Dir. Shawn Papazian  

 

Having already seen Rest Stop and enjoying the hell out of it I didn't hesitate ta all to checking out this one. The plot to Rest Stop 2 plays out like this.Fresh on leave from the military Jesse's older brother Tom, along with his girlfriend Marilyn, followed by their friend Jared in his own car, head out to California to find out why Jesse and Nicole never returned. As they approach the rest stop Jared has to stop at a rest stop before to use the bathroom so Tom and Marilyn go on ahead to wait for him. While separated Tom and Jared encounter the man in the yellow truck in their own mind fucking ways. Once everyone has seen someone; who seems to be terrified and in danger; in their own ways they soon start to believe there may be something of the supernatural going on here. Things just don't add up. This is a night they may not escape.

 

Rest Stop 2 picks up perfectly after its predecessor and fills in the missing gaps. Many times sequels falter and try to stand alone. So it's nice and refreshing that for once a sequel makes sense. The effects thanks to Mark Weatherbe were beautifully crafted and cause a few of the cringe responses sought out by horror filmmakers. The acting was pretty sub par and I have to say that I was pretty disappointed that the same person wasn't playing Nicole. Jaimie Alexander sets the stage in Rest Stop and nails the shit out of her character. This is something that's just not here in Rest Stop 2. There seems to be no care for anyone involved in this movie.You really just don't care if any one of them dies.You actually find yourself rooting to see who dies first, and how. At some points you feel as if you may be watching the same movie and could probably determine that as so but overall as shotty as the plot may be it does play well with the first one and answer a few questions.I will say that I did enjoy this movie but only due to the fact that I liked the first one.

 

If you wanting to just watch a flick and haven't seen the first one, avoid this. But if you've seen the first one and just want some answers then this is perfect. By watching Rest Stop 2 it's like you get added deleted scenes from the first one. There's just really not enough substance here to call it a film.

 

^v^ NECRoSTEIN ^v^