Review of Penny Dreadful (2006) by Doctor S — 28 Sep 2013

As far as After Dark Horrorfest films go, this one was quite good. The plot concerns a young woman who, due to surviving a car crash which killed her parents, has a phobia of actually being in a car. With her therapist, and during her therapy session to overcome this fear, she picks up a hitchhiker who later traps her in the car and terrorizes her in the middle of a forest.

This movie is basically a slasher, as many random people gradually get killed by the insane hitchhiker, however there is a "psychological-horror" side to the plot, as we witness the girl constantly being exposed to the thing she fears the most, and having to choose between overcoming her phobia or escaping from it and coming face-to-face with a maniac in the outside. The ending even has a twist which leaves us feeling it is almost impossible to escape from fear and terror.

Overall, this is a good little flick with an interesting concept, especially for people who are personally familiar with phobias. Maybe even one of the best After Dark films to date.