Director: Mike Mayhall
Writer: Mike Mayhall (Screenplay)
Starring: Eric Roberts, Garrett Hines, Leticia Jimenez, Patrick Flanagan, Tim Bell, Mike Mayhall, Ashton Leigh, Miles Doleac, Taryn Terrell
Plot: Jake’s Road, a full length suspense thriller that descends into horror. A young man awakens in a hospital bruised and beaten. He struggles to piece together the events flooding through his mind. As flashes of a relaxing weekend with friends slowly emerge, so does the horrific image of a killer – creeping ever closer. Somewhere within the madness is the key to the killer’s identity, but once discovered it may be more horrific than the murders themselves. Set in rural southern Louisiana ‘Jake’s Road’ is a tale of family and how one moment can rip you apart or bind you forever together. With enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very end as we discover what drives a man to kill all he loves and fight for all he has.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Recycled Slasher Film
Story: Jake’s Road starts with an injured young man Patrick (Flanagan) trying to remember what happened where he got picked up at Jake’s Road. Flashback to what is happened as he remembers his time in the cabin with his friends where Sam (Hines) was hurt. We move back to the cabin once more where we re-live the reunion between friends Sam, Kay (Jimenez), Mike (Bell), George (Mayhall), Joanie (Leigh), Heath (Doleac), Silvia (Terrell) and Chris along with Chris’ parents Martha (Samuelson) and Keith (Roberts)
Things take a turn when brothers Sam and Mike decide to sell the cabin that is filled with memories of their parents much to Keith’s disgust as he and his family have lived on the land for generations. When one of the friends get brutal murdered the rest find themselves being stalked by a killer in the woods.
Jake’s Road brings us a modern take on the slasher genre one more time. I liked how the characters got introduced even if they come off very generic in the supporting side of things. I liked how the story made the attack happen all in one day with great created isolation. Now with all this positives I have to look at the negatives. The opening sequences, does make sense but also gives too much away and the final twists is difficult to believe from what we have seen through the film but I am glad they didn’t go for the obvious. While this will make the general slasher fans but it will not offer much new. (6/10)
Actor Review
Eric Roberts: Keith is the family friend who the children want to move out as they look to sell the land, he doesn’t take the news well. Eric is added as the false villain that we all wanted to see but is also the biggest name in the film. (6/10)
Garrett Hines: Sam is one of the owners of the cabin who has bought his new girlfriend Kay there to propose but once he informs his friends he and his brother are selling the cabin he upsets the family friend before having to guide his friends against a mad man picking them off one by one. Garrett does a solid job in the leading role. (6/10)
Leticia Jimenez: Kay is the new girlfriend of Sam’s who is meeting all his friends for the first time, she ends up learning about the secrets of the cabin while having to fight for her life. Leticia does a solid job without being the standard damsel in distress. (6/10)
Patrick Flanagan: Chris is the best friend of Sam’s and the lone survivor from the opening scenes, it is him re-living the moments. He has to make the decision of backing his friends to sell or his family who live on the land. Patrick is solid in this role and has to offer the most. (6/10)
Support Cast: Jake’s Road has supporting characters that are rather generic and mostly used for disposable.
Director Review: Mike Mayhall – Mike does a good job trying to bring us a new slasher film that gives us an attempted twist on the genre. (6/10)
Horror: Jake’s Road fills all the slasher check marks for the horror genre but doesn’t create any tension. (7/10)
Thriller: Jake’s Road builds the characters nicely but doesn’t end up letting the tension build up with the second half of the film. (3/10)
Settings: Jake’s Road creates an isolated location with the traditional cabin in the woods setting. (8/10)
Suggestion: Jake’s Road is one for the slasher fans to try but otherwise it is a horror film that can be missed. (Slasher Fans Try)
Best Part: The killer doesn’t hold back.
Worst Part: Too many twists.
Action Scene Of The Film:
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: Wilderness
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $300,000
Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes
Overall: Slasher with too many twits for its own good.
Rating 
