Good movie but grossly overrated

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I watch B movies, but not that regularly. This was a direct-to-video film. I know nobody from it. At first it did not feel like I'm watching a film, but like someone who wanted to be a filmmaker is messing around with his camera. But it was not a matter, I got used to it, especially once the thrill part had started. It's an out and out thriller that is set in a remote place where a young woman was trapped by a mysterious killer. So her survival game begins, but the killer is always a step ahead. How long it can go like this and what happens at the end are the rest of the film to tell us.Those thriller parts were good for such a low cost film. But the screenplay was very very bad. It had a story, but there's no reason for it. Totally failed on that to give one. That's what people always expect at the end the film to explain. It was more like a silly random act, though most of the 'killing' films are similar. They have added a sex scene at the very beginning, knowing there won't be a place for it in the latter section. You can say it was unnecessary, but to bring more audience to the film to watch. I have seen even worse. So, for the attempt and for a couple of scenes it deserves some respect.3/10

Sorting out DVDs to list on Ebay for a family friend,I noticed that a double sided disc had a number of finger prints.Wanting to make sure that the disc worked before it was listed,I decided to pay a visit to the rest stop.The plot:Heading for a new life in LA,Nicole and Jesse almost get pushed off road by a truck being driven by a strange man.As they drive on,Nicole gets Jesse to park outside a rest stop in the middle of nowhere.As she goes to the bath room,Nicole is horrified to find the door covered in faded writing,from people who have written warnings over the decades about a strange truck driver trying to kill them.Rushing out,Nicole discovers that Jesse has been kidnapped.Starting her search for Jesse,Nicole soon discovers that in order to locate Jesse,she must go up against the mysterious figure in the yellow truck.View on the film:Spending 90% of the movie on her own,the very pretty Jaimie Alexander gives an excellent performance as Nicole,which leads the viewer to fear a "faceless" object,thanks to Alexander casting a growing sense of fear across Nicole's face.Keeping Nicole away from either being a tough Action chick or a cliché-ridden "final girl",Alexander shows Nicole develop a tough edge,whilst always remaining horrified about the nightmare she finds herself in.Backed by a tense score from Bear McCreary,writer/director John Shiban & cinematographer give the title a tough,gritty appearance,thanks to the rest stop being covered in a murky grey,which is rotting away,along with the "Missing" posters of the mysterious killers victims. Grinding Slasher tension with Torture Horror,Shiban unleashes a brittle atmosphere of dread,by making the murderers truck and the bright red blood from the victims the only sign of colour in Nicole's deadly situation.Keeping the title limited to a handful of characters,the screenplay by Shiban makes sure that Nicole is never given a chance to relax at the rest stop,by making the truck drivers attempts to grab Nicole become increasingly ruthless,as Shiban dips the film into an eerie supernatural Horror coda,as Nicole begins to fear that she may have found her resting place.

"Jesse Hilts" (Joseph George Mendicino) and "Nicole Carrow" (Jaimie Alexander) are two young lovers who decide one day to take off for Hollywood where fortune and fame undoubtedly await. On the drive from Texas they stop off at a rest stop which is off of the beaten path and appears to be almost abandoned. Nicole then goes into the restroom but when she returns she finds that Jesse has disappeared. At first she thinks he is playing a game on her but when a man in a yellow pickup truck drives by and throws his cell phone at her she realizes that he has been abducted. She is now left at the rest stop all by herself with no way to get help and with a potential maniac on the loose. Now rather than reveal any more of this film and risk ruining it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that it had a pretty good premise to work from. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to its potential. The main reason for this is because it seemed to lose focus on several different occasions. In any case, those who enjoy splatter films without rhyme or reason might find this entertaining but quite frankly I found it to be somewhat disappointing and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

The plot: A young woman runs away from home, only to be terrorized by a psychopath at a rest stop.Rest Stop could have been good, but the writer/director decided to throw in every single clichéd plot element that he could think of: psychopathic serial killer, creepy religious cult, deformed mutant, haunted house, ghosts, and kidnapped spouse. If it had just focused on a few of these things, instead of an incoherent pastiche of every horror movie cliché imaginable, this could have been an enjoyable, low budget movie.Rest Stop also suffers from boring filler, pointlessly long scenes, and an understated, subtle story that's too confusing for many viewers to follow. It's a movie that may require multiple viewings to understand, but few people will actually like the movie enough to actually sit through it again, just to decipher the hidden clues. As a 20-30 minute short film, this would have been enjoyable and short enough to go back and watch again. As a full-length feature, however, it's too slow-paced and boring to sit through again.I would recommend Rest Stop mainly to fans of independent horror and psychological horror. It's not a particularly good example of psychological horror, but it does manage to hit most of the clichés by the time the credits roll. Stick around for a brief scene that may give you a few more hints as to what's going on. If you've been paying attention, it will probably explain the most confusing aspects of the movie.