User Reviews

I notice that, thus far, none of the reviewers here on IMDb have attempted to give a plot summary for Southbound, which is not all that surprising given just how weird the film is. Although often described as an anthology, the format isn't a series of distinctly separate tales tied together by a wraparound story, as one might expect: instead, the film consists of several related dramas that weave together throughout the course of one night, the order of which goes like this…

"The Way Out": two men in a truck are pursued by several hellish, skeletal wraiths, but find themselves caught in a inexplicable loop that sees them repeatedly returning to the same location—a desert truck stop/motel. Some inventive CGI creatures make this section bearable, but what the heck is happening, I haven't the foggiest!

"Siren: Three girls check out of the same motel to continue their road-trip, but experience a flat tire that leaves them stranded. A passing couple give the girls a lift to their house, and offer them a room for the night. This being a horror film, their hosts turn out to be strange cultists who use the girls in a bizarre ritual. This part of the film is extremely predictable: as soon as the girls break down, it is obvious that they'll fall foul of passing strangers.

"Accident": A man driving down a seemingly deserted highway accidentally runs down one of these girls as she tries to escape the cultists. Panicking, he calls 911, and is directed to a nearby hospital. Unfortunately, the building is deserted, so the helpful EMT (emergency medical technician) gives instructions on how to save the girl's life. The girl dies, but the man is sent to a locker room where he finds clean clothes, and then directed to a car identical to his own, albeit without any damage. The relieved man drives away from the hospital. "Accident" makes no sense whatsoever, but at least there is some decent gore along the way, with the girl's leg hanging off and a botched attempt at compressing her lung.

"Jailbreak": The EMT who has helped the man in the hospital is shown to be speaking from a public call box. She hangs up the phone and enters a bar. A man brandishing a shotgun comes into the bar soon after and demands to know what has happened to his sister. The bartender says he will take the man to her, and leads him to a strange tattoo parlour where the woman is working. She says that she is happy there, but the gunman drags her to his vehicle and races off into the desert. His car breaks down and he is attacked by a group of naked men. Regarding the story, your guess is as good as mine, but we are offered more gore in the form of some juicy shotgun blasts (including an exploding head) which makes the confusion slightly more bearable.

"The Way In": The film ends where it started… in the desert. A group of masked men attack a family in their home, but find the daughter harder to deal with than they expected, especially when her one of the wraiths from the opening scene emerges from her back and the ground around them begins to crumble.

As you might have fathomed by now, Southbound left me more than a little confused by its bizarre narrative. I enjoyed the occasional spot of splatter, but on the whole, I'd much rather just watch Creepshow again: I understand that film.

SPOILER: Two guys in a truck are escaping from something. They end up at a gas station/diner/motel. When they try to leave they end up at the same place over and over. Finally they stop and one guys is butchered by the thing that has been following them. The other guy goes back to the motel where he starts hearing and seeing his daughter and encounters the thing.

In a different room at the motel three girls from a band leave and end up with a flat tire somewhere and without a spare. A friendly old-fashioned couple gives them a lift. During dinner another couple comes over with their twin sons. Two of the girls eat some nasty looking meat dish, the third girl is a vegetarian. Later the two end up vomiting some black stuff and late at night simply walk outside in the dark. The other girl follows them and sees them joining some ceremony. All the others are in robes and chanting. At some point they discover her and chase her as she runs to the street.

And is hit by a car. The driver calls 911 but doesn't know where he is or where he is going. He decides to drive to a city nearby, goes into a hospital, which is completely empty. The dispatcher, EMT, and now a doctor are on the phone and guiding him. He's told to intubate the girl by hand, and then manually to compress her lung. He does so and eventually he allowed to leave.

Nearby a woman is on the phone, I think she may have been one of the people talking to the guy. She goes into a bar where later a guy with a shotgun breaks in and asks if anyone has seen his missing daughter. After several scuffles, the guy at the bar takes him to a tattoo parlor where the daughter works. Against her will, the brother takes her with him and they drive away, but where to? The brother faces a nasty while the girl drives back and goes into a restroom.

From it a girl exits and joins her family eating. They go to a vacation house where soon enough 3 masked guys appear. The break into the house and grab the couple. The daughter hid and is safe. By accident they end up killing the couple, and attack the daughter, but now things turn very surprising. Among the surprises, two of the masked guys are the guys from the beginning in the truck.

Southbound presents these interesting and creepy stories. Each story poses more questions than it answers. And in this case it worked. Others here on the boards have come up with excellent explanations. Perhaps one problem with Southbound is that it didn't intrigue me enough to try and come up with answers. I was perfectly content with not knowing how it all comes together, or whether it does, but apparently it does. So a lot of thought went into these scripts but not enough clues were offered to the audience or it wasn't made clear that they were clues. In any case, I enjoyed Southbound. It's a different, original, interesting movie that sets quite an atmosphere. I found the creature thing to be very neat and different, as well. The cast was mostly unknown to me but Nathalie Love and Hassie Harrison are just lovely.

These small films fit into one another just like the Twilight Zone movies. If you're looking for a common theme, you're likely to be disappointed, There are these giant devilish skeleton bats that chase some of the characters, apparently for justice. Other than that, it's just a fairly well made, and simply made, horror movie with a few clever twists.

There is one part where a man is distracted by his phone while driving and he hits a girl who had just escaped a satanic sacrifice ceremony. He calls 911 only to become more confused by what has happened and of course frustrated. Some of the stories are like that, unsatisfying.

Th giant bat effects ARE satisfying, along with the final scene where we are brought up to speed about what's happening in the chase in the opening scene. The movie works like a circle, setting you on a path and then replacing you there after you've finished another story.

This film has a lot of killing and blood in it. There isn't much explanation for any of it though. I suppose you could draw the conclusion that if you live an immoral life, you'll have to reckon with the grim reaper or the devil or some being at the end of your life. Not a very original idea for a horror movie but there are enough clever twists to keep you guessing. It lost two stars with me for the lack of explanation about many elements in the stories.

I suppose it could be seen as the devil is coming for those who have killed or sinned terribly but they never say why. If you don't mind open ended movies, you'll probably not get my criticism. I like finding out why the mysterious things happen. It pleases me when everything fit, Southbound is a good movie but seems to leave so many thinking projects up to the viewer. For plain text horror with minimal production, I recommend it!

SOUTHBOUND is a solid little horror anthology consisting of five interlocking tales about travellers encountering monstrous nastiness deep in the desert. I found it much better than expected; a B-movie for sure, but one which delivers plenty of bodily fluids and slime for the gore fans, as well as some creepy scenarios and a budget that does justice to the sometimes imaginative set-ups. The opening sequence is particularly creepy, with the sight of those winged skeletal things enough to send shivers down the spine; if anything, the subsequent tales get darker and darker until they reach a pitch-black level.