Southbound [Blu-ray]

Southbound will feel almost instantly familiar to fans of the VHS franchise, as it surfs a very similar tone: - one of dark, nightmarish scenarios where you're given very little information about what's happening but have to sit back for the ride and take it on faith that the pieces will slot together and make sense at some stage. It can be a very effective method for a horror anthology, as it gives a degree of free reign for the film-makers to shock and disgust you without yet having to make a lick of sense, and this can result in some truly startling and unsettling imagery and events. In this case, viewers who weren't fans of VHS's shaky-cam 'found footage' approach need not worry: these are almost exclusively filmed in a more traditional cinematic style - although with a degree of fast panning and a lack of gloss that helps to enhance the 'realism' and immediacy of events. The opening episode is a great scene setter, as we meet two inexplicably bloodied men in a speeding pickup truck, and start to glimpse terrible spectral, skeletal things seemingly following them... There are several chapters that follow, and all hew close to the effective horror angle of people out of their depth in circumstances that are far worse than they imagined they could be. A few split second moments where some CGI just becomes noticeable (it's largely very good), one slightly flat chapter, and just a little too much mystery conspire to rob this of a fifth star: - sometimes it's nice to pull back the curtain a little and give the audience just a bit more of an explanation about what's transpired. Here, you're left with almost no explanation at all for who or what is behind it all, and how some of the characters link together. While that's eerie, it also robs you of a little bit of satisfaction.However, in terms of acting, chills, gore and intrigue, here's hoping for a Southbound 2.

Interesting anthology and interwoven stories about in a nutshell getting a second chance from the grim reaper, if you don't do the right thing then you will relive your nightmare journey over and over again.Film takes place on a desolate road in smallville, USA. Two guys are on the run from something and are blood stained. Other story is about a band of women on their way to the next gig, another involves a man trying to track down his sister and another has a man run over a woman, who does his best to save her in an empty hospital. A jump moments, but its the direction and production values that really stick out well. Southbound came and went which is unfair because its much better than have that happen to it. It's also the type of movie that requires your full attention, there are a lot of messages in here, through the local DJ who we never see to subtle notices and panels. DJ is voiced by Larry Fessenden, Eerie little number that never spoon feeds us which is pretty much perfect horror material.

Ringing faint echoes of classic horror anthology movies, such as Dead of Night, Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror, Southbound effectively updates the genre for the smartphone generation.There are five interrelated tales, which loop around into a truly creepy and delirious 89 minute dip into purgatory. Requires a second viewing to spot some of the clues to later (or possibly earlier!) segments.A few make-you-jump scenes and a few moments of black humour (I quite liked the demonic entities grumbling about the door being left open) add to the entertainment value.Not perfect - whilst the theme of guilt and retribution is explored reasonably well, at times it seems to raise more questions than answers.Well worth a watch though and never overstays its welcome. The gore and menacing atmosphere should keep most horror fans happy for 89 minutes.

Southbound is a watchable little supernatural horror flick that has some interesting ideas in play. I'm not entirely sure it all makes a great deal of sense in the end but it's kinda fun.It plays like an anthology with seemingly separate tales connected by a highway the various characters are travelling down and the same gravel voiced DJ on the radio. We get a couple of fellas being pursued by skeletal spectres, a girl band who accept an ill advised pick up after a flat tyre, a man trying to rectify a vehicular blunder, a man looking for his long lost sister and a little spot of home invasion horror to finish things off.Different directors tackle different tales so inevitably the quality varies - some of it works better than others but when it works it's pretty good stuff. The biggest problem for me is that the ideas are good and the individual stories each start off in intriguing fashion but they don't all follow through. Just when its getting really good, things tail off and we move onto the next set of characters. With films this wilfully odd and obscure, the big question is how it all pays off in the end - this one leaves as many questions as answers.So the journey is an enjoyable one with some fun and bloody scenes and sequences but the destination isn't entirely satisfying.

A great way to do an anthology movie! This one flows ftom one story to the other very smoothly without the need for the old "Twilight Zone" intro and review to each segment.Coming in at just 85mins I was surprised at how quickly the time went.This film will let you just watch a movie or make you think a little without being pretentious BS.As usual I watched this blind as I hate spoilers and hope that if you are in anyway a horror fan you will enjoy this too.Only a cast and crew commentary as an extra on this DVD but for about 6 quid as a new release, I can't complain