The Trip (2003) Poster

(I) (2003)

User Reviews

Review this title
11 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
2/10
Absolutely terrible.
poolandrews3 June 2007
Warning: Spoilers
The Trip starts as eight college friends begin a trip from Los Angeles to Arizona for reasons which aren't important, up front in the sports car it's Carl (Larry Bagby) & his girlfriend Devan (Courtney Cole) along with Garry (Michael Chamberlain) & his stash of ecstasy that they plan on selling, then in the off roader it's Devan's sister Cess (Heather Shrake) along with Dana (Elizabeth Keller) & Darius (David Slocum) while in the piece of crap run down car it's Sylvia & Veronica (Cristal Gerrick). The three cars travel across the long winding roads & encounter a dirty blue truck which Carl gets involved in a road rage incident with which turns out to be a bad idea since the driver of the truck then decides to go after the friends & kill them one-by-one...

Written, produced & directed by Mark Cross this is another rubbishy zero budget independent horror themed piece of nonsense that really is no fun to watch at all. The script takes itself extremely seriously & is a complete total & utter bore from start to finish, virtually nothing happens that could even begin to pass as entertaining & to me by the last 20 odd minutes The Trip felt like it was nothing much more than scenes of cars driving along edited together between a few dull than dull conversation's amongst some very annoying teenage character's. There is a bit of a story here & it all ends with an absolutely horrible sentimental message which you feel is close to the director's heart in the way it comes across. The story itself is thin, it makes little sense, there's no real explanation to anything that's going on, there are more than a few holes in it & the twists are extremely obvious & predictable in a 'I worked out that was going to happen 20 minutes ago' sort of way. Then there's the fact The Trip is incredibly boring & slow, there are huge chunks of this film where virtually nothing happens & it nearly put me to sleep on several occasions.

Director Cross can't write a good horror film but he has some technical competence & The Trip is reasonably well made, I'd have said it was well made if not for the fact the colours are very muted & during the night scenes you can barely see anything. The Trip isn't scary in the slightest, it has zero tension or atmosphere & it hasn't a single drop of blood in the film as people are run over in very unspectacular ways.

The budget was obviously low on The Trip, the so-called action scenes between the various cars lack any excitement or pace & they can't even afford to show anyone actually run over as it's mostly hint's & suggestions. The acting is generally on the wrong side of average.

The Trip seems to be quite an obscure film & to be honest you should be thankful that it is & hope that it stays that way. Zero scares, zero gore, zero excitement, zero sense & zero entertainment.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
WORST MOVIE EVER! Actually renamed "Hell Ride"
bloodlust_199724 June 2007
This movie was bad. When I first found it, I thought maybe it was an "advanced" copy of the hell ride coming out soon, but I was very mistaken. I'm not sure when the name changed from the trip to hell ride, but I had to look up the director/writer to find this movie. Anyhow, The feel of this movie was like watching a college level production, with a little more money involved.

The crazy driver honking his horn over and over as he chased the kids got on my nerves. The only thing good about this movie was.... ..... The brief breast flash of the ghost girl. THATS IT! If this movie was on HBO 3 or something and you have time to kill waiting for the paint to dry in your bedroom, then this is a great movie to sit down and watch!
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
2/10
Terrible! Waste of time and money! This is nothing more than a student film.
reeves200226 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I first saw and read the cover and it sounded promising.It was nothing like "Joy ride"(which is my favorite movie)or "I saw what you did last summer" like it implies.If i rented it instead of buying the bloody amateur movie i wouldn't be as mad.There was nothing interesting about it including the ending.If the movie had a bigger budget for better effects and better camera's and actors it might be OK.It did look promising up until they all got to the motel.After that it was lame and annoying.The characters were so aggravating that you wanted them to get killed off as quick as possible.The part I hated the most was when the 3 survivors had a man trapped at his home and tied up.They all screamed at him to shut up like a bunch of psycho's while he was pleading "you have it wrong it wasn't me".This Gawddamned scene made my blood boil it was so painfully annoying. As well as having a brainless plot,it was filmed horribly as well.The whole movie was incredibly dark you couldn't see what was happening.These discs seem to all be defective. There is a chapter in the middle that skips. I thought at first I just had a dud.I wasn't able to get a refund only an exchange for the same stupid movie, and the next factory sealed one also skipped in the same exact spot so obviously the master copy is bad and has been transfered to all of the discs.I won't buy or rent anything again by this no-name new filmmaker and hope other's don't make the same mistake unless you like bad quality, grainy B-rated films made by a guy and his friends with a cheap hand held video camera.It is nothing more then someone's student film.All the money was spent on deceiving us with interesting looking cover art and a nice animated main menu.This is the only reason I even gave the movie a 2 out of 10.That is all this movie has going for it.It's a shame because I wanted to like this film but could never sit through it again.Now i've lost 14 bucks that could have been spent on something else.I feel ripped off!
1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Absolute Joke!!!!
kateashby-129 May 2007
OK, let me start by telling you a little about myself. I've been a member of IMDb for 10 years now. In all that time I've NOT ONCE posted a comment about a movie.

BUT .... THIS MOVIE ..... NEEDS A REVIEW.

This movie is quite possibly the worst movie in existence. The story is old and the acting is... well..... ATROCIOUS!!! I've not seen acting this bad since ... Well, if I'm frank I've NEVER seen acting this bad.

In small places the acting is almost passable, but they only stand out because the majority of the acting is beyond a joke.

The dude that plays Carl in this movie (Larry Bagby) is by far the worst actor in it. I actually checked out his IMDb profile as my instant reaction was ' I bet he hasn't or won't do much more than this movie'. To my ultimate horror I see that he's actually done a vast amount of work as an actor. To say I'm shocked is an understatement.

