Roadkill

Before Johannes Roberts brought us 47 Meters Down or The Strangers sequel, he directed this SyFy movie named Roadkill. I have genuinely liked his movies before even though none of them were masterpieces but I thought they are mostly entertaining and fun little flicks. With this one being a sci-fi original you probably know what you're going to get. You will have bad acting, awful CGI effects and a dumb plot. However I think this is one of the better SyFy movies, the effects are bad but I have seen way worse, the acting was also not terrible and we even have some decent make-up effects. And as far as the story goes, I think it's quite original. A couple of teens driving around Ireland in an RV accidentally run over an old gypsy woman and are cursed with a giant flying creature chasing them down to kill them.

So basically just expect a typical sci-fi movie that is slightly above average for their content. [3,8/10]

Released in 2011, "Roadkill" is yet another creature-on-the-loose flick from Syfy. This time it's a giant bird-of-prey, the mythical Roc, preying upon a bunch of youths touring rural Ireland in an RV, picking 'em off one by one.

With Syfy you never know what you're going to get. For every "Sasquatch Mountain" and "From Within" there's a "Mega Cleavage Vs. Gatorade." With a title like "Roadkill" the prognosis wasn't very good, but "Roadkill" surprised me.

The movie combines elements of several films: "Jeepers Creepers 2" (flying creature attacking a bus full of youths) and countless other flying creature flicks like "Carny" and "Wyvern," as well as films like "Wrong Turn" and "Dying Breed" (malevolent hicks in remote areas). It also has a subplot about an old gypsy curse, which is reminiscent of "Drag Me to Hell." If you like these types of films "Roadkill" is as good or better.

What makes it "as good or better"? For one, it's filmed on location in mysterious rural areas of Ireland, which sets it apart from most Syfy flicks which are filmed in British Columbia, Romania or Bulgaria. Secondly, it has a likable cast with a good assortment of gorgeous women. Thirdly, the CGI creature is well done, unlike say the cartooney cat in "Saber Tooth." Fourthly, the material is taken seriously and never devolves into camp or goofiness. Fifthly, this is just a solidly made Grade-B creature feature. The filmmakers obviously took the time to make a quality product and this is seen in numerous scenes. For instance, the sparrow scene (you'll know what I mean when you see it), as well as the touching reflective sequences in-between bird attacks and the many atmospheric forest/moors images. I also like how the film touches on the human breaking point and insanity, which would certainly be a possibility (or probability) if this occurred in real life.

The initial review of "Roadkill" on IMDb gives the film the absolute lowest rating possible (1/10), which is absurd, not to mention inexplicably gives away the ending (?!). What a moron.

This reviewer refers to the youths as "stereotypical beautiful college kids" but, as far as the dudes go, I don't see any Brad Pitts, and as far as the ladies go, they're pretty hot, as noted above, but not unbelievably so. Also, despite the token minority they seem like a realistic circle of friends.

This reviewer also rags on the film for the huge RV, but this is a pretty big group of youths so the RV HAS to be big enough to accommodate them. Besides, we see huge RVs all over rural areas of North America, why would it be any different in Ireland?

BOTTOM LINE: "Roadkill" is a solid low-budget flying creature flick with a sideplot of ee-vil gypsies and is well worth your time if you're into these types of films. It's at least as good as "Wyvern" and I like it better than "Jeepers Creepers 2." The film runs 88 minutes.

GRADE: B+

Six teenagers travel to Ireland in a RV road trip expecting to have fun in their vacation. They stop in a bar and Anita (Roisin Murphy) offers 100 Euros to buy the medal of the gypsy Luca (Ned Dennehy). He accepts the money, but delivers another brooch. The troublemaker Chuck (Diarmuid Noyes) takes the medal from Luca and they flee to the RV. However, they accidentally run down a clairvoyant gypsy that curses them before she dies. Soon they learn that they are chased by the legendary bird Simuroc and by the gypsies that want to retrieve Luca's medal.

"Roadkill" is a dreadful movie with a predictable story that entwines the plots of other teen horror movies in an awful collection of clichés and stereotypical characters. There are dozens of movies showing teenagers in a road trip that goes wrong and a gypsy curse can be seen in "Drag me to Hell" or "Thinner". The giant bird is probably the only "original" part of this movie. What is Stephen Rea doing in this flick? My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "A Fúria de Simuroc" ("The Anger of Simuroc")

Yeah I gave it 7 of 10, what of it?! I enjoyed this movie the first time SyFy ran it a couple years ago and I've been looking for it ever since. I found it for free today on an online free movie site. (legal) I like B movies IF they are done with decent acting (this was) decent plot without too many holes ((check) and most importantly NO horrible CGI. The CGI in this movie was decently done for what it is and for the budget they probably had to work with. I didn't once roll my eyes at the monster bird. Honestly, who really knows what a truck sized bird would look like in real life? I imagine a bit unreal! I love B movies, I love creature features and I loved this movie. I offer no apologies, it was great!

This is a pretty bad movie that is lousy and unwatchable. The story is nothing to special because it's just characters trying to flee from a myth bird. It's interesting they use that type of bird that I never heard of and does give details on what it is. But the movie full of cliches and is easily predictable throughout. The whole curse thing makes no sense because the bird is also after people who have nothing to do with the accident so why include a curse. There's no one to root for in the movie because all of them are pretty bad and aren't that likable at all. The acting itself is pretty bad in this type of movie. This movie is not worth watching.