''Road Kill'', known as ''Road Train'' in Australia, is a 2010 Australian

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Dean Francis and written by Clive Hopkins. It stars

Xavier Samuel Xavier Samuel (born 10 December 1983) is an Australian film and theatre actor. He has appeared in leading roles in the feature films '' Adore'', ''September'', ''Further We Search'', ''Newcastle'', '' The Loved Ones'', ''Frankenstein'', ''A Fe ...

Bobby Morley Robert Alfred Morley (born 20 December 1984) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Bellamy Blake in The CW's '' The 100'' (2014–2020). After appearing in school plays, Morley was cast as Drew Curtis in the Australian soa ...

Georgina Haig Georgina Haig (born 3 August 1985) is an Australian film and television actress, known for her roles in the Australian children's television series ''The Elephant Princess'', as well as the American television series ''Fringe'', '' Limitless'' ...

and

Sophie Lowe Sophie Lowe (born 5 June 1990) is a British-born Australian actress and singer-songwriter. She is known for appearing in films such as ''Beautiful Kate'', ''Autumn Blood'', ''After the Dark'', ''Adore (film), Adore'', ''Road Kill (2010 film), R ...

Plot

Marcus (

), his best friend Craig (

), and their friends, Liz (

) and Nina (

) are driving through the

Australian outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

, when a

road train A road train, land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover. History Early ...

comes up behind their

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

and pushes them off the road, breaking Craig's arm. The truck stops some distance up the road. The group approaches it, but the driver is nowhere to be found. Distant gunshots are heard, and a crazed figure in the bush screams and runs towards them. Panicked, they commandeer the truck and drive away. The truck's radio turns on by itself. After all four fall asleep, the truck drives itself off the road and up a hill. When they wake up, Nina looks after Craig while Liz leaves to search for a shack she's seen. Unable to start the truck, Marcus accompanies Liz. Nina discovers the truck's fuel tanks are empty, but finds a large pipe underneath the trailer, filled with a mysterious red fluid. Craig, tormented by visions of the hellhound

Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the mo ...

, finds a key to the trailers. He opens and enters the rearmost trailer, only for the door to close itself behind him. Marcus and Liz have a disagreement over her having slept with Craig, causing Liz to storm off. Marcus stays on the road and has a run-in with the truck's driver, who shoots himself. Liz locates the rundown shack, where she finds unlabeled cans containing the red fluid. Thirsty, she drinks some but quickly runs back to the truck after finding bloody remains. Liz and Nina try to start the truck, but Marcus, now bearing the driver's clothes and gun, tries to destroy it. The women overpower and tie him up. Craig emerges from the trailer and kills Marcus. The truck starts up again, and Nina tries to back it up. Liz stands at the rear to signal Nina, but eventually leaves to drink more red fluid. Nina, unable to see Liz, exits the cab and sees Craig, who tries to lure her into the rear trailer. Hearing Liz crying for help from inside, she pushes Craig in and locks the door. Eventually, after Nina turns the truck around, she stops and examines the front trailer. To her horror, she discovers it is an

abattoir A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

where human bodies, including Marcus's, are ground into the red fluid that fuels the truck. Shocked, she returns to the cab and keeps driving. Nina spots a car and signals them for help. The truck radio turns on again, distracting Nina long enough to allow Craig and Liz to break into the cab. As the three fight, Craig rams the truck into the car. Liz is thrown from the cab by Nina, who is then knocked out. When Nina awakens, she finds Craig dragging Liz's body to the trailer. He tries to persuade her to help, rambling of a "magnificent opportunity". Nina instead flees, but Craig slams her head on the side of the cab. He drags her into the trailer, but she manages to defend herself and flees into the bush. Craig pursues and catches Nina, but she kills him with the truck driver's gun. As Nina emerges from the bush, she spots the couple from the wrecked car examining the truck. She runs toward them, screaming warnings. The couple, having been run off the road, hearing distant gunshots, and seeing a screaming figure running towards them, commandeer the truck and drive off, leaving Nina to watch in horror as the bloody cycle repeats itself.

Cast

as Marcus *

Bob Morley Robert Alfred Morley (born 20 December 1984) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Bellamy Blake in The CW's ''The 100'' (2014–2020). After appearing in school plays, Morley was cast as Drew Curtis in the Australian soap ...

as Craig *

as Nina *

as Liz

Production

''Road Kill'' was shot in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, South Australia and

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...

. Michael Robertson produced the film for ProdigyMovies,

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

and The South Australian Film Corporation.

Release

The film premiered at the

Dungog Film Festival The Dungog Film Festival was an annual event held in the Hunter Region town of Dungog. The Dungog Film Festival was a not-for-profit arts organization that was dedicated to celebrating and promoting the Australian screen industry. The festival p ...

. ''Road Train'' was re-titled in the US as ''Road Kill''. The US premiere had the film as part of the Fangoria Fright Fest on 22 June 2010. It is set to be released by Lightning Entertainment on 6 August 2010 in the United States via DVD, Video on Demand and Digital download. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 30 August 2010.

Reception

In a negative review,

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

wrote, "Despite a promising beginning with potentially interesting characters and a creepy, intimidating concept (a sinister road train), ''Road Kill'' squanders its potential by hurling itself off the rails, descending into rank absurdity." ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' was more positive, comparing it to an early

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

film, ''

Duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

'', and noting the promise of the filmmakers.

Soundtrack

The score was composed by Australian filmmusic artist Rafael May.First Word on Aussie Thriller Road Train
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 1241330, Road Kill 2010 films 2010 horror films APRA Award winners Australian horror films Australian thriller films Films set in abandoned houses Films set in Australia Films shot in Flinders Ranges 2010s supernatural horror films Trucker films 2010s English-language films