By: Jolie Featherstone

Warren Fast’s Roadkill is a call-back to hardscrabble, grindhouse road movies.

Set in the 1980s (though the timing is not front and centre), a mysterious drifter (Ryan Knudson) wanders rural roads.  Importantly, he wanders, but he is not aimless.  Along the way, he meets a young driver (Caitlin Carmichael of Midnight in the Switchgrass) headed in his direction.  She agrees to give him a ride to his destination.  Meanwhile, local police are investigating a string of brutal murders in the area.  Who is the predator and who is the prey?  Perhaps the division isn’t as cut-and-dry. 

Fast’s Roadkill pays homage to classic grindhouse road movies.  It also draws from Freeway (1996) and The Hitcher (1986).  It’s grimy and gritty – you can almost taste the gravel and salt of the road – with plenty of blood. 

The film does its best with its indie budget.  It has car chases, combat scenes, and weaponry.  The production performs wonders with night-time lighting.  Sometimes we can see the technical strings so to speak.  For example, there are some curious editing choices where it felt the cut lingered just a tad too long and wasn’t keeping up with the pace of the blocking. 

There are also some story points that are left unfulfilled.  The film would have felt more whole had it further delved into these areas. 

However, the film moves at a good clip.  It never stalls, never settles, and never feels boring.  The leads, Carmichael and Knudson, are magnetic.  Director, producer, and writer Warren Fast himself stars as the Sherriff and he does a great job in the larger-than-life, county sheriff role. 

Roadkill is a faithful rendering that’s sure to appease vintage grindhouse fans.

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Jolie Featherstone: @TOFilmFiles