Detour

Plot synopsis:
Piano player Al Roberts (Tom Neal) is drinking coffee at a roadside diner in Reno, hitchhiking east from California, when a fellow patron plays a song on the jukebox that reminds him of his former life in New York City. At the time, Al was bitter about squandering his talent working in a cheap nightclub. After his girlfriend Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake), the nightclub vocalist, leaves to seek fame in Hollywood, he decides to go to California and marry her. With little money, he is forced to hitchhike his way across the country.
In Arizona, bookie Charles Haskell, Jr. (Edmund MacDonald) gives Al a ride in his convertible and tells him that he's in luck: he's driving all the way from Florida to Los Angeles to place a bet on a horse. During the drive, he has Al pass him pills several times. That night, Al is driving while Haskell sleeps. When a rainstorm forces Al to pull over to put up the top, he is unable to rouse Haskell. Al opens the passenger-side door and Haskell falls out, striking his head on a rock. Al then realizes the bookie is dead. Fearful that the police will believe he killed Haskell, Al drags the body off the road, takes the dead man's money, clothes, and identification, and drives away.
After spending the night in a California motel, Al decides to drive to an urban area and ditch the car. At a gas station, he picks up another hitchhiker, Vera (Ann Savage). After some time, she suddenly asks him what he did with the real owner of the car. It turns out she had been picked up by Haskell in Louisiana; she scratched him and got out in Arizona after he tried to become too friendly. Al claims to be Haskell, but she calls his bluff and blackmails him by threatening to turn him in. She tells him that they should sell the car rather than abandon it.
In Hollywood, they rent an apartment, posing as Mr. and Mrs. Haskell to provide an address when they sell the car. However, Vera learns from a newspaper that Haskell's wealthy father is near death and looking for his son, who ran away as a youth after accidentally injuring his friend. Vera demands that Al impersonate Haskell as soon as the father dies, but Al balks at this notion, pointing out that he knows next to nothing about either man.
Back at the apartment, Vera gets drunk and they begin arguing. She threatens to call the police, running into the bedroom with the telephone and locking the door. She falls into a stupor on the bed with the telephone cord tangled around her neck. Al pulls on the cord in an effort to break it. When he finally breaks down the door, he sees that he has accidentally strangled her. He gives up ever seeing his girlfriend Sue again and returns to hitchhiking instead, imagining his probable future arrest by the police.

Tags: violence

Review:
My favorite bit was the scene where King Freak (T.C. Davidson) is carrying Tara (Ashley Elizabeth) like a sack of potatoes away from the Freak residence seemingly intent on getting her alone and doing God only knows what to her, only to be interrupted when Queen Freak (Micky Levy) calls to him from the second floor window like a good little freak wife and happy homemaker to tell him dinner, (Jill Jacobs, held captive and chained upside down) is ready.
While returning to Los Angeles in a trailer through the desert, the driver Neil (Brent Taylor) convinces his friends Tara (Ashley Elizabeth), Harmony (Danna Brady), Loopz (Aaron Buer), Michelle (Jessica Osfar), Lee (Ryan De Rouen) and Cashie (Kelsey Wedeen) to take a detour to an isolated mine where it could have a plantation of peyote.
Sooner the teenagers find that they are under siege of a group of sadistic deformed cannibals and they have to fight to survive."Detour" is a teen rip-off of "The Hills Have Eyes", using the same storyline but with many silly dialogs and situations.
I like horror movies, and "Detour" is not among the worse that I have seen, having beautiful and sexy actresses and a good conclusion with the scary little girl in the best scene of the movie.
Unfortunately the annoying character Loopz spoils what could be worthwhile in this movie, plagiarizing the way of speaking of Eminen and having imbecile lines and attitudes.
If you have not seen this movie yet, better off watching "The Hills Have Eyes" instead.
Normally I am forgiving of most low-budget "young folks in danger" types of low-grade horror films because they sometimes rise above expectations, the shot-on-video HIGHWAY TO HELL being a good example.
That in itself is a missed opportunity (but not a big one) because we all know where horror films go when there's a gang of gregarious kids around.
