Official Synopsis:
No rest for the wicked! One year ago, the mysterious Rest Stop killer drilled, ripped and splattered young road trippers Jesse and Nicole. Now three more unsuspecting travelers come looking for the missing duo. And that means the killer gets to sharpen his horrific torture skills all over again only bloodier and scarier than before. He's not alone, either. The Winnebago full of creepy living corpses is also back, roaming the old highway. And Jesse and Nicole's brutalized ghosts seek revenge, determined to give as gory as they got. Watch if you dare. But whatever you do, Don't Look Back!
  
Our Take:
If you’ve read the synopsis above you’re pretty much all caught up in the events of Rest Stop.  This is a sequel but you don’t need to see the first one to enjoy it.  It does a good job of juxtaposing normal, good looking people from suburbia with hillbilly freaks and weirdos.  Rest Stop: Don’t Look Back keeps you interested, wondering what’s going to happen next.  I mean, you already know, obviously, but there is a certain amount of nervous tension in just waiting for the hammer to drop.

There is certainly violence in Rest Stop: Don’t Look Back, but it’s not excessive.  There’s enough to make you uncomfortable, a little squeamish maybe, and look away from the screen for a second.  But it’s just that, enough, not so much that it takes away from the movie and becomes the focal point.

The acting is about as good as it gets for this type of movie.  A couple of the characters are good, including the dorky friend who brings a little well-timed comic relief to the movie as well as the girlfriend who is easy on the eyes and makes even the boring parts relatively exciting.

Extra features include:

* Commentary - By write/producer John Shiban and director Shawn Papazian.

* Doomed to Repeat: The Mythology of Rest Stop (12 minutes) – A short featurette with a little “making of”, a little “behind the scenes”, and a little “story behind the story.”

* Alternate Ending (1 minute) – I think you can figure out what this one is.

* Deleted Scenes (10 minutes) – It’s 10 minutes total for all four deleted scenes.

* Raw Feed Trailers (12 minutes) – The trailers are for Rest Stop, Sublime, Believers, Otis, Rest Stop 2, and Alien Raiders.  Now that I’ve watched them I want to see all of them.  So far, I’m very impressed with Raw Feed.

Overall Rest Stop: Don’t Look Back is a good flick; not quite an A-list title but certainly better than B-list.  It’s a great date movie if the girl (or guy) doesn’t mind some horror and some sci-fi with some supernatural overtones in it.  Yes, the acting is cheesy but it’s to be expected from this genre.  It’s actually perfectly cheesy, almost making the movie a little more charming.  One of my friends actually got sucked into this movie halfway through and couldn’t help but watch the rest, so it definitely will keep your attention and entertain.  And even though you don’t have to, watching this movie actually made me want to go out and get the original Rest Stop.

Overall Picture:
Movie: B+
DVD: B+

- Chris DeFiores
Staff Writer