The Road Killers is a nasty little B-movie gem that deserves to get a wider audience than it did when it was first released.  It was released in 1994 basically straight to video and DVD and at the time, it didn’t get much more than a cult following, but the film has is exceedingly well cast.  At the time, the cast wasn’t particularly well known with the exception of Christopher Lambert as the lead, but its the supporting players that make the film so noteworthy.  The Road Killers is a real sleeper and one of the best discoveries in quite some time.  The DVD hits stores on January 27th and is definitely worth a look. 

Christopher Lambert plays Jack, a man who along with his wife (Michelle Forbes) and his daughter are on a road trip along with another man (Christopher Macdonald, very good) and his young son (none other than a pre-Third Rock from the Sun, Joseph Gordon Leavitt.  When the young boy is almost run down by a group of thugs (led by a sneering psychopath played with gleeful malice by Craig Sheffer), the boy’s father plays a deadly game of chicken with the gang.  The gang is intent on killing the witnesses and they kidnap Lambert’s family, along with the young boy.  The gang’s ringleader named Cliff is joined by Red (the sorely-missed Adrienne Shelly, giving it her all as  woman trapped in the mind of a lost girl), Bobby (a somewhat restrained David Arquette playing autistic), and Tom (none other than Josh Brolin, in a bad military crew-cut as a slow-witted tag-along).  The casting of the psychos elevates the film to a true B-movie magic. 

The DVD transfer is solid (but in fullscreen only) and the DVD contains no extras whatsoever.  Considering how many future stars appeared in the film, you’d think Lionsgate would put more effort into this little-known gem. 

The Road Killers is violent B-movie trash elevated to the highest level by a gifted cast.  It’s reminiscent of everything from Cape Fear to Kalifornia and comes easily recommended, especially to fans of the various stars of the film, all of whom give the film their all.

Film Grade: B+

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