Let me put it this way. If you've ever dreamt of being an actor, or even if you've failed miserably at being an actor ... HANG IN THERE!!! .... If this guy can make a living out of it, then ANYONE can.

Unfortunately, none of the other cast could actually carry him, so it let the bad story, awful script down.

Please, I beg of you .... AVOID THIS MOVIE!!!! You'll never get that 1hr and 25 minutes of your life back!!!!
8 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Film School Project
bernie-12214 July 2007
You're not likely to see this playing at the cinema. I don't think it'll be showing on TV. The only place you're likely to find this laughable "film" is at the video store. If you do happen across it there, whatever you do, don't rent it. Doing so would put a few cents in Mark Cross' pocket and encourage him to make more "films".

I've seen some pathetically amateur films in recent times; up till now, 'San FranPsycho' took the cake as the worst. I now consider it dethroned by this piece of crap.

Film School Project is actually being rather kind. If I were teaching the class this was submitted to, I would give it a D-.
3 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Slasher on Wheels...
jpuck815 October 2005
Great independent horror effort from an unknown director/writer and surprisingly good acting from an unknown cast. This flick is a cross between "Joy Ride" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer", about a group of college kids going out to party in the desert. They accidentally run over some crosses on the side of the road, and suddenly find themselves being hunted down, one by one, by someone in a large, nasty old beat-up truck. First-time director Cross does an amazingly good job for such a difficult on-road concept, and I could only imagine what they had for a budget. The picture is crisp, and the characters are conventional, likable and fun. The storyline is a tad unoriginal. At one point, pictures on a barn wall are directly a steal from "IKWYDLS". I can't much say it ripped off "Joy Ride", however, as it's debatable that "Joy Ride" and "Jeepers Creepers" ripped off movies like "Duel" and the rare lost slasher "Mirage" from 1990. Not sure why this didn't get a wider DVD release (I thought I was going to have to search forever on ebay, like I did with "Mirage"), but instead found it available on Deep Discount DVD for six bucks! Well worth the buy...loads of fun.
2 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
I'm in shock
trvwatson4 May 2008
It is totally unbelievable films like this are allowed to be made and packaged I'm in total shock, like somebody mentioned here this is not a low budget horror, but a camera prank film, it seemed like everyone was a joke, nobody was an actor, these people are not actors. Everybody was a shallow character, all the girls had attitude. And the film looked dull and grainy, the bit where the girl is run over will make you laugh forever, the shocks are ridiculous to the point of needing to buy yourself a new television because your current one has just been thrown out your 4th floor window.. please don't go buy it, and ignore the positive comments about this film because its basically the cast writing reviews about their own shitty film because their out of work. Directors who produce this crap are money making scammers, where is the law against this tripe. Look at the acting of the hotel landlady and tell me you don't feel insulted by this rubbish.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
IT'S LIKE A SEMI VS. A PINTO
nogodnomasters6 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
A group of college kids and one high school tag-a-long (Heather Shrake) decide to leave California to celebrate spring break in Arizona where they can also peddle some X-tasy because God knows there is no place in California to do that. The kids are burnt out as "there are too many classes and not enough time." Oh to be young again. The students take three vehicles as Carl (Larry Bagby) a guy most of the group dislikes is in the lead car as they opt to take the back roads because the cops are too stupid to think drug dealers take back roads.

Early on, Carl pops open a brewski while driving to the dismay of his whiny girlfriend Devon (Courtney Cole-Fendley). To prove to her he can drink while driving he runs over some crosses that are along side of the road. Mind you, no one is buried on the shoulder on the road, these are just some crosses people put up as distractions for the rest of us. Apparently no one thought Carl was being civic minded and now the dead will make Carl pay for his deeds...and a few other people in the other cars who were also outraged at his actions because, what the heck, what kind of film would this be if just one guy died.

The opening narration was boring. The characters and acting were on par for a "B" horror film. Opening had an 80's sounding background.

Not the best film with the name "Hell Ride."

Parental Guide: Nudity (Mindy Ferguson)
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
This movie is DA BOMB!
duhbigbadwolf26 March 2005
Wow, I've never been so amazed by such a movie in my entire existence. I mean, this movie had it all... violence, scariness, and shocking scenes that will make you want to never sleep with a light off again.

I was seriously horrified by this movie, I'm not going to say anything that may or may not give away some of the scenes in this movie, but take my word for it... it's scary as %$#@%%.

It will shock, amaze, and maybe even amuse you, depending on what type of person you are in life.

I highly recommend this beautiful masterpiece... but beware, what you encounter on "the trip" may effect the way you view movies forever.

Of course, that's a GOOD thing.

-Bane
5 out of 28 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Good Scary Movie
garyt752422 October 2005
A very fun light horror film. Great story line. Original storyline. Good direction and character development. This movie was an un-expected joy. The violence was low key. Good action film. I could tell the budget to make this film was not to big, but the final outcome is commendable. The director Mark Cross is someone I've never heard from before but I feel if he had the right budget this film would have been on the big screen. I am waiting to see what Mark comes up with next. This is a film where one would sit down with the kids on a Saturday nite with home made popcorn and kool aid to have a nice scary nite together
2 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
this is a classic old school horror movie
oscarwinner30 March 2009
Shot for 50,000 dollars...this is a great low budget horror film. anyone who disses it must be an idiot. On the commentary the director said this was his first film and that he had not gone to film school. I think he was a computer science major. The movie has car chases and crashes with a budget like this... unbelievable. If you think this movie sucks then try making your own for 40k and see how difficult it is. All you have to do is listen to the commentary and you will understand the problems that occur on a budget this low. The acting was sub-par, but altogether I take my hat off to such an effort for a first time film maker with almost no budget and so many stunts. This was like his student film
0 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed