Review of Southbound (2015) by Maddison B — 09 Mar 2016

Southbound is a refreshing horror into the anthology genre, with thrilling twists and turns, and smooth story transitions, amongst rich atmosphere this is a film you don't want to miss.

Southbound houses five interlocking tales of terror stretched over one long desolate highway - a pair of brothers running from their past, a jazz band with no way to their next gig, a highway accident, a brother looking for his long lost sister and a family on one final vacation.

Each segment has a different director - Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath and Radio Silence, this collaboration of directors set the bar for horror omnibus flicks. From a mix of the creators from VHS, one would think to steer clear from another tired use of horror anthology, but there is something special about Southbound.

This indie gem brings you a grungy atmosphere, a synthy score and stimulating characters tormented by their guilt. With a modest budget, Southbound does well to even include some fun low budget special effects, creating wispy floating skeletal angels of death. Each segment blends into the other one seamlessly without any distracting elements, there is no dead air as you are catapulted into every nightmare.

Although some segments are much stronger then other, if you are to watch this movie, watch it for the middle instalment, The Accident. An intensely disturbing tale following the acts of a good Samaritan attempting to save a badly injured woman, while an EMT dispatcher, a 911 operator and a Surgeon talk him through the steps. Blood spurts, limbs crack, you will feel like you've just witnessed something you shouldn't have in this troubling body horror, with humour so dark it oozes...

If there are any negative points of Southbound, it's that each story leaves a lot of loose threads hanging. Although this isn't entirely bothersome, it just feels like a badly wrapped present.

Southbound is a unique collection of tightly knitted horror stories. It's eerily hypnotic.