"Penny Dreadful" (another one of the eight horror films in the After Dark Horror Film Festival that took place in November 2006) is a surprisingly spooky and enjoyable horror film. The story follows Penny Deerborn (Rachel Miner, "The Black Dahlia"), a college-aged woman who is petrified of cars, her fear rooting to a grisly childhood car wreck that killed her parents. Her therapist and friend Orianna (Mimi Rogers) decides it is time for Penny to confront her fear of automobiles, and takes her on a road trip up into the mountains. When night falls, Orianna accidentally hits a hitchhiker, who ends up surviving just fine, and offers him a ride. An already panicked Penny is even more nervous, and the mysterious hooded hitchhiker ends up poking a skewer into their tires after they drop him off. Trying to get a cell phone signal, Orianna ends up dead, and Penny awakens in the car with Orianna's lifeless body in the driver's seat. The hitchhiker has pinned the car in between a row of trees, making it impossible for Penny to escape, as he taunts her and plays numerous games. Now, the place that Penny feared most is the only safe place for her to keep away from the maniac.
Another worthy indie-horror movie, "Penny Dreadful" is fairly original story wise. Take some elements from "Cujo" (mainly the idea of being trapped inside of a car), throw in a maniacal hitchhiker with murderous intent, and a girl who is petrified of cars, and you get a nice little horror film. The entire film essentially takes place within a two-door car, so one would think that it would be difficult to make an exciting horror flick when the setting is so limited, but this film made it work. The script is well written and it still manages to be interesting and entertaining without ever coming off as yawn-some - I was interested with the film the entire time and was curious to see what would happen next, never a bad thing. I will say that the film does begin to drag a little bit in the middle, mainly with Penny's endless hysteria, but it made sense with her character (correlating with her extreme fear of cars and her panicky personality), and it begins to pick up with the hitchhiker's antics to terrorize poor Penny. There are some neat shots used in the film as well, and the forest setting is made use of, with plenty of spooky shots of the trees looming over the car. Most of the film also has an almost blue tint to it (which later turns red), and is a nice touch.
Acting wise, the film is decent. Rachel Miner's performance was wonderful. She played the character very well, as a likable and innocent girl with an extreme phobia. You can't help but feel sorry for her, and she pulls off that sympathy. Mimi Rogers plays her therapist (and almost a motherly figure), and I have to admit I wasn't too impressed with her. Her lines were a little flat and she wasn't believable enough - I'm not sure if it was just me, but that's how a felt about it. Not that it matters a whole lot anyway, because her character spends the majority of the film dead in the back seat of the car. There was also a neat cameo from Michael Berryman (most noted for playing one of the main cannibals in Wes Craven's 1977 horror film "The Hills Have Eyes") as a gas station attendant, which was nice to see. I was a bit confused with the film as it neared the end, and I thought the resolution could have been improved on (especially in relation to the hitchhikers identity). Like I said though, this film does have it's problems.
Overall, "Penny Dreadful" is definitely worth a rental if you like claustrophobic horror films. As far as the story goes, the movie is pretty original and has a decent amount of shocks and spooky moments, and Miner's performance was really good. It needs some work in a few places, but considering the budget, this is a pretty high-quality movie. Out of the four films from the After Dark Horrorfest that I've seen so far, this one is near the top of the list. All in all, I liked it. 7/10.
Another worthy indie-horror movie, "Penny Dreadful" is fairly original story wise. Take some elements from "Cujo" (mainly the idea of being trapped inside of a car), throw in a maniacal hitchhiker with murderous intent, and a girl who is petrified of cars, and you get a nice little horror film. The entire film essentially takes place within a two-door car, so one would think that it would be difficult to make an exciting horror flick when the setting is so limited, but this film made it work. The script is well written and it still manages to be interesting and entertaining without ever coming off as yawn-some - I was interested with the film the entire time and was curious to see what would happen next, never a bad thing. I will say that the film does begin to drag a little bit in the middle, mainly with Penny's endless hysteria, but it made sense with her character (correlating with her extreme fear of cars and her panicky personality), and it begins to pick up with the hitchhiker's antics to terrorize poor Penny. There are some neat shots used in the film as well, and the forest setting is made use of, with plenty of spooky shots of the trees looming over the car. Most of the film also has an almost blue tint to it (which later turns red), and is a nice touch.
Acting wise, the film is decent. Rachel Miner's performance was wonderful. She played the character very well, as a likable and innocent girl with an extreme phobia. You can't help but feel sorry for her, and she pulls off that sympathy. Mimi Rogers plays her therapist (and almost a motherly figure), and I have to admit I wasn't too impressed with her. Her lines were a little flat and she wasn't believable enough - I'm not sure if it was just me, but that's how a felt about it. Not that it matters a whole lot anyway, because her character spends the majority of the film dead in the back seat of the car. There was also a neat cameo from Michael Berryman (most noted for playing one of the main cannibals in Wes Craven's 1977 horror film "The Hills Have Eyes") as a gas station attendant, which was nice to see. I was a bit confused with the film as it neared the end, and I thought the resolution could have been improved on (especially in relation to the hitchhikers identity). Like I said though, this film does have it's problems.
Overall, "Penny Dreadful" is definitely worth a rental if you like claustrophobic horror films. As far as the story goes, the movie is pretty original and has a decent amount of shocks and spooky moments, and Miner's performance was really good. It needs some work in a few places, but considering the budget, this is a pretty high-quality movie. Out of the four films from the After Dark Horrorfest that I've seen so far, this one is near the top of the list. All in all, I liked it. 7/10.