There's no build of suspense, the frights are few, the cannibals look like friends and family of the film-makers with very little make-up or reason to be the way they are.
With a decent effort on makeup and a bit of style and maturity this could have been pretty good, but save your time and watch HILLS HAVE EYES instead.
This update of the classical Craven's movie The Hills have eyes emerges from the mass of the direct to video slasher road movies of the last few years for a very good use of colors in its cinematography.
This is the only redeeming feature for a movie with a young cast that could be used with more reasons in a Playboy soft core movie (and one of the actress has indeed been in a Palyboy video), it is totally boring as a real horror movie, with ridiculous special effects (with running blood that is really colored water), almost no new ideas in the use of the killers or in the killings their-selves and an hysterical cast.
In independent-straight-to-video side, there's Detour, a little slasher that reminiscent of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hill Have Eyes.
But this flick transcends the stigma of "low-budget-straight-to-video-horror-rip-off" for the simple reason that it is incredibly entertaining!
Ok, the acting was mediocre at best, but the story (obviously an homage to TCM and The Hills Have Eyes) redeems any shortcomings in the acting department, and the gore is nicely done.
The rest of the movie was bad acting, ghetto talking, stupid effects, and lame jokes.
So as not to "spoil" anything, the plot is as follows: A group of young people get stranded in the middle of nowhere and trouble ensues.This movie has a plethora of similarities to the recent remake of "The Hills Have Eyes".
The only redeeming quality this movie has is a bevy of good looking 19 year-old girls.
It was like watching a Bally's Fitness commercial.So much for the good.Other than providing nothing new in the way of story or effects, the movie manages to annoy more than entertain, unless you want to watch it MST3K-style and mock it aloud in your living room with your friends over a case of beer (because that's about how much beer you'll need to numb the pain).It's really hard to tell one gorgeous chick from the next, but there were some memorable male characters.
"Words" such as "yo", "aww-ite" and "dog" interspersed with the usual expletives went from satirical to just plain offensive.I don't know the budget of either this film or "The Hills Have Eyes" (2006), but either could have been made for $3M or less.
It would be amusing to watch them back to back so you can see the amazing similarities -- both have motor homes, both use unfamiliar faces, both have cunning and creepy foes, and both take place in the middle of nowhere.This film was made several years before "Hills" and I never saw the original, so I cannot compare.
And "Detour" just doesn't work.I gave it a 5/10 for the good-looking women..
It's a simple-plotted fun movie about a group of friends driving in a camper van, who are going on a detour for drugs, who fall prey to a family of weird psycho cannibals.
The acting was average, nothing special of course (being a low-budget B-movie), and some of the dialogue was beyond cheesy, but overall it was a fun late-night slasher-stalker movie to just turn the lights down and sit down to, and relax with.
This is the type of movie that gives direct-to-video horror a bad name.
When the film was over, it left me wondering, "Where the hell was this person the last few years?" "Detour" is a bad, bad movie.
The plot was recycled from countless other films, especially "The Hills Have Eyes".
To be fair, there was an very impressive amount of well-done gore effects, at times a little tension, and nicely shot desert locations.
These are nice saving graces, but they certainly don't carry the movie.Once in a while, you'll rent a direct-to-video film that you've never heard of that turns out to be a real gem.
The sound effects manage to be bizarre and misplaced, while the script is lacking in tension and purpose coming across as stilted instead, the pace is leaden, the direction is flat and the story- if we forget for a minute that it is highly derivative of The Hills Have Eyes and pales massively in comparison- has nothing suspenseful or surprising in it with many of the scenes rather stupid rather than terrifying.
The characters, aside from the obvious stereotypes, are both cardboard and annoying, Loopz being the absolute worst, and the eager but bland overall standard of the acting does little to help matters.
Applicants must be familiar with the plot of The Hills Have Eyes, but not the good parts.
I think that most of the reviews given for this film are spot on, given that (by the creator's own admission) it is basically a rip-off of the "Hills Have Eyes" franchise.
This movie starts out like your usual, lame b-grade horror, you may be tempted to turn it off.
This (like "Wrong Turn") is a return to the better days of horror.
