The Meat Wagon
As four friends; Craig (Bob Morley), his girlfriend Nina (Sophie Lowe), his best friend Marcus (Xavier Samuel) and Marcus's long-time girlfriend Liz (Georgina Haig), travel across the Australian outback on a camping holiday they have a run in with a Road Train leaving them stranded in the middle of nowhere when it runs them off the road, destroying their jeep and leaving Craig with a badly broken arm. But when they discover that the Road Train is empty and then they have an encounter with a man who starts shooting at them they are forced to steal the giant lorry which has some strange effect over all of them.
There have been a few movies over the years about people driving the highways and ending up having a run in with a large lorry which runs them off the road. But "Road Train" is different as this isn't about horny teenagers being terrorized by some sadistic driver, although after an opening featuring a sex scene you wouldn't be blamed for thinking it is. Nope "Road Train" is all about the supernatural as are four friends find their issues, their inner grievances are brought to the surface as they steal the lorry and end up arguing.
In truth "Road Train" is a nice idea for a movie with its switch around on a familiar movie concept but it doesn't work. The atmosphere ends up wrong and so you are never fully in to this unfolding supernatural drama and so the sinister aspects of it never full kick in. Not only that there are some scenes which are just too much of a stretch of the imagination when it comes to the know how of these four friends. As such it becomes a movie which you give up on following but then find yourselves every now and then watching due to a scene which has some sort of visual impact.
What this all boils down to is that "Road Train" has a nice idea and attempts to do something you might not initially expect from a movie which starts with a sex scene. But the final product doesn't do it as it fails to deliver the right atmosphere as it switches from trying to be sinister and paranormal with psychological but only ending up struggling to keep the audiences attention.
