Movies
[BD Review] ‘The Road’ Is A Chilling And Effective Ride
Writer/director Yam Laranas’ The Road is a surprisingly effective film whose biggest asset is perhaps how comfortable it feels in its own skin. It’s not without the occasional misstep, but it has the confidence to recognize its own assets and be patient with them – doling out scares, shocks and kills at a measured pace that maximizes their impact. Structured as a self contained trilogy, it contains three separate stories that are connected and build upon each other in every way but unfold in a non-linear fashion. It may sound like a lot for a low-budget horror film from the Philippines to juggle, but it’s all pulled off rather nicely.
The film starts off almost like an Amblin movie. Three teenagers – embroiled in a bit of a love triangle on the verge of outgrowing its chastity – boost one of their parents’ cars and head out on an abandoned dirt road. How abandoned is the road? It’s locked, private. Dark. Unpopulated. As is the case in these scenarios, you almost want to scream, “don’t go in there!” But Laranas has already done such a good job establishing the dynamic within this group of friends that you totally buy the dare factor in their venture into the unknown.
The film starts at a languid pace and maintains it, and if you’re not caught up in the inherent suspense it might be a little frustrating waiting for something to happen – but when it happens you’re hooked. The tension displayed in this first act is fairly remarkable. It fully develops every one of the limited amount of means at its disposal. Three kids. A mystery car. The road. The dark. A ghost. And by the end you’re rattled and hooked into the remaining two acts of the film – which significantly expand its scope.
As The Road moves along it focusses on other characters, a police office, a mother, a young boy. Again, their relevance to the central story is slowly revealed, but Laranas has the rare gift of making the viewer feel comfortable not knowing. You realize that you’re in safe hands and recognize that you won’t be let down if you allow yourself to go along for the ride.
A lot of this assuredness makes its way to the screen in other, more immediate, ways. Laranas shot the film himself, and though he might not have the same tools at his disposal as Terence Malick or Andrew Dominik (and to be fair the level of his craft has not yet approached the level of theirs) – his eye aspires to the same school of composition. Beautiful shots of the surrounding countryside provide a nice counterpoint and aesthetic anchor to the horrors unfolding.
Speaking of horrors, there’s a number of them. The bloody bag used in the promos figures heavily, and the film isn’t short on brutality. But one of the film’s most effective and terrifying moments takes place in broad daylight in an unassuming shot. The matter-of-factness with which the violence is treated renders it almost as horrifying as the shot where Leatherface slams the metal door shut in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The Road loses some ground in its final moments, and there’s a requiem for a character that does’t quite feel earned. But aside from some mild hiccups, its tone is fairly constant and it’s never less than engaging. If you go into it with an open mind and are prepared to be patient, it’s a trip well worth taking.
8/10
It was almost one year ago that Warner Bros. brought the entire original A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to 4K in one massive 7-movie collection, with the limited edition SteelBook version of the set quickly selling out and becoming highly sought after. But we’re happy to report tonight that the SteelBook set is currently back in stock over on Amazon!
While supplies last, grab the Elm Street SteelBook collection for $154.99 right now!!
Orders placed for this re-release are scheduled to begin shipping out September 15, 2026.
[Related] Freddy’s Back: New ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Movie in the Works at Paramount
From New Line Cinema, the collection includes the original seven films – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – along with the uncut versions of A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Dream Child.
Two BRAND NEW SPECIAL FEATURES for this set include:
- Boiler Room Confessional: The king of slashers, Robert Englund, takes us on a journey through the dream world, sharing what inspired Freddy Krueger, his rise as a cultural icon, and the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus his favorite kills, scenes, and more.
- Freddy’s Footnotes: Robert Englund and original A Nightmare on Elm Street filmmakers revisit iconic scenes, revealing the movie magic and chaos behind our favorite nightmares. Pull back the curtain and relive epic moments through the eyes of those who made them.
Here’s the full breakdown of included Special Features for each movie…
A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Ready Freddy Focus Points
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Robert Shaye, and Sara Risher
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Jacques Haitkin
· Alternate Endings – Scary Ending, Happy Ending, Freddy Ending
· The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
· Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
· Freddy on 8th Street
· Heroes and Villains
· The Male Witch
· Psychosexual Circus
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
· Behind the Story: Burnout
· Behind the Story: Fan Mail
· Behind the Story: The House that Freddy Built
· Behind the Story: Onward Christian Soldiers
· Behind the Story: Snakes and Ladders
· Behind the Story: That’s Showbiz
· Behind the Story: Trading 8’s
· Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
· The Finnish Line
· Krueger, Freddy Krueger
· Hopeless Chest
· Let’s Makeup
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
· Behind the Story: Womb Raiders
· Behind the Story: The Sticky Floor
· Behind the Story: Take the Stairs
· Behind the Story: Hopkins Directs
· Behind the Story: A Slight Miscalculation
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
· 86’D
· Hellraiser
· Rachel’s Dream
· 3D Demise
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
· Commentary with Wes Craven
· NEW – Boiler Room Confessional
· NEW – Freddy’s Footnotes
· Becoming a Filmmaker
· Filmmaker
· An Insane Troupe
· The Problem with Sequels
· Two Worlds
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Really Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: A Childhood Memory
· Welcome to Prime Time: Sometime in the Early 80s
· Welcome to Prime Time: So It Began
· Welcome to Prime Time: Beauty and the Beast
· Welcome to Prime Time: Making the Glove
· Welcome to Prime Time: Shapeshifter
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Shoot
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Revolving Room
· Welcome to Prime Time: All’s Well that Ends Well
· Welcome to Prime Time: Talalay’s Tally
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Couldn’t Have Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: Alternate Ending Version
· Conclusion: Where Gothic Plots Come From
· Conclusion: Why We Like Gothic
· Conclusion: Sadomasochism
· Conclusion: Freddy vs. Pinhead
· Conclusion: Freddy’s Manic Energy
· Conclusion: Creating Lasting Characters in Horror
· Conclusion: No More Magic Tricks
· Conclusion: Monster with Personality
· Conclusion: Freddy as Sex Machine
· Conclusion: Campfire Stories
The Elm Street collection is available in this collectible SteelBook packaging (exclusive to Amazon) and as a standard 4K collection that’s also available now over on Amazon.
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