Yeah OK maybe it was a remake of the Hills have eyes and TCM but who cares because there are a lot of movies out there that make a close copy or what ever so why do you guys criticize this movie when you don't the others?
So i suggest that any one who reads this and has not seen the movie to check it out b/c i think that it is the best and that is why i give it a 10!!!!
So a lot of you guys say that it sucks well i guess if it sucks then you blow because when i read the comments i think that it is really childish of you people to write bad things so OK maybe you have your comments but leave it at that don't go "WOW could a movie suck more" or " A five year old could write a movie better than this." I sorry people but i think that it is really immature to do that but hey that is just my comment.
Perhaps one of the best looking independent features I've seen in quite some time, "Detour" updates a favored classic in an entertaining and relentless fashion.
Unsuspecting teenagers, cannibals, beautiful actresses, a good comic relief character, an inescapable setting, sexual innuendo, a solid script and excellent special effects.
A teeny-bopper version of 'The Hills Have Eyes.' Not a whole lot to say about it, the killing scenes are good, but not great.
If you happen across this, and like slasher films, then you could add this to your collection, just for the sake of being a horror buff.
This movie has pretty much the same plot line as wrong turn (minus that fact it takes place in the desert and the characters are in search of a pot field).
The best part of the entire movie is probably seeing the main cannibal, who looks like Mr. Clean's brother who was locked in an unventilated room while mixing cleaning products.
I can honestly say that after being introduce to this character I wish every second after that to see his untimely demise.There were some good effects and the actual camera shots weren't that bad considering their budget.
Yes, Hills Have Eyes, Texas Chainsaw, and a slew of others shine through, but thats a good thing, right?
Bad acting, not a single shred of originality (although how often does that happen in horror movies these days?) One of the actors looks like a broke-down Leonardo DiCaprio.
The RV happens to break down in the desert(yet ****HERE COME THE SPOILERS****it is conveniently able to start at the end of the movie ***THATS THE END OF THE SPOILERS***there's a bats*** insane gas station owner, and disfigured cannibals.
None of the characters were interesting at all, and throughout the movie, I wanted to punch the annoying white-rapper-wannabe tool in the mouth.
Granted there are a lot of horror movies that pay homage to the classics, but there's no word for this other than awful..
I actually was laughing out loud at the first 20 minutes of this thing called "Detour"Everything is pretty much explained about the movie by the other reviewers...My only addition would be is to turn on the closed captions if You have it...the dialogue is so good up to the point where the inevitable happens and it becomes the teenage splatter flick it intended to beLike over-the top gore?Like watching first rate actors in their debuts?
An extremely verbose group semi obnoxious ravers are either going to or coming from a rave in the desert, they're warned by a shotgun toting apparent mental patient working at a small gas station, just like in "The Hills Have Eyes", to stay on the main road.
They decide to take an old dirt road and then when they accidentally drive their RV off the road and get stuck, just like "The Hills Have Eyes" and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", and are set upon by a group of stoned cannibals living in an old abandoned mining town in the hills.Derivative of everything from the aforementioned flicks to "Die Hard" to "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" to "Route 666" to "Gore Met Zombie Chef from Hell", but somehow it's still fun, to a point.
I think the first half of this is better than the second half, it starts off looking like an over-directed splatter movie, but then after the first ten minutes it switches gears and turns out to be a mildly amusing throwback to 1970s slasher movies; but by the final 30 minutes, it has worn quite thin.
The acting isn't that bad considering this is basically just home movies, but that little rapping hammerhead character, Loopz, almost ruins what little fun there is here.
The director's commentary on the DVD is also mostly a chore to listen to - they sound like high school students, and they keep interrupting each other every two sentences - but it is kind of funny when they mention "Don't go onto IMDb and give this movie a bad review!".
*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*"Detour" is a B-movie version of "Wrong Turn".
A bunch of teens decide to take a DETOUR off the desert highway to look for some drugs.
"Detour" has all the right C-words for a decent B-movie.One last thing, watch out for the one guy in the camper who tries to talk like a gangsta rapper.
