Review of Route 666 (2001) by John F — 08 Nov 2009

Route 666 is about federal agents Lou Diamond Phillips and Lori Petty who track down runaway mob informer Steven Williams (ok, with these 3 big early 90's names, I'm already sold) in the desolate Arizona desert just in time to get away from ruthless mobsters with machine guns.

Also tagging along with several other Feds, the group takes an abandoned highway (Route 666) where a murdered chain gang now haunt (yes, ghost zombies). As the Feds, mobsters, and crooked cops all intermingle on this road and shed blood, the ghost zombie chain gang arises from thin air and use their weapons (jackhammer, chains, pick-axe, shovel) to dispatch some gore-infused mutilation.

While the rest of the cast is so-so, our three main leads are the most fun to watch though Petty is slightly underused and Phillips has trouble carrying the film. It's really Steven Williams who is the stand-out entertainment (not to mention comic relief as well) within this film.

The horror attack scenes are also VERY terribly shot in this film, using shaky-cam and/or slow motion during the action and kills which makes them almost unwatchable and very un-enjoyable for the most part.

This is surprising considering William Wesley directed one of my all-time favorite 80's horror films (Scarecrows), which, though equally corny, displayed a run array of gory deaths and decently spooky monsters.

Some other interesting faces that show up include Dale Midkiff (Pet Semetery), Alex McArthur (Suspended Animation), L.Q. Jones (The Wild Bunch), and good ole Dick Miller (Gremlins 1 & 2). Overall, this film is over-the-top and corny, but as far as direct-to-video goes nowadays, this one is slightly better than the rest.

Good for a boring day!