At the same time on that dark and rainy night, George (JOHN C. McGINLEY), his wife Alice (LELIA KENZLE) and her son Timmy (BRET LOEHR) have just had a blowout while driving down a remote road. While changing it, limo driver Ed (JOHN CUSACK), who's transporting faded TV actress Caroline Suzanne (REBECCA DeMORNAY), accidentally runs over Alice.
Desperate for help and with no cell phone coverage, they end up at a remote motel where they meet the clerk, Larry (JOHN HAWKES). His phone also isn't working due to former call girl Paris (AMANDA PEET) accidentally hitting a utility pole upon discovering that the local roads are flooded.
Also finding themselves stranded at the motel are newlyweds Ginny (CLEA DuVALL) and Lou (WILLIAM LEE SCOTT), as well as a cop, Rhodes (RAY LIOTTA), who's transporting another mass murderer, Robert Maine (JAKE BUSEY).
With Ed trying to get some sort of help for the badly injured Alice, the rest prepare to settle in for the night. Yet, things aren't particularly cozy, and when various people start dying from grisly murders in reverse order of the room key numbers, the dwindling survivors try to figure out who or what's responsible and how to avoid being the next victim.
Violence consists of both on and off-screen murders (by shooting, knifing and other means) and accidental deaths or injuries, some of which are extremely bloody and/or gruesome (including the sight of a severed head and another severe neck wound). Those scenes and many others (including various jump scenes) will likely be disturbing, suspenseful or downright scary to some/many viewers, and various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes.
Several characters drink, others smoke (or attempt to) and tense family material consists of unhappy newlyweds and a boy seeing both of his parents die. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.
For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, some of that occurs during thunderstorms in the movie.
All Rights Reserved,
(2003) (John Cusack, Ray Liotta) (R)
Alcohol/
DrugsBlood/Gore
Disrespectful/
Bad AttitudeFrightening/
Tense ScenesGuns/
Weapons
Mild
Extreme
Extreme
Extreme
Extreme
Imitative
BehaviorJump
ScenesMusic
(Scary/Tense)Music
(Inappropriate)Profanity
Mild
Heavy
Extreme
None
Extreme
Sex/
NuditySmoking
Tense Family
ScenesTopics To
Talk AboutViolence
Moderate
Minor
Extreme
Moderate
Extreme
CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.
(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).
Reviewed April 17, 2003 / Posted April 25, 2003
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.
©1996-2022 Screen It, Inc.