Verdict
Summary
A twisty little thriller with three central roles and a couple of quick walk-ons by other actors, Zyzzyx Road isn’t nearly as clever as it thinks it is or wants to be, and it’s fairly unpleasant to boot with three unappealing characters trying to kill each other. There’s a twist you can see coming a mile away, and the film has a murkiness to it that it simply can’t shake no matter how hard they tried to upgrade the film to high definition and 4K Ultra HD.
Plot:
An exotic dancer and the man she’s having an affair with hit the road after stashing her abusive boyfriend’s dead body in the trunk … except he might not be dead.
Review:
Nebbish accountant Grant (Leo Grillo) is going through a midlife crisis and a nervous breakdown at the same time: His hot young exotic dancer girlfriend Marissa (Katherine Heigl) isn’t too bright, but she might be worth all the trouble he’s taken to help her be rid of her abusive boyfriend Joey (Tom Sizemore). Ina scuffle in a motel room, Grant apparently killed Joey to protect Marissa, but since she didn’t actually see what happened, she’s taken his word for it, and now that they are deep in the desert on a long stretch of deserted highway with Joey’s body in the trunk, they try to get their stories straight just in case things get worse. What’s the plan? They don’t really have one, and when Joey reanimates from being knocked out, they crash their car in the middle of nowhere and scramble to finish the job they started, except we learn that Grant isn’t telling the whole truth and maybe Grant is going insane, which will make Marissa’s night a literal hell as she fights to survive the madness on Zyzzyx Road …
A twisty little thriller with three central roles and a couple of quick walk-ons by other actors, Zyzzyx Road isn’t nearly as clever as it thinks it is or wants to be, and it’s fairly unpleasant to boot with three unappealing characters trying to kill each other. There’s a twist you can see coming a mile away, and the film has a murkiness to it that it simply can’t shake no matter how hard they tried to upgrade the film to high definition and 4K Ultra HD. Most of the movie takes place in a car at night, with some scenes in daylight (some flashbacks in a grubby motel room and the thriller climax set in and around a mineshaft and a junkyard), but for the most part this is a grade “Z” film, not a “B” film like it aspires to be. I remember the stories surrounding the release of this film (it was released in one theater and made only $20.00 in its week of release, making it the lowest grossing movie of all time), and I’d always been curious about it, but now that I’ve see it, I can understand why its reputation is so poor. Every time I drive to Vegas and back, I notice the real Zyzzyx Road and think about this little movie. That’s basically where this movie belongs: in obscurity, despite its name actors.
I’m not quite sure what possessed the push to release this film in a premium 4K Ultra HD edition, but here it is in glorious, sparkling high definition. The release comes in a two-disc set, with a standard Blu-ray and the 4K Ultra HD. Much care was taken to deliver high quality image and sound, as well as a bunch of bonus features, including two audio commentaries, a video intro (which I watched), archival features, and more. It’s a heck of a lot for such a crummy film, but perhaps there’s someone out there who’ll enjoy sifting through all this material.
