UK RELEASE DATE - 25th February 2011.

A sublimely ridiculous RACE WITH THE DEVIL meets ‘Top Gear’ director Patrick Lussier’s latest 3D gorenucopia is a non-stop riot of gratuitous sex, extreme violence, gunfights at the splatter corral, spectacular explosions and turbo-charged muscle car crashes.

Take DRIVE ANGRY seriously for one second and you’ll be lost. Take it with a pinch of salt and you’ll still be laughing from end credits to its DVD release date. Every so often an exploitation movie comes along that cleverly rises above its knowing generic roots to entertain on so many different levels to a broad-based audience. This fun chase and chiller cocktail is one of those superior models, a high-energy trash extravaganza that effortlessly coasts on sentimental melodrama, schlock horror and fabulous outbursts of abrupt slaughter and hilarious carnage.  How can you tell a good Nicolas Cage movie? One it seems whenever his hair weave features blond highlights. Here, he’s back in GHOST RIDER mode playing John Milton (yes, aping the hero of ‘Paradise Lost’ fame). The vengeance-fuelled muscle car fanatic escapes eternal damnation in Hell to pursue the satanic cult who killed his daughter: their nutter leader Jonah King (Billy Burke) intending to sacrifice Milton’s granddaughter to unleash the Devil. Hooking up with high-kicking waitress Piper (ever terrific Scream Queen Amber Heard), a badass feminist with a penchant for tight daisy dukes on the run from her Neanderthal ex, the dynamic duo head south to stop the desert Black Mass. Great as deliberately one-note Cage and super feisty Heard are, DRIVE ANGRY belongs to William Fichtner (‘Prison Break’, ‘Entourage’) who steals every single scene as the enigmatic Accountant determined to get Milton back to Hades. His laissez-faire affability and cool toughness combo brings to mind Steve McQueen at the height of his fame. Patrick Lussier and co-writer Todd Farmer (the MY BLOODY VALENTINE remake duo) ensure the sizzling dialogue, lightning pacing, cartoon action and visual wildness remain at maxed-out excess for consistently enjoyable laughs and thrills. None more so than in the orgasmic motel shoot-out where Cage and his ecstatic lover continue having sex while he guns down a gaggle of villains. Just like he did in VALENTINE, Lussier makes good use of the 3D vistas; the best example being the visual memory Cage has of his daughter projected beyond the car windscreen so you get three layers of action.

An adrenaline stoked highway holocaust with bullets, cars and CGI flying in every direction, DRIVE ANGRY 3D is a total blast. 

Alan Jones.

This web site is owned and published by London FrightFest Limited.
 © London FrightFest Ltd. 2000-2011
_____________________________________________