Director: Louis Morneau
Writer: James Robert Johnston, Bennett Yellin (Screenplay) Clay Tarver, J.J. Abrams (Characters)
Starring: Nicki Aycox, Nick Zano, Laura Jordan, Kyle Schmid, Mark Gibbon
Plot: While driving to Las Vegas for the bachelor party of her sister Melissa and her fiancé Bobby, Kayla stops the car in the gas station to meet her date, Nik, a guy she met on the internet. Nik convinces her to take a secondary road under the protest of Bobby but the car breaks down. They find a house in the middle of nowhere and decide to take the car parked in the house’s garage to the next city, and return with a rented car to pay for the damages provoked by Nik; Melissa leaves her cell number. However, they discover that the owner of the place is the sadistic truck driver Rusty Nail and they have to pay a high price for what they did.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Solid DVD Sequel
Story: Joyride 2 starts with a female prostitute trying to get a lift of Rusty Nail (Gibbon) but she ends up getting more than she bargained for when Rusty Nail takes her for a ride. Now it is time for Kayla (Jordan) her sister Melissa (Aycox) and her fiancée Bobby (Zano) who are on a road trip to Las Vegas for joint parties. Kayla has arranged to meet one of her My Space friends Nik (Schmid), yes this film is using the idea of My Space still being popular.
Nik suggests a short cut on back roads and yes you guessed it the car breaks down, never seen this one before. They also have no signal, well that is a surprise too, now we have to have a walking montage where we get to see Bobby show off his body. The four come across an abandoned house and try looking for help and after a series of trying to make each other jump they find a car with a CB radio. The house just so happens to be owned by Rusty Nail who wants his car back and kidnaps Bobby and puts the remaining three through a series of tests.
Joyride 2 manages to follow on from what the original created for most of the film, we get the tension fuelled game of cat and mouse between the friends and the trucker, only this time we get disposable characters. That would be one of my negative thoughts on this film, did we need to see Rusty Nail actually go all the way and kill people? My answer is yes, I just feel that the kills were made of a way to get rid of the support characters rather than pull them together like the first one did. When it comes to sequels this is solid and can keep you attention from start to finish which isn’t always the way after such a long break between the films. (6/10)
Actor Review
Nicki Aycox: Melissa young lady on the way to her joint bachelor party with her fiancée but her good nature gets her caught up in the middle of twisted trucker’s games. Nicki does a solid job in the lead role showing beauty with brains. (6/10)
Nick Zano: Bobby Singer is Melissa fiancée who ends up getting captured by the trucker and used by Rusty Nail to get the people to do what he wants. Nick spends too much of the film in a captured position to be given a good mark. (3/10)
Laura Jordan: Kayla is Melissa’s sister who is joining the party along with her My Space boyfriend, she is the much more independent of the two but her confidence will be her weakness. Laura does a solid job in the disposable supporting role. (5/10)
Kyle Schmid: Nik the My Space boyfriend of Kayla whose big mouth gets the guys into more trouble. Kyle does a solid job making you hate him as we see his character become weaker throughout the film. (5/10)
Mark Gibbon: Rusty Nail is the psychotic trucker who likes to put people through tests before he disposes of them. Mark makes an imposing presence on the screen even if you don’t actually ever see his face. (7/10)
Support Cast: Joyride 2 only has a support cast that turn up in the odd scene, no one else makes any impact on this film.
Director Review: Louis Morneau – Louis does a good job directing by not only staying true to the original but being brave enough to leave his own mark by the end. (7/10)
Horror: Joyride 2 does take us into a horror based setting with the added games being played by Rusty Nail. (7/10)
Thriller: Joyride 2 really does keep you interested from start to finish, which is a surprise with the time between the first and the sequel. (8/10)
Settings: Joyride 2 uses the traditional open road settings for the story to unfold in. (7/10)
Suggestion: Joyride 2 is definitely one to be trying especially if you enjoyed the first one. (Try it)
Best Part: Keeps the trucker scary.
Worst Part: Not the best acting.
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: Has one more sequel.
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: The Hitcher
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $5 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
Tagline: His voice could be the last thing you heard
Overall: Joyride 2 is one of the best straight to DVD sequels I have seen, but don’t expect a masterpiece just a solid horror film.
Rating 
