Joy Ride 3: Roadkill

Director: Declan O' Brien (2014)
Starring: Ken Kirzinger, Jesse Hutch, Ben Hollingsworth
Find it: IMDB

Fun* fact, fact fans: Joy Ride 3's subtitle, 'Roadkill' was actually the UK title of the first film. I don't know what the second film was called because, frankly, I didn't even know it existed until literally two days ago. Even that was a deductive process, cleverly worked out due to the fact I was holding a film called Joy Ride 3 in my hands.

This will be one of the more flawed reviews I've ever written in that I can remember maybe three or four things about the film, mere hours after watching it. Say what you will about Joy Ride (Roadkill, if you live in early 2000s' England) - at least I remember watching it. This straight to DVD sequel tells a similar story, with angry trucker Rusty Nail (ex-Jason Voorhees Ken Kirzinger) on the trail of a gang of kids who've managed to piss him off somehow. Poor Rusty; dude just can't catch a break, with all three films being predicated on stupid kids somehow fucking with his shit. It's a wonder he ever manages to get any trucking done, with damn kids winding the poor bastard up all the time. Although, just a suggestion: if maybe he stopped using his CB radio as the trucker equivalent to saucydates.com, or whatever the kids these days are using to meet one night stands, maybe he'd get more work done.

The kids in question this time are a gang of pretty young things driving a souped up rally car to their next race. After getting on Rusty's bad side, the vengeful trucker sets about pursuing the lot of them across the desert, occasionally pausing to stop for a spot of torture or nastiness. Way to prove Jeremy Clarkson right about all truckers being assholes, asshole.

That said, what sort of half-arsed serial killer trucker doesn't even keep good gagging tape in his cab?

Image stolen from wherever the watermark says I stole it from.

The specifics, sadly, are beyond me. While Joy Ride 3 is gorier, nastier and more vicious than the first film ever was, it's also completely unmemorable. Kirzinger may have the physical presence, but he lacks the gravitas and intensity of Ted Levine. The rest of the cast, while adequate, are as forgettable as the rest of the movie. It's essentially a low-budget, frequently nasty version of Duel The Hitcher the first movie. Ultimately, Joy Ride 3 is about as fun as that suggests.*

* Not fun