Director: Richard Grieco, Steve Stanulis
Writer: Derek Ross Mackay (Screenplay) Steve Stanulis (Story)
Starring: Erin O’Brien, James DeBello, Ace Young, Katie Morrison, Bo Kietl, Cody Calafiore, Ice-T
Plot: A widowed firefighter seeks closure after his wife goes missing on an actual haunted road in rural New Jersey but must unlock the roads secret if he wants to get out alive.
Runtime: 1 Hour 15 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Run Around the Woods Horror
Story: Clinton Road starts as we learn about a notorious stretch of road in the United States which within its 10miles stretch has an unusual number of murders and strange events going on along it. Michael (Young) has lost his wife along this stretch of road, without getting any closure, he has started to move on with his life with a new girlfriend Kayla (LaVera) when he gets called by his ex-wife’s sister Isabella (Morrison) who wants to investigate a new lead about what happened there.
After getting advice for a paranormal expert Begory (DeBello), Michael, Isabella, Kayla, Tyler (Calafiora) and Gianna (O’Brien) head out to the mysterious Clinton Road for answers, which takes them down a path they aren’t prepared to understand.
Thoughts on Clinton Road
Characters – Michael has experience the loss of his wife in unusual circumstances, he has moved on with his life, trying to finally put everything back together again, he does still want the final answers which Isabelle his sister-in-law could be about to give him, this sees him joined by his new girlfriend to look for the answers in the last place she was seen. Isabella is the sister of the missing woman, she has always wanted to get answers which leads her to turn to a paranormal expert to help solve the mysterious. Tyler is Michael best friend and the total opposite to him be louder, usually the one that gets them into trouble. Gianna is the connection with the paranormal expect, as we can tell here we don’t get the best development around the rest of the cast as we do with Michael and Isabella.
Performances – Ace Young in the leading role doesn’t do much wrong, but does struggle to bring his character to life, Katie Morrison struggles from this too because the characters aren’t written as strongly as they could be, they are difficult to bring to life, the whole cast struggles here and the big names are used more for the cameos to say they had a big name in the film.
Story – The story here follows a group of friends that go in search for answers about one of their other friends that went missing a year ago on a mysterious well know haunted stretch of road only to find themselves the target of the strange goings on upon the road. The story here uses the inspired by true events line which does spike the interest and the research required to see how true this road is and after doing my research the road is real and the haunting events around it are real too, the story we watch happen here are not. The idea of investigating the haunted area without any experience in other worldly entities doesn’t help the character’s decision-making process which soon plays into all of the weak clichés in horror, being mostly running around in the dark.
Horror – When it comes to the horror elements in the film we get to see how the mystery about the road plays into the scares required for the film, the darkness and isolation add moments of tension, but we just never get the creep or scare factor we could achieve from this story.
Settings – The film is set on a mysterious road and wooded area around it, is does create isolation by showing us just how much unexplained mystery is around the area.
Special Effects – The effects are consistent through the film with how the ghostly characters are created, they have a glow about them, when the practical effects are used the wounds are strong throughout.
Scene of the Movie – The leg injury reveal.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too much just running around the woods in the dark.
Final Thoughts – This is a by the book run around the wood horror movie that tries to play into a real life mystery only to end up being largely forgettable.
Overall: Basic horror.
Rating
