Roadkill (2011)

Any movie that overuses the word "dude" like "Roadkill" really must suck, and this one certainly does. I mean "dude" there is zero character development". The Winnebago vacationing "twenty somethings" are all annoying "dude". The story of Gypsies placing a curse that calls to life a giant turkey necked, scraggly bird is laughable "dude"' This is what happens "dude", when the Sci-Fi Channel , runs out of ideas, they like improvise "dude", with a story that makes no sense. This move has about as much entertainment value as watching a burning orphanage "dude". So like "dude", you have been warned, avoid this like you would a rabid dog, unless of course you like dumb movies "dude". - MERK

ROADKILL, a SyFy Channel-style giant monster flick complete with CGI beastie and some horrid acting, offers something a little different for B-movie fans. This one's set in Ireland for a change, and sees a group of American vacationers going on a road trip in their RV (or camper van for Brit viewers) and finding themselves at the mercy of an ancient curse.It's all preposterous nonsense of course, and the film's cause is little helped by the cheesy, sloppy execution. The writing is equally poor: there's a fairly large cast and yet none of the main characters is in any way memorable or indeed stands out from the pack. When the token black guy shows up you know that the calibre of the writing is sub-par and totally clichéd to say the least.And yet, and yet...ROADKILL has a certain atmosphere that I found highly charged and plenty of fun. The effects are cheesy, yes, but the giant bird creature is good fun, although more than a little out of place (I'd expect it in an Arabian Nights adventure, not a rural Irish horror). There's plenty of action, and Irish actor Ned Dennehy chews up the scenery with relish as the primary antagonist. Watch out for Stephen Rea's shame-faced cameo as a copper. ROADKILL may not be high art but it does offer plentiful amusement and, for me, that's what counts in a B-movie.

To be honest from the generic title and SyFy's usual dubious reputation, I was not expecting much from Roadkill at all. However I was pleasantly surprised. Although it is less than perfect, it is one of SyFy's better efforts. After seeing many SyFy movies made on the cheap and in an amateurish way, Roadkill for me actually looked quite good. The locations are atmospheric and look great, and the photography is mostly slick, giving it a Jeepers Creepers vibe. The effects are above average too, some do have a rushed look to them, but the Simuroc reminded me of the effects of Ray Harryhousen, something I loved as I grew up on the movies featuring his effects.What was surprising also was the story. From the title, you'd think it would be the usual monster-of-the-week movie, which I am starting to find unoriginal and dull in all honesty, but no. While the Simuroc is adequate enough, I found the gypsy clan, a big part of the story, even more menacing. On top of this, while some may take it as a not so good thing, Roadkill is darker than the usual campy feel I see from SyFy, which I found refreshing. Some parts of the movie don't hold that many surprises, but the change in pace was admirable, and I liked the intense scenes particularly in the earlier scenes with the friction between the characters mainly.Speaking of the characters, they actually manage to be interesting especially the leader of the gypsy clan, the characters in a lot of SyFy movies are stereotypical and underdeveloped, but while there is nothing especially new about some of the characters they do at least engage and are on screen longer than two minutes. The acting is pretty decent, again nobody amazing, but nobody awful either. The best of the cast is Ned Dennehy, who is chillingly effective as the gypsy clan leader. Roadkill does, apart from a couple of bad effects, have some problematic areas. The screenplay is the main one, not groan-inducingly bad but rather generic with some hilariously lame sex jokes and there are still moments where you have to suspend disbelief, particularly one scene where one characters smears the blood of her friend to her face.Plus the scene towards the end where they confess to cheating on the SATs and being inappropriately touched by a cousin was pretty cringe-worthy and had me reaching for the remote. The ending is somewhat routine, but I appreciated how tense some of it was. Overall, not a great movie by all means, but compared to what it could have, it is reasonably good and watchable. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I liked it! You're not going to feel the jeepers creepers after expecting a lot watching the poster. But the movie does not overdo it too.Although the big bird does not not look even a quarter as scary as that in the poster, I still appreciate the movie's attempt to be a success in the horror genre. The attempt is shaky but it surely didn't fall flat.I feel it's a nice B-grade horror flick. Spooky woods, the fog, the bird picking off each victim one at a time, the half-torn bloody faces of the victims, bad neighbours, interesting last-moment twists - it has all the right parts.The performances seem believable. Each actor of the lot impresses.Only, oh if only, the bird looked as frightening as in the poster and better correlation from one scene to the other, Roadkill could have made much, much more money.Verdict: An interesting kill that trips your assumptions :)