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Exit Speed lives in the greatest tradition of drive-in entertainment.

Job Bob Briggs one said that the drive-in will never die.  And of course, he is right.  Maybe the physical location of drive-ins may be a thing of the past, but the movies made by the independent believers of cinema outside the studio system will never go away.  Thanks to video, these films of breasts, beasts and blood are as in demand as they were thirty years ago.  It is with framework one has to view the newest Dallas area production Exit Speed.
The time is Christmas Eve and a group of passengers are boarding a bus to get across Texas.  We have the army deserter (hunted by Fred Ward), the Hispanic electrician, the wayward mom (Lea Thompson), the vegan, the disgraced coach and all the rest.  They have little in common except the want to get to their destination. 

On one deserted section of highway, this rag-tag group comes across a gang of meth-addicted, nomadic bikers.  An incident happens between the bus and one biker, which causes an accident.  This forces the passengers to run down the road an in to an abandoned junkyard.  There this group must build a fortress to defend against attacks while trying to find a way to let the outside world know their peril. 

As some of the bikers go for reinforcements this group digs in, building weapons to defend against certain death.  It is this battle between inside and outside forces while dealing with personality conflicts that drives Exit Speed.

In so many ways, this film is a modern version of Stagecoach, the film that made John Wayne famous.  While not on par with that classic western, it does have many of the same elements—the passengers who don’t get along, the lone warrior and the fight in a fortress.  But, with ten characters, there is much more play between different people.  Everyone has a talent that goes toward their mutual defense, even to the point of violating their precis. 

Director Steve Ziehl has a balancing job to keep the action moving while letting the characters play out their arcs.  He gives the audience more than its share of nail biting motorcycle sequences and some human drama.  Writer Michael Stokes has crafted a solid bit of entertainment while putting some meat on the skeleton of his plot.  Some of his lines do seem a bit forced but the actors deliver them with a certain grace.  By focusing on the human drama and not just the effects, he has given the film that much more.

Lea Thompson does a wonderful job of taking on an action role.  Most of her previous work has been comic and light but she proves that she can handle rougher material.  She gets to kick some serious backsides in this little flick, something she does with aplomb.  Unfortunately, Fred Ward plays most of the film by himself trying to find the AWOL soldier.  He looks bored while taking on this task.  It might have worked better if he had a partner to interact with in Exit Speed.

This is not a good ‘film’ but it is a great little ‘movie’, something to entertain and not enlighten. More of torque-inducing thriller, Exit Speed is an exciting, electrifying ride into real life terror.  Exit Speed is not great cinema but a very watchable bit of entertainment.
Pop Syndicate attended the World Premiere.  Find out how it went!

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