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Rest Stop: Don't Look Back (2008) (V) More at IMDbPro »

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16 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Sequel That Doesn't Really Accomplish What It Aims To, 20 September 2008
5/10
Author: Gavin Schmitt (gavin6942@yahoo.com) from Kaukauna, Wisconsin

One year after the disappearance of Jesse and Nicole, Jesse's brother Tom (a corporal in the Army, fresh on leave from Iraq) and two friends are on the trail. Although the police were unable to do anything, these three quickly stumble on the same path from a year before... encountering the religious family, the driver... and more. Will they meet the same fate? I really enjoyed "Rest Stop" and seeing that the same people -- most of the original cast (Jaime Alexander is noticeably absent), plus John Shiban and Shawn Papazian -- had returned, I figured this one couldn't be too bad. But my feelings are mixed. While some of it was pretty good, other aspects came across as lacking. I'll start with the defects and then go back to the merits.

The casting confused me. Both Tom Hilts (Richard Tillman) and his friend Jared (Graham Norris) weren't overly likable, and they came across as awkward. I had no interest in caring about them. The girlfriend (Jessie Ward) was good as far as being the "sexy chick", but beyond that had little to offer. Was I supposed to care about her? The other big concern was that while the creators had said they wanted to expand the mythology of the first film, almost every scene was covering the same territory all over again. It's true that new details about the driver emerged, and there was some added mythology, but not really enough to make this film seem progressive.

My final concern was the use of torture. I understand torture was used in the first film on the bus, but it seems like it was increased for this flick. For no particular reason. Having one character be turned on another? Excruciatingly painful incidents that do little or nothing in punishing sin, as near as I can tell. If you're going to use torture, use it sparingly. The torture meme has taken over horror and I have been sick of it for some time now... it's not scary, it's just getting played out and boring.

But the film is not without its merits. There's a great bathroom scene... an intense sex scene which could have gone further but goes pretty far as it is... and more of those creepy twins. The use of gritty filming (like in "Devil's Rejects") returns, which I think adds a lot of character (and should be used more, not less). And for those who liked the first film, this fills in some blanks that may have been lingering in the minds of viewers.

Overall, "Rest Stop: Don't Look Back" was not a necessary part of the series and could have gone without being made. I feel that for what was added, it wasn't nearly enough. At the same time, the film sets the stage for a "Rest Stop 3", since now there's bound to be questions needing answers for some people. I'm curious. I don't know if they can adequately answer my concerns about the plot, but they have my endorsement if they are willing to try. Just please... more plot, less torture.

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Disappointing Mess, 12 October 2008
2/10
Author: Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The corporal Tom Hilts (Richard Tillman) returns from overseas to his hometown Argyle, Texas, for a ten days leave with the intention to seek our his brother Jess (Joey Mendicino), who disappeared one year ago while heading to California with his girl-friend Nicole (Julie Mond). He drives his truck with his girlfriend Marilyn (Jessie Ward) and followed by his friend Jared (Graham Norris) in his old car to California trying to track his brother. While in the old highway California, Jared needs to stop his car in an old rest stop to go to the toilet and is attacked by the driver of a yellow truck. Meanwhile Tom and Marilyn wait for him in the next rest stop where Tom is also attacked and kidnapped by the driver of the yellow truck. Marilyn sees the ghost of Nicole in the restroom and realizes that they are facing supernatural evil forces.

"Rest Room" had a good premise but the writer did not know how to end the story. However "Rest Stop: Don't Look Back" is a disappointing mess, with a non-likable lead characters – Tom, Jared and Marilyn – and an invincible sadistic ghost. The greatest "attraction" of this flick is the sick tortures inflicted by the driver to his victims, removing eyes and drilling knees and legs, with lots of gore and pain. But the plot itself is very weak and worse than in the original movie. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Rota Mortal: Não Olhe Para Trás" ("Mortal Route: Don't Look Back")

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9 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Not as good as the first, not bad though, 5 October 2008
5/10
Author: Sabalon from United States

I realize I may be in the minority liking the first, then again the IMDb boards seem to be there only to complain.

Rest Stop was a bit of slasher with a ghost story thrown in. There were several places where you just kinda went "oh...didn't see that coming". In part 2, it seems like they tried to duplicate those, but after seeing the first one, they didn't have the oh-wow value.

The ghost sequences were all pretty obvious (sans one) and the whole Family is a known from the first one so that wasn't a surprise.

As for the background they tried to give the people from the first one, while somewhat interesting, it just didn't seem to fit or feel quite right. One can only hope that if they make a third one it will all payoff. However, they need to finish the story instead of trying to keep stretching it out as it's getting a bit thin and there will not be much more you can do with the story.

If you liked the bit of gore from the first one, this one has taken it up a few steps. If you like the spooky atmosphere, that is there, but not as present as the first one. If you like old Ford trucks, you're in luck!

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
A disaster, 28 December 2008
2/10
Author: collipal-1 from Argentina

Two years ago,low-budget film Rest Stop had some success in the DVD market,in spite of telling a completely incoherent story.I found that movie tedious and full of repetitive and irrelevant scenes which revealed director and screenwriter John Shiban's desperation to "inflate" the movie with the porpoise of fulfilling running time and to simulate drama the weak characters could not generate.And now,we have the repulsive and disastrous sequel of that bad film.Rest Stop : Don't Look Back is a crap of enormous proportions.This "film" is a pathetic combination of the style of the Asian horror cinema and the modern torture cinema.For one sight,we have the mysterious villain who tortures young people on an isolated place; we have manifestations from ghosts; and we also have an enormously boring and unbearably slow story which is completely improvised.Instead of provoking horror,this film provokes a big impatience.Plus,the characters from this movie are deeply stupid,so much that I wanted them to get killed.On this crap,we also have terribly bad performances and insipid violence.Rest Stop : Don't Look Back is an unbearable experience.This repulsive piece of crap should immediately be destroyed.Be very far away from it.Don't make the same mistake I did and do not loose the time with this thing.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
This Rest Stop is worth visiting., 7 October 2008
Author: Prolox from Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

