keeps intensifying. It gets really bizarre before it is over.

When it is over, you will be scratching your head.

I actually really enjoyed this movie and I think the reason so many other people disliked it is because they had much different expectations of what the movie should be. Sometimes what really makes a horror movie messed up isn't the scary plot but the creepiness of the characters within and that's what I feel made this movie interesting. If you're a fan of horror movies with really odd characters then this movie is for you. The plot was not too special, although there were some decent shocking twists that really make your eyes widen. What really kept me invested in this movie was the extremely disconcerting characters which is something I love about horror movies like this one. If you're into horror that doesn't revolve around a supernatural plot and revolves around off-putting character relations and uncomfortable scenes like I am, then I would definitely recommend this movie. If you're easily bored by movies that don't have stellar plots with intense intricacy then maybe try something else.

My spouse and I were suspicious of the plot quality within the first few minutes. A sheriff does not tow a car parked in the woods for a short time, especially without checking around for the owner who could be left stranded miles from anywhere. This wasn't a downtown no-parking zone. No audible tow truck noise? More to the point, there wouldn't even have been time to get a tow truck into this remote side road! So why wasn't Mara immediately concerned about Jon's phony story? Why wasn't she upset about her missing car and why it vanished? First things first. This is nonsense. We watched the whole thing but found ourselves wanting Mara to use her head and ask more questions from the start.

"We won't keep you. I promise." Michelle (Page) is sitting by a river getting ready to scatter her dad's ashes when Jon (Moseley) shows up and tells her it's illegal. When Michelle finds her car missing she accepts an offer of a ride by Jon. After going to his house and meeting his wife she begins to regret her decision. This is another example of liking a movie based on your expectations. I really thought this was going to be low budget and cheesy and I have to admit that it wasn't that bad. It is still a B movie, but it's a higher B movie. I really can't say that this is a good movie but it was much better then I expected and Moseley is really creepy in this. I was a little disturbed at some of the scenes and found myself turning away in some parts, but overall this is really not a bad movie. Overall, nothing amazing but for a short horror B movie you could do much worse. I give it a B.

Let's see...where do I start? Let's start with what you're craving throughout the entire length of the film, character development. This is a basically non-existent element of the movie. The protagonist is unlikeable, a judgment which I base only on the first thing she says. The main reason why is because I actually have nothing else to go by. Her first impression is never redeemed, because her character never develops in the slightest. The only purpose of her existence is to be tormented and scream. And no, most horror protagonists are not necessarily like that. As far as the antagonists go, they do get more and more insane throughout, so at least something's happening.

There's no shortage of plot holes. I won't spoil anything (not that you'd care). But, I will say that even the motives of the kidnappers I feel were not fully explained.

Of course there's endless horror cliché's, but you're already expecting that. There are however some very creepy and original moments near the beginning.

I've heard people claim this is similar to Timber Falls (???). I honestly don't understand that at all. There's two scenes which bare a very slight resemblance to it, everything else is totally different. Those two scenes are not enough to accuse it of ripping off Timber Falls. Also, let's remember that Timber Falls is a much better film.

Ending on a positive note, the acting is pretty good actually. It has Bill Mosley of course. The other performers are quite good as well though.

4/10