Could this film really be the work of the same man who made "The Last Seduction" and "Red Rock West?" Those were knowing reworkings of noir films, which managed to trump their prototypes. "Joy Ride" is a kiddie thriller, hardly above the level of a film in any of the slice and dice horror series of the 1980s. The "acting" was of the WB variety. This is a major step in the wrong direction (no pun) for Dahl, but then he is not the first director who made a few exceptional films only to then turn to making tripe to pay the bills. Sadly reminiscent of the career of James Foley, who, after making the near great "At Close Range" and "After Dark My Sweet," disappeared into the world of bad B movies that go straight to video.