Of course, their RV breaks down in the boonies and all sorts of hilarity - and by hilarity, I mean horror movie slashing - ensues.The dialog is weak...the acting is weaker...and the special effects are weakest, or weakester...whatever.Anyway, there are a few good death scenes.
But here's a suggestion to would-be producers of low-budget horror flicks: I know you're trying to create distinct characters, with attitude or personalities that stand out for the viewer.
Make the characters seem like real people, who would really be friends, and the movie might actually generate a few more chills because the viewer might start to care what happens to these people.Best unintentional moment of comedy?
Very few horror movies that I consider really bad.
This fortunately is one that I liked.This movie is pure Horror candy.
You got cannibals, Rave, Hot chicks, Blood and Even a white wanna be rapper, who although seems very annoying at first, but grows on you as the movie continues.The story is basic slasher flick , Kids go to dessert for an all-night party and wind up being hunted down and eaten by a family of drug crazed peyote fiends.
if you have not seen the movie stop reading at once ,cause here goes-The ones you think would live die and the ones you really want dead, well let's just say they keep annoying till the end.
I will say one thing , the majority of the cast does actually look like teenagers this time around.
There are a lot scenes that don't make sense and are not consistent, but they seem to be there intentionally to make it more b-Movie fun.
In the end you get a great stand off between the girls and the freaks really reminding me of movies like "Mother's Day".Compared to Hills Have Eyes and Wrong Turn, the movie lacks the scare factor, but it does contain one scene that's really chilly.
The girls changed outfits like 30 times.7.) Nice of the Cannibals to make a warning sign.
If I would be scared, with a broken bus in the middle of a strange desert, looking for a signal for my mobile, believing there are people near, the LAST thing I would do is having sex with a really annoying girl..
The movie was filmed under the title Hell's Highway and changed it to Detour after the success of Wrong Turn.
I only hope that the young folks DETOUR is aimed at re-discover Wes Craven's 1977 THE HILLS HAVE EYES.
A pretty good and enjoyable low-budget indie horror item.
You know the sort of thing, taking the mick out of each other, the silly bits of unnecessary character development to pad the run time out that in the end mean nothing & are irrelevant to the overall story, the stupid decision making like splitting up, going off on your own across miles of hostile desert & the fact that no-one tries to or even suggests that they try & free the van from sand it's stuck in & what about that little girl?
On a positive note the second half of Detour is much better than the first, but this still doesn't make up for it being crap.Director Taylor does what he can with nothing but a desert to shoot in, which turns out not to be much.
The girls in Detour are nice however, a few babes never go amiss do they?I was disappointed by Detour, it's like an extremely boring poor mans The Hills Have Eyes (1977), the stranded motor home, the cannibals, the isolated desert setting, the gas station owner who knows more than he's letting on & warns them about the desert etc.
*Review contains spoilers*Hell's Highway is a low budget thriller typical of the genre, but for some reason I wanted to cut it some slack.Sure, it has the usual  stereotyped characters, predictable plot, mediocre acting, poor sound and gratuitous sex scene typical to this genre.
Despite allegedly being cannibal drug addicts who live in the desert, many of the killers appear relatively well dressed and clean cut - which makes them even less convincing.Ultimately, overlooking the films flaws the overall effort was mildly entertaining and even the annoying Loop  character grew on me by the end.
A good low-budget horror, for sure..
Although it takes obvious cues and influences from other movies, mainly Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Hills Have Eyes (but at least the originals, in it's defense) Detour adds enough of its own take on affairs to feel new and interesting.
However, these scenes are horror dynamite, and well worth sitting through the movie for.
You have Loopz, the white-boy wannabe gangsta, who's so OTT that you can't help but dig it, some truly ludicrous lines and a general sense of fun that a lot of bigger horror movies miss out on.
Between the at times great direction and this surreal comic bent, you have a quality midnite movie (or 1.15 AM for that matter...shakes head).It'll never be hailed as a classic, but Detour is an entertaining and well thought out horror that's worth 90 minutes of your time.
The other characters are a mish mash: two best friend party girls, a goth, the rich kid, the couple.
So why did I like this movie?
So why did I like this movie?
So why did I like this movie?
So why did I like this movie?