Junkyard Dog (2009)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

As Good As It Gets

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

I'll admit that, thanks to Tivo, I skimmed over big chunks of this film. There may have been subtle nuances of plot, theme, and characterization that I missed...but I doubt it.When I first saw Ms. Fox in INDEPENDENCE DAY I thought she was poised to be a star, and she did solid work in KILL BILL and SET IT OFF. Now she's pushing fifty, though, and women other than Meryl Streep just aren't allowed to do that.Leading men well into their sixties and even seventies routinely make big budget films with leading ladies younger than their grandchildren.There's an old joke that there are three stages to an actress's career:-- Hot mama.-- District Attorney.-- DRIVING MISS DAISY.Sadly, that's more truth than poetry.So Ms. Fox is doing crap like this and, worse yet, infomercials.This isn't really a bad movie. The other actors are competent, and it's good to see Brad Dourif play a sympathetic character.But the writing and direction bungle too many opportunities.MAJOR SPOILERS AHEADA lot of the film's climax hinges on the (totally false) presumption that one shot from a sympathetic character's gun can blow up a vehicle and send flames billowing into the night sky.But the crisis is resolved with no resolution. There's no satisfaction after all that's gone before in seeing vice avenged and virtue rewarded.Worse yet, there's a scene after the credits that completely reverses every plot development we've seen, and that probably 95% of the people watching the film will never see.Kim Bass is nowhere near untalented: witness his Emmy nomination for his writing on the innovative In Living Color. But this is a zero budget film. People will watch the closing credits of IRON MAN because they have a lot invested in the story and know that there will be additional footage that will set up the next film.Admittedly, it was good to see Ms. Fox playing a lead role. I only wish it had been in a project worthy of her talent.

For the genre, this one is several notches above most. I found the actor portraying JYD, Innis Casey,excellent, especially when he is underplaying. In fact, he is so creepy in his understatement that I'm surprised he wasn't suspect #1. Later in the film this cannibal chews the scenery more than he does his victims, but that may be more directorial than dietary. The young lady playing his frequently sexually violated captive, Galadriel Stineman,is thoroughly convincing, and Ms Fox, as always, knows how to wear ankle high boots and be tough tender warm and compassionate all while wielding a hand gun. You know the bad guy will get it sooner or later, and the women will emerge victorious, but there are thrills and scares far better than in 80% of similar shock fiestas. If you want an entertaining kidnapper/cannibal movie (and who doesn't?) this may be your best bet.

What can you say, interesting enough premise (supposedly inspired by actual events) let down by flatfooted and tame execution. Despite it's unpleasant details and dreary context --- a backwoods tow-truck driver is a serial killer who kidnaps unlucky girls at the end of every month holding them in a water tank in his wrecking yard where he constantly eats with them and then rapes them… so this a constant pattern and when it comes to the end of the following month. He kills them, chops them up and virtually eats them… sharing the leftovers with his dog (which is the size of a horse… not really but one character believes so). So its time to look for another calendar pin-up for next month. But the girl he kidnapped on Halloween has drawn the attention of an FBI agent. So the race begins to find her, before she becomes his next meal. This cheap, shot-on-video production felt like a clunky second-rate "Silence of the Lambs" crossed "Captivity" outing. It tries too hard to be ominous and cruel, but felt daftly comedic in its attempts. Kind of dearth of suspense and thrills… lingering with lousy jump jolts and stupid plot contrivances. Some things that occur just have you questioning how this killer could go this long without being caught and some of the investigation skills by the FBI agent (namely the line-dancing interruption) are laughable. Performances are on the lank side, although genre favourite Brad Dourif gets a bit of screen time as a town sheriff who "eventually" figures out what's going on. Innis Casey plays the deranged serial killer, as the camera likes to really focus on Casey's glassy expressions. Galadriel Stineman gives the usual victim performance and Vivica A. Fox as the headstrong FBI agent with (you guess) a scarred past ("Can you still pull the trigger?"). These are underwritten characters, which only show minor glimpses of their complexities and conflicted sides. Too bad because it did seem meander about, on repetitive and tired actions/scenarios and especially when there was one fascinatingly dark, if minor sequence involving a dinner scene involving the killer and his dead parents. Diverting, but an exaggeratedly slipshod serial killer thriller."This fairytale is not going to have a happy ending."

This film isn't the greatest on the planet but it's not as bad as its IMDb rating indicates. I rated it 5, and that's fair.Basically it's about a 30-something serial killer JYD who eats his victims. Lord knows why he's never been caught because if the police were doing their job right they would have caught him ages ago.And it looks like he's murdered quite a few in the past. His next would-be victim is a dark hair teenager driving on her way to a Halloween party. Her car breaks down and JYD stops to help her tow to a garage. Instead, he kidnaps her and keeps her holed up, beating and raping her daily. Basically she's waiting for him to kill her.A female cop is on the girl's trail and...well, I won't spoil the rest of the film. Suffice to say there's some genuine scares. However there are a few stoopid things that happen. Especially a fight scene toward the end. I'm sorry I laughed at that! Brad Dourif plays a slow Sheriff. He's not in it much. I guess he shot these scenes in his lunchtime.All in all, it's a flawed movie but still worth viewing.