Twisted, little small-scale psycho suspense thriller sees father and daughter Charlie and Joleen stranded in a small desert community with an empty gas tank, so they end up staying in a nearby trailer park in their quest to find fuel to get back to L.A. There Joleen meets a real shady teenager Jimmy (played with brooding confidence by Andras Jones) and sexual attraction brews, but there's danger about due to a constant spade of murders in the town and the rebellious Jimmy (who brings it upon himself) looks like the main suspect. Think of "U-turn" crossed "Psycho" and you have your dark story, as its quite predictable but it's the eccentric characters and their interactions in the trailer park that make it rather entertaining. That's goes for a likable Richard Masur and especially Susan Tyrell's despicable commanding character. Drew Barrymore (who was only 14 years old) engagingly impresses with her turn (where sexual awakening comes into play and at time when where wearing three watches was a fashion statement) and Matt Frewer is convincing as her tired father. Karen Austin and the lovable Jennifer Tilly are also stuck travellers. Plus showing up is cult-favourite Dick Millar in a throwaway part as the town's sheriff. The plot is a mixed bag of sorts in how it wants to play out, where the first half is better constructed (kind of eerie) and the second half becomes your standard psycho on the loose, but the climax is well staged and the backdrop ominously sticks out. Gladly the script keeps it quite punchy and its impulsively off-the-wall nature can have an explosive edge.
"God I love the desert."
"God I love the desert."