One year after his brothers disappearance & that of his girlfriends best friend, Tom, Marilyn & Tom's friend Scotty decide to take the same stretch of highway the couple was last seen on, in an attempt to find clues to the couples disappearances & soon finds themselves plagued by ghostly apparitions of the couple, the weird, creepy, insanely religious family in the camper van & of course the evil ghost in the truck who is determined to kill them all & make them the new inhabitants of the spiritual world, unless they can find a way to stop him. Having seen the first REST STOP, I was a little nervous in checking out the sequel, not that REST STOP was the worst movie I ever laid my eyes on (Believe me I've seen far worse!) it still remained a dull, seemingly over long & confusing 70's style slasher, however I decided to cave in & see this anyways, mainly to keep my reviews up to date & thankfully I'm happy to report that while this sequel is still no masterpiece, it far & away defeats it's original film by this time providing us with some neat plot twists, suspense & bloody mayhem! The film is also better acted & directed than it's original, with an interesting flashback that shows us how the insanely religious family & the trucker met their horrible fates that kick started the terror. The film only falters in it's lousy five minutes which is a major let down & another pointless excuse for another sequel. Worth a rental, just don't expect to much out of it.

*** stars

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7 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
I was surprised.., 1 October 2008
7/10
Author: The-Man-In-The-Mask from United States

I'm in a minority here, but I really enjoyed the movie.

The gore scenes were pretty good, a few good jump-scares, and just creepy and fun scenes make it a fun movie to watch. Very weird, hard to understand and a lot of problems with it, but it's better than the first, and at least worth a rent.

One of my main problems is the characters were annoying, and I often kept wanting to smack Marilyn across the face.

But, considering a lot of the straight-to-DVD crap that gets put out, this was an okay film that I actually enjoyed, maybe a little more than I should have...

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8 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun little gem, 10 October 2008
8/10
Author: boy_in_red from United Kingdom

I enjoyed the first Rest Stop movie- considering it was a straight to video, low budget horror, I felt it was a tense off-the-beaten track film, with some nice, and unexpected, supernatural elements. Though I'm not claiming it's a horror classic, it was a fun film, and certainly felt like one of the fresher films in this sub-genre of horror, especially when compared to the tired Texas Chainsaw prequel and Hills Have Eyes sequel- both of which were out around the same time.

I think the sequel is equally fun- if not more so. Anyone witnessing the porta-potty scene will know there's a real streak of humour in this film. The supernatural aspects are also capitalised upon- allowing for a good twist or two. The sequel fleshes out some of the history of the freakish family, we find out what happened to the characters from the last film- all in all, it does what a good sequel is supposed to! So if you want a fun hour and a half, you could do far worse than watching this.It's silly fun, with some laughs, some gory parts and some tense moments, but then that's the point, I expect. It's a nice feeling when a straight-to-DVD film demonstrates a lot of what is missing in big budget cinematic horror films today- bring on Rest Stop 3!!!

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Rest Stop: Don't Bother to Look, 22 September 2009
2/10
Author: kaaria1-1 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I would call this Rest Stop 2: Don't Bother to Look. This movie by far was not the worst I have seen. But with that being said it is far from the best. We have the brother and his ridiculous girlfriend (don't care about her at all) searching for the two from the original. Then we have random guy that has sex with a ghost while wearing poop stained underwear. I digress. The couple ends up at the infamous rest stop, where they battle the restroom ghost and the creepy family of nuts and the school bus. I did like that they gave the killer some background but they didn't know what to do with it, once they gave it to us. I was left wondering, what the hell just happened. I was confused and frankly don't need to see a part 3. Just let this series of movies die. They suck! It is unfortunate that they couldn't have made a better movie. I really wanted this to be good and to tie up all the questions I had from the 1st.

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Load Of Rubbish, 6 March 2009
3/10
Author: billbeast from Australia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Load of rubbish. The film starts off good, and is enjoyable, right until about mid-way through, when things become laughable. One of the characters even has sex with a ghost. The movie was just plain stupid and had PLOT HOLES written all over it. It was predictable and one thing died throughout the whole movie.

The plot started off good and then turned to rubbish. The amount of plot-holes and unrelated dialog was so stupid and it just made the filming pointless.

The acting was surprisingly good, with a believable cast, take 1. One of the key elements to the film is the acting.

Overall this sequel, is only to be viewed if you've seen the first, and even if you have seen the first, i wouldn't bother buying it, or renting it. My rating is 1.5/5

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2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Lame, 13 October 2008
2/10
Author: palmer-4 from la

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

It's hard to believe they weren't making this up as they went along. They don't even adhere to their own "rules" they set. Things just change to suit the "story." Worst of all is the three leads are about as likable as a broken brick. I couldn't care less about any of them. The goofy friend third wheel guy would scrunch up his face and I swear he was 45. It reminded me of the gag on the Simpsons of the Beverly Hills 90210 spoof with actors who were in their late 30s playing teenagers, when they smiled, it showed every wrinkle on their face. They never explain why the guy has to drive his own car instead of riding with the couple.

The lead bimbo is about as annoying as you can get and it's hard to believe writers wanted their lead female to be this way.

Apparently everyone is a "ghost" in this movie and you'll go "wait...what?" about ten times if you manage to watch the whole thing. It's not like the first one was good enough to warrant a sequel, but of course, they leave this one open for another. I won't be watching.

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