By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
"PASSENGER" IS A SILLY BUT CREEPY RIDE
Not that long ago, horror fans were lamenting the lack of scary movies being made, but now there seems to be at least two new ones opening in cinemas every single week.
Honestly, I'm here for all of them, including the middling
"Passenger" from director/screenwriter
Andre Ovredal ("Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark 2").
Some horror movies ask you to suspend your disbelief.
"Passenger," practically demands you leave it stranded on the side of the highway with a dead cellphone battery and no AAA membership.
After a young couple witness a gruesome highway accident, they soon realize they didn't leave the crash scene alone, as a demonic presence known only as "The Passenger" begins to follow them.
There is something wonderfully campy about a horror movie that barrels headfirst into every familiar trope with the confidence of a couple cruising cross-country in a tricked-out van they clearly should have tested on shorter trips first.
Lovebirds Maddie (Lou Llobell, TV's "Foundation") and Tyler (Jacob Scipio, "Bad Boys: Ride or Die") spend most of the film making the kind of decisions that practically beg the audience to yell at the screen. Forget holy water, these two desperately needed roadside assistance, a fully charged phone, and maybe the common sense to dial 9-1-1 at least once.
Instead, they leave New York and continue wandering deeper into a haunted stretch of highway where terrified RV travelers refuse to stop, locals speak in vague warnings, and an entity stalks the road like it's working overtime for the tourism board from hell.
Predictable? Absolutely. Yet somehow "Passenger" still manages to land a few genuinely effective jump scares, mostly thanks to the unsettling presence of the crazed looking creature itself, played with eerie conviction by Joseph Lopez ("Rolling").
The film leans hard into spooky-roadside-Americana energy, complete with dusty souvenir shops, cryptic symbols, and dialogue delivered by characters who appear solely to dump lore before disappearing again. Maddie (Llobell) conveniently discovers a mysterious book explaining the haunted highway and the meaning behind symbols like the three linear scratches that mysteriously wind up on their van. They are the same scratches that Maddie noticed on the crashed car.
Then there is Diana, (Melissa Leo, "The Rooster Prince") who shows up to warn the couple not to stop, not to drive at night, and basically not to do any of the things they immediately continue doing.
Leo gives the material here more gravitas than it deserves. It's odd that Maddie and Tyler take to her so quickly.
You wonder why won't any of these road warriors tell them more about this demonic and haunting creature? It sure would save them and others a ton of grief.
Familiarity doesn't always breed contempt when it comes to horror films. Sometimes there's comfort in watching a movie hit every ridiculous beat while still managing to entertain.
"Passenger" is the cinematic equivalent of a haunted house attraction at a roadside carnival-- cheesy, illogical, occasionally goofy, but capable of delivering some solid jolts when you least expect them.
The more you think about "Passenger," the less sense any of it makes, but that's part of its strange charm. It's a bumpy, but enjoyable ride.
Check Out This Trailer For
"PASSENGER"
