Munger Road

On the eve of the annual Scarecrow Festival, two St. Charles police officers (Randall Batinkoff and Bruce Davison) search for a return killer the same night four teenagers go missing on Munger Road.

Let me sum up everything good about this film in two words: Bruce Davison. The man is a legend, from "Willard" on down. That he has had to appear in low budget horror films to pay the rent (or at least to keep building a resume) is a sad, sad thing. (And not unique to Bruce, of course -- Robert Englund, Jeffrey Combs, and everyone else is doing it...)

The part with the kids? Who cares? A bunch of dumb kids, no better than you will find in every other horror film. But the cops, they actually had a bit of an interesting plot going on...

There are a LOT of stories, films, and documentaries about Munger Road. Watch something else. This movie has no ending. It was good until then. The missing ending did nothing but anger us and made us hate the entire movie. Here's a tip. People rarely like to wait a week to see the conclusion of a TV series "to be continued". I sure as hell don't want it in a movie. I don't care if I've spoiled it for those who haven't seen it. I hope they don't watch it specifically because this movie HAS NO ENDING. Screw that. I won't be watching a "sequel" either because now I don't care one fig what happened to any of those people. It had good acting. It was directed well. Proved to be scary at times. But will I watch it again or watch a sequel? NOT A CHANCE. Will I recommend it to others? NO WAY! I gave it one star because I had to give it a star. DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE unless you LIKE being left hanging without resolution.

I understand that a good horror movie often leaves one with questions at the end, but this movie felt incomplete. The ending is abrupt and without direction, leaving so many unanswered questions that the audience just sat there and asked, "Is that it?". Setting up for a sequel is understandable but I think the viewer needs more of a hook...(Although I'll probably go see Munger 2.) The story, though unoriginal, does have a fair amount of suspense. There are several scenes that give a good jolt but nothing ever gets resolved. I can't recommend this film. As a resident of St Charles now and a person that drives past that location every day, I wanted to love this movie. There were so many directions this could have gone and it chose none. That's a shame.

"Munger Road" doesn't break much new ground, but it covers the old ground nicely. Two St. Charles students (Trevor Morgan and Hallock Beals) get a video camera so they can go out with their dates (Brooke Peoples and Lauren Storm), to the tracks on Munger Road to check for supernatural activity. The car engine mysteriously dies and the four kids are marooned in the middle of nowhere.

From John Carpenter's "Halloween," director/writer Nick Smith appropriates the escaped serial killer plot, plus pays homage to the opening-scene tracking shot by having a cop investigate a dark house through a point-of-view camera.

Smith also lifts the swinging ceiling lamp effect from Hitchcock's "Psycho" and briefly the making-a-documentary premise from "The Blair Witch Project" which it stole from "Cannibal Holocaust."

So, don't go to see "Munger Road" for originality.

Go to witness how Smith and his young conspirators (including Polish composer Wojciech Golczewski with his edgy, alarming score) transform the sleepy little community of St. Charles into the scariest Illinois town since Michael Myers roamed fictional Haddonfield.

I had to see this movie since I live about 1 mile from munger road which is actually in Bartlett Illinois. The road and the myths and legends are known by many in the area. The scenery is very true to life and the acting is very good! Munger road, the railroad, and the St Charles scarecrow festival and surroundings all pretty realistic. I expected much less and was pleasantly surprised. It is spooky as is the road at times for some people. It's not a slice em up movie but it does really capture your attention and is pretty gripping at times. The camera work and sound was very well done for a low budget movie. The plot was well thought out as to leave a bit to the imagination as well as sequels. It's not that it does not have an ending so much as it has a future like a soap opera for creepy movies. I hope there is a sequel and I don't believe more money and bigger budget would even help a sequel. It was pretty cool with the realism minus all the Hollywood standard unrealistic girls falling down when chased, why didn't he shoot? kind of stuff. Kind of refreshing for once. I really liked it all in all. It was just a local director tired of the same old same old in my view. A really good job about the myths and legends as well as a plot of a returning criminal make it well worth the ticket.