[Side Sho]
Plot:A suburban family on vacation in the backwoods of Florida venture off the main highway in search of historic roadside attractions, but find much more than they bargained for, including a forgotten tourist attraction that houses a dark secret.

Cast:J.D. Hart, Toni Robider, Dana Poulson, J.R. Reynolds, Elizabeth Bailey, Hunter Ballard, Renee Derossett, Christopher Derek Lee, Bob Mumford, Jonah Pearson, Keith Long.

My Thoughts:More redneck-inspired mayhem...yawn, snore, snooze.

Review:Have you seen "House Of 1000 Corpses"? How about "Wrong Turn" and or "Wrong Turn 2"? Good...because then there's no reason for you to see "Side Sho" at all. Michael D'Anna's film doesn't do anything new for this paritcular subgenre. What I've coined as the "killer-redneck" subgenre. If you've seen "Deliverance", "Timber Falls", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and films like it, then you should be able to figure out how "Side Sho" starts, middles, and ends. The film follows a family on a road trip who stop for gas in one of those hillbilly, rural towns. The father while scoring petrol, decides that checking out the local roadside museum exhibit would be a good idea..(is he fucking nuts?).

But they do it anyway, and what happens next? Well....what else?!! The rednecks become offended that the city folk have come to gawk at their freakshow, so they decide to brutalize, kidnap, and kill the family. So what else is new? Then we get into the mode where the naive family, who resemble one of those "perfect all american" families that you'd see in one of those pics that come with a brand new wallet...are too bleeping stupid to realize the danger they're in until it's too late. By that time, their car, which was sabotaged via bad fuel, doesn't work, and the rednecks are closing in on them.

Before they know it, they're separated, and dad has to somehow save his family from the evil, psychotic hillbilly types. That's the basic gist of this film, which is sad, boring, and pathetic. If there's one subgenre I'm tired of, it's this one. And all of these films are the same. Good looking city family, rural crazies, fight for survival ensues. And of course the rednecks plans for the family are certainly not innocent in the least. They pretty much plan to kill off the men, and use the women of the family for breeding purposes..."The Hills Have Eyes 2" anyone?

The film just drones on and on with this same old cliche garbage and nothing original or outside the box is ever introduced into the formula. Dad escapes, which is expected...he tries to resuce his family, again.....expected....and some make it and some don't, expected. Everything in this film is expected, and anyone with half a brain can see most of the twists and turns coming a mile away. The acting is pretty bad as well, as the actors...including one young male actor who plays the obligatory *hillbilly with a heart*...just seem to be reciting their lines instead of actually speaking them.

But there's no redeeming qualities in this movie. Including the deaths, and usually the deaths are what people look for to save a very bad horror film. Well in "Side Sho"'s case, the deaths are the same old stuff. People getting stabbed, sliced up with chainsaws, nothing unique or original....noticing a theme here? I don't know really why this film was even made. I mean it's one thing to be a fan of the "rural killer" subgenre, but for god sake atleast make an attempt to make your film stand out from the rest of the pack.

Instead, this movie just comes off as a sad clone of the rest of the pack. Most horror fans who are raving fans of this particular subgenre of horror will probably find this film satisfactory or average. But those who are tired of seeing this particular subgenre delved into or just can't stomach terrible C-grade horror films in general will be hanging their head in annoyance, disappointment, and shame all the way through. "Side Sho" is indeed just that, a side sho. One that if you're on the open road, you should pass right by.

Positives:When it ended.

Negatives:Cliche characters, cliche plot, boring and cliche story, no original deaths, and an overall lack of anything likeable.

Overall:Half a star out of four.





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