Zzyzx (film)

Last updated
Zzyzx
ZZYZX-poster4.jpg
Promotional poster
Directed byRichard Halpern
Written byArt D'Alessandro
Produced byRichard Halpern
Starring Kenny Johnson
Robyn Cohen
Ryan Fox
Kayo Zepeda
Music byKays Al-Atrakchi
Production
company
Yarble.com
Release date
  • February 4, 2006 (2006-02-04)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,000,000 (estimated)

Zzyzx is a 2006 thriller film produced and directed by Richard Halpern and starring Kenny Johnson, Robyn Cohen, Ryan Fox, and Kayo Zepeda. It is set in the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas. The film was written by Artholomew D'Alessandro. [1] [2] [3] The film is also known as Burned. [4]

Contents

Plot

Two friends are driving to Las Vegas for the weekend, and one of the men, Lou (Johnson) who is driving, asks his friend Ryan (Fox) if one could get away with killing someone in the middle of nowhere. As they explore Zzyzx Road, Lou teases Ryan by almost hitting a pedestrian. As Ryan complains about Lou's behavior, Lou doubles back and sets a crash course for the man that they saw on the road. Ryan grabs the wheel in the hopes to stop Lou from hitting the man, but in the end, they lose control of the car and hit the man. The man dies, only after whispering the words "Go home" into Lou's ear. Lou takes his identification and puts on his watch.

Lou and Ryan contemplate what to do next, now that the man has died. As a woman walks up the road towards their car, they grab the body and throw it into the back seat of the car. They talk to the woman, named Candice (Robyn Cohen), to find that she is the wife of the man they killed. She invites them into her husband's Winnebago, and they drink a few beers.

After they converse for a while, Lou and Ryan reveal more about themselves. Lou used to be in the Army, after going to Iraq and coming back, Ryan said he was never the same. Lou consistently derides Ryan and calls him Mitch because it rhymes with "bitch". Ryan is found to be a very introverted person. Lou and Ryan keep an eye on Candice to make sure that she does not find out they killed her husband.

They eventually get drunk, and they all take narcotics. Eventually, Candice and Lou end up making out, while Ryan tries to pull Candice off of Lou. Lou storms out of the trailer after this as he knows that Candice knows what happened. He throws the keys to the Winnebago into the desert. Candice finds the key to the car that Ryan and Lou drove into the desert, and she tries to steal the car. Much to her dismay, the car does not start. Lou tries to coax her out of the car, but he ends up getting stabbed in his cheek by Candice.

Ryan, thinking that Lou is to blame for the murder, helps Candice start the car. After Ryan fixes the car, Candice drives off while Ryan is still on the hood of the car, instead of driving off with him. Ryan, in retaliation, disables the car by ripping out some wires.

In the end, Ryan beats Lou to death with a golf club. He then proceeds to free Candice, and she offers to have sex with him in exchange. Afterward, Candice gouges out Ryan's eyes, and sets him on fire. She finds her husband's body and cuts his leg off, revealing that he had $100,000 hidden in a prosthetic leg. Candice walks off into the distance with the leg, after betraying all those around her.

Cast

Reception

Ryan Brown of The Sun Chronicle wrote "While "Zzyzx" may not be the best thing ever produced or even the most original, it does strive for an experience that is new: tight camera work in the confined space of a recreational vehicle, film hues saturated with reds and greens, and garbled sounds blasted from the speakers to show the effects of a drug trip". [3] Debi Moore of Dread Central commented "Zzyzx is a true rarity in today's indie scene. There are no zombies (either the fast or the slow variety), no moping vampires, and no gratuitous torture of gorgeous tied-up women. Instead we are treated to a rich character and dialogue driven story where no one is quite what they seem to be and the audience is kept guessing as to what's really going on right up to the final moments of the film. And it contains one of the most kick-ass opening credit sequences you're likely to see anywhere. All of this — and more — from a film with an approximate $1 million budget and an only nine-day shooting schedule!" [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dead End</i> (2003 film) 2003 film

Dead End is a 2003 English-language French horror film written and directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa, and starring Alexandra Holden, Ray Wise, Lin Shaye, Mick Cain, Billy Asher, and Amber Smith. It tells the story of a dysfunctional family who find themselves on a never-ending road in the middle of a forest during a routine drive on Christmas Eve, while under pursuit of a mysterious hearse and a woman dressed in white.

<i>Inferno</i> (1953 film) 1953 American drama/thriller by Roy Ward Baker

Inferno is a 1953 American thriller drama starring Robert Ryan, William Lundigan and Rhonda Fleming, directed by Roy Ward Baker. It was shot in Technicolor and shown in 3-D, with stereophonic sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirsten Cohen</span> Fictional character from the television show The O.C.

Kirsten Cohen is a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C., portrayed by Kelly Rowan. Kirsten is the wife of Sandy Cohen, mother to Seth Cohen, and the adoptive mother of Ryan Atwood. Originally portrayed as being unwelcoming towards Ryan in the Cohen household, she began to develop feelings for the brooding teenager, going on to accept him as a central member of her family.

