Southbound (Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath, Radio Silence, 2015): USA

Reviewed by Ashley Wierl. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2015.

Five interconnected horror stories that take place on a seemingly abandoned desert highway, “Southbound” is a crazy horror anthology you won’t want to miss. From many of the creative minds that worked on “V/H/S”, this film is guaranteed to leave audiences shocked and in suspense from start to finish. “Southbound” was directed in several different segments, by Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath, and a quartet of filmmakers known as Radio Silence.

The film opens with “The Way Out”, with two blood soaked men driving down a desolate desert road, running from something other worldly. The film carries on with other nightmares along this southbound desert highway. The next segment, “Sirens” directed by Roxanne Benjamin, is that of an all girl rock band who’s bus breaks down and then proceed to make the fatal mistake of trusting a seemingly warm couple’s assistance. The ending of this story seamlessly merges into “The Accident” where a man speeding down this desert road towards home encounters a horrific scenario no one could prepare themselves for. The camera then pans from the building he is in to a bar, which is the “Jailbreak” segment, where a man is searching for his long lost sister. What he finds would have been better left unknown. Finally is “The Way In” about a family’s last moments together. What they thought would be a last hoorah before sending their daughter off to college becomes a tragic and inescapable nightmare.

The dramatically terrifying music from The Gifted that thundered throughout the entire film really transcends the audience from just spectators to almost participators. The unrelentless booming of fast paced horror music evokes a response of feeling trapped, completely unable to escape, just like the fates of the main characters in each story. This music paired with the fast cuts and artfully shakey camera movements keeps the audience clenching their seats, armrests, and even fellow movie goers. A key element that went towards creating the seamless zipper transitions was the repetition of the radio station 106.1- which addressed all those desert “road warriors” cruising the endless stretch of road; while ominously foreshadowing their fate.

Anyone who enjoys anthologies or just wants that rush of adrenalin that comes with a good scare would thoroughly enjoy “Southbound”.