Review of Southbound (2015) by Jack F — 31 Oct 2016

I've always been a fan of horror anthology films. From "Creepshow" to "Tales From the Darkside" to "Trick 'r Treat," a well-executed horror anthology is a lot of fun. Perhaps it's because the format works so well for the genre in that a story ends before monotony can set in, and then it's on to the next one; essentially, this distills a horror story down to its basest element, which is fear (obviously); no time for fluff or endless exposition.

Or maybe it's because so many of them involve terrible people getting their just deserts, and there's just something supremely satisfying about that particular narrative. Anthology comics and series like "Tales From the Crypt" were particularly skilled at this device.

Whatever the reason, there's just something in my makeup that responds to this particular category of the genre. And now we can add "Southbound" to the mix, a nasty, effective little piece that churns out five stories all taking place along a desolate stretch of highway somewhere in the southwest. The unlucky characters who find themselves here will soon learn of its sinister, almost purgatorial nature, as they each confront their inner demons-literal and figurative-and try to cope with their various feelings of guilt, shame, and remorse. Most of them are running from something...but they all end up here.

It's not hard to draw the parallels between this forsaken stretch of blacktop and its accompanying small town(s) to the Purgatory of Christian theology, what with the idea that these poor lost wretches could be seeking atonement and undergoing a purification process for their souls. But you could also provide a convincing argument that it's actually a circle of Hell, complete with punishment for the damned and a gravelly voiced radio disc jockey standing in for Satan himself. (Certainly the title "Southbound" has all kinds of implications there.).

The first story involves two blood-spattered men in a pickup truck seemingly caught in an endless time loop, as they try to get away from ghostly pursuers yet keep ending up back at the same diner. The second centers on a female rock band whose touring van breaks down along the highway, and they unwisely accept a lift from a creepy, eccentric older couple. The middle story involves a gruesome traffic accident in which a yuppie, keeping his eyes on his cell phone instead of the road, strikes a young woman with his car. Next, a desperate man embarks on a harrowing search for his missing sister, and it brings him to some pretty bizarre places. Lastly, a family preparing to send their daughter off to college is terrorized by masked home invaders.

Each story has its own merits, and there really isn't a dud in the bunch. The most "conventional" is probably the last vignette, but it's certainly not without its twists. I probably liked the middle portion the best, particularly the traffic accident story, as it serves as a combination of a nightmarish, "Twilight Zone"-like scenario and Cronenberg-esque body horror that's all but guaranteed to make you squirm in your seat. I also feel like this story is the key to the whole movie, though that's certainly up for debate, and that's another good thing about the film: it's likely to promote discussion, particularly if you view the setting in a theological context.

The stories also each have an appealing, undeniable sense of David Lynchian weirdness, particularly the second story, with the ostensible good Samaritans and their bizarro friends, and the fourth one, in which the bar patrons of the opening moments seem ripped directly from "Mulholland Drive" or "Blue Velvet." Say what you will about Lynch's work (and I've been critical in the past), but he's an expert at evoking a surreal, nightmare-like atmosphere in his movies, and the ensemble filmmaking crew behind "Southbound" (most of whom previously collaborated on "V/H/S," another horror anthology from 2012) appear to have studied his technique and put it to good to use.

I will concede that the differing stories sometimes lead to jarring tonal shifts, and as a whole, the movie doesn't feel as cohesive as something like "Trick r Treat." But each story is strong, and in a style of film that tends to be pretty uneven, that's saying something. Some viewers are likely going to complain about the cryptic nature of the picture as it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. But that only deepened the mystery for me (in a good way), and sometimes I find it better to speculate than to simply wait for a movie to feed me explanations and expositions.

Besides, as I see it, the answers to these questions aren't important. It's the choices the characters make; they may all be on the proverbial Highway to Hell but, like the best morality tales, it's on them to figure out when-and how-to get off at the next exit.