Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Saw 'Rest Stop: Don't Look Back', being fond of horror regardless of budget (even if not my favourite genre) and being intrigued somewhat by the idea. Being behind on my film watching and reviewing, with a long to watch and review list that keeps getting longer, it took me a while to get round to watching and reviewing it. Despite not caring for the first 'Rest Stop', saw the sequel anyway with curiosity.Giving 'Rest Stop: Don't Look Back' a fair chance with being interest and apprehension, it turned out to be a little better than expected with having the same strengths and flaws of the first 'Rest Stop' and being about the same in quality (basically not caring for either). Won't say that 'Rest Stop: Don't Look Back' is a great film (mediocre actually) because it isn't and the potential, while not wasted, is not fully lived up to. Considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre and less and wasting potential, was expecting worse and was relieved that while wanting in a fair few areas it was actually one of my better recent low-budget viewings if not by much.'Rest Stop: Don't Look Back' started off quite well, the first twenty minutes or so starting the film off on a promising, unsettling and atmospheric note that really does intrigue. Production values did have some eeriness and nowhere near as cheap as expected.The setting is effectively spooky. Initially, there are spooky and suspenseful moments, it isn't dull, and the storytelling initially does intrigue. Admired that it tried to be more than a standard slasher film, the supernatural element does intrigue but that it's open to interpretation so divisively says a lot for things feeling confused and muddled too often. However, the story was severely wanting in the second half after starting off promisingly. It is very disjointed and after the promising start the final third especially loses atmosphere, one loses interest and things start to not make sense. Too much of the film is vague and doesn't explore some elements and story strands enough, some dropped soon after being introduced, go nowhere or serve much point. Instead of doing something different from the first 'Rest Stop', meaning giving some freshness while maintaining the spirit and with chance of improvement, it is too more of the same-like and with even less imagination.Ending is unsatisfying, on top of feeling hasty there are too many loose ends hanging in the air and it all felt abrupt. Got the sense that the writers didn't know how to end the film. Would have liked much more tension and suspense (where there is barely any of either), scares could have been more consistent (again nowhere near enough) and some weren't surprising enough and had no atmosphere, the over-obvious sound not helping. Coherence wasn't a strong suit either.Found too the script to lack natural flow and with a fair bit of cheese and blandness going on, and the characters bland with some adopting some annoying and not always logical decision making, Marilyn is one of those wanting-to-slap characters. There is very little menace to the conflict, uncreative and unscary kills, the direction is phoned in and generally the acting is subpar. Elements intended to "spice things up" (gore and profanity) were overused and gratuitous.Overall, mediocre. 4/10 Bethany Cox

After finding the first Rest Stop film to be a surprisingly gripping Horror,I was pleased to find out that a sequel had been made,which led to me,once again taking a turn for the rest stop.The plot:Since his brother Jesse and his girlfriend Nicole have been missing for a year, Tom Hilts,his girlfriend Marilyn and Hilts friend Jared decide to go in search for Nicole & Jesse.During their search,Hilts and Marilyn try to sleep in a motel room. Interrupting their sleep,a stranger in a yellow truck blares his lights at their motel windows.Rushing out,Hilts discovers that the truck has mysteriously disappeared.Trying to gain details of Nicole & Jesse last known location,the gang visit the lone garage in town,where the owner tells them that he warned the couple to turn back.Driving off to find Nicole and Jesse,Hilts,Marilyn and Jared soon discover that they are on the same road of death as Jesse & Nicole.View on the film:Returning to the rest stop,the screenplay by returning writer John Shiban gives the title an ill-fitting comedic bite,as Shiban wounds any tension that he builds by undercutting it with gross-out comedy. Attempting to build a mythology out of the films,Shiban runs over any tension built in Hilts,Marilyn and Jared's search for the truth,by taking the movie in a dazed and confused supernatural Horror direction,which leads to a left-field ending which completely goes against everything that the film has been building towards.

I would call this Rest Stop 2: Don't Bother to Look. This movie by far was not the worst I have seen. But with that being said it is far from the best. We have the brother and his ridiculous girlfriend (don't care about her at all) searching for the two from the original. Then we have random guy that has sex with a ghost while wearing poop stained underwear. I digress. The couple ends up at the infamous rest stop, where they battle the restroom ghost and the creepy family of nuts and the school bus. I did like that they gave the killer some background but they didn't know what to do with it, once they gave it to us. I was left wondering, what the hell just happened. I was confused and frankly don't need to see a part 3. Just let this series of movies die. They suck! It is unfortunate that they couldn't have made a better movie. I really wanted this to be good and to tie up all the questions I had from the 1st.

One year after couple Jesse (Joey Mendicino) and Nicole (Julie Mond) disappeared, Jesse's brother, Tom (Richard Tillman), asks his friends (Jessie Ward, Graham Norris) to join him on a search for his brother. On the way, they stumble upon the same isolated Rest Stop that Jesse and Nicole were brutalized. Unfortunately for Tom and his friends, the yellow-truck-driving madman still haunts the roadside looking for victims. . . and they're next on his route.While not a fan of the below-average first (simply Rest Stop), I decided to give Rest Stop: Don't Look Back a fair chance. In the first film, an average idea (a couple gets stranded at an isolated rest stop and a crazed killer stalks them down) is ruined by an impossible twist (and you thought Haute Tension's was unbelievable), subpar performances by actors we've seen do better, and a script so contrived my head was pounding in annoyance. So, the sequel came out with a LOT of ground to make up if it wanted to be even worth a passing glance. One major thing holds back the sequel before even it even begins: there's not a lot you can do at a rest stop. The first didn't do too much, but I think it took advantage of the few things possible at a bathroom. Therefore, as Rest Stop: Don't Look Back progressed, it felt kind of like Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning in comparison to the remake. . . the same subject matter with just a couple twists in the plot and different characters. That's not a very good thing. A subpar first doesn't warrant a sequel to begin with, but if a sequel MUST be made, do something special with it! Surprise your audience, give us something new, give us a reason to say, "I'm glad I picked that up." Do NOT, under any circumstance, feed us the same trite garbage you gave us in the first. This is all where this sequel failed. Well, there. . . and with the horrendous script, the stiff and unrealistic acting, horrible story progression and pacing, and dizzying camera-work. I won't completely put it off as terrible, however, as there was some good gore and violence, much more than what I remember from the first. Unfortunately, we missed some of the best violence (eye gouging and the like) due to scene cutaways, but I attribute that to a low budget. The gore wasn't enough to save the film, however, and it ends up being just as lame, predictable (and somehow ridiculous), and forgettable as the original.Final verdict: 3.75/10.