Robyn Cohen is an American actress best known for her role as Anne Marie Sakowitz, the sunbathing script supervisor in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

<i>Reeker</i> 2005 American film

Reeker is a 2005 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Dave Payne. The plot centers on a group of young adults who are stranded in a desert oasis where they fall prey to a horrific decaying creature. This film is Marcia Strassman’s final film appearance before her death in 2014.

<i>Them</i> (2006 film) French horror film

Them is a 2006 French-Romanian horror film directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud. According to a title card at the beginning of the film, it is "based on real events".

<i>The Women</i> (2008 film) 2008 film by Diane English

The Women is a 2008 American comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by Diane English and starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Debi Mazar, Bette Midler, and Candice Bergen. The screenplay is an updated version of the George Cukor-directed 1939 film of the same name based on a 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce.

<i>Homecoming</i> (2009 film) 2009 American independent horror-thriller film by Morgan J. Freeman

Homecoming is a 2009 American independent horror-thriller film, directed by Morgan J. Freeman and written by Katie L. Fetting, Jake Goldberger and Frank Hannah. The film follows a student couple, Mike and Elizabeth, on their homecoming. Elizabeth is taken home by Mike's ex-girlfriend Shelby after a road accident. Shelby is soon revealed to be fixated on Mike and subsequently treats Elizabeth in a cruel and deranged manner. The film was poorly received by critics but was a box office success, grossing $8.5 million against a $1.5 million budget.

<i>Laid to Rest</i> (film) 2009 American film

Laid to Rest is a 2009 American slasher film written and directed by Robert Green Hall. It was followed by a 2011 sequel entitled ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2.

<i>Albino Farm</i> 2009 American film

Albino Farm is a 2009 horror film written and directed by Joe Anderson and Sean McEwen. It stars Chris Jericho, Richard Christy, Tammin Sursok, and Alex Neustaedter.

<i>Frozen</i> (2010 film) 2010 film by Adam Green

Frozen is a 2010 American psychological survival horror film written and directed by Adam Green, and starring Shawn Ashmore, Kevin Zegers, and introducing Emma Bell in her film debut. It tells the story of three friends stranded in a chairlift after a day of skiing, forced to make life-or-death choices in order to survive and get down.

<i>House of Fears</i> 2007 American film

House of Fears is a 2007 American horror film, directed by Ryan Little. It stars Corri English, Sandra McCoy, Michael J. Pagan, Corey Sevier and Alice Greczyn. The film was released Direct-to-DVD on April 27, 2009 in the UK. The DVD release in the United States was distributed by Your Indie Films. The movie features a cameo from American actor Jared Padalecki.

<i>Shredder</i> (film) 2003 American film

Shredder is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Greg Huson and starring Scott Weinger and Lindsey McKeon. It centers on a group of friends being stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant at an abandoned ski resort. It was filmed at the Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg, Idaho, and released direct-to-video in the United States by MGM Home Entertainment.

<i>Roadkill</i> (2011 film) American TV series or program

Roadkill is a 2011 American television horror film directed by Johannes Roberts and written by Rick Suvalle. It stars Kacey Barnfield, Oliver James, Diarmuid Noyes and Stephen Rea. It is the 25th film of the Maneater series.

<i>Transit</i> (2012 film) 2012 film by Antonio Negret

Transit is a 2012 American action crime thriller film directed by Antonio Negret and written by Michael Gilvary. It stars Jim Caviezel, James Frain, Diora Baird, Elisabeth Röhm, Ryan Donowho, Sterling Knight, Harold Perrineau, and Jake Cherry. It follows a gang of bank robbers who stash their loot in a vacationing family's car and then try to retrieve it down the road.

<i>Seventh Moon</i> 2008 American film

Seventh Moon is a 2008 American horror film written by Eduardo Sánchez and Jamie Nash, and directed by Eduardo Sánchez. Part of Robert Tapert's Ghost House Underground DVD series, and entirely shot in shaky cam style. The film is based on the Chinese legend that on the full moon of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell open and the dead can enter the realm of the living. It stars Amy Smart as an American woman who is spending her honeymoon in China with her newlywed Chinese-American husband. While driving through the countryside the couple gets stranded and has to find a way to survive the fateful night.

<i>Skinned Deep</i> 2004 American film

Skinned Deep is a 2004 American comedy horror film directed and written by Gabriel Bartalos and starring Les Pollack, Aaron Sims, Kurt Carley, Linda Weinrib, Forrest J Ackerman, Eric Bennett, and Warwick Davis.

<i>Dying Room Only</i> 1973 television film by Philip Leacock

Dying Room Only is a 1973 American made-for-television horror mystery thriller film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Cloris Leachman and Ross Martin. Written by Richard Matheson and based on his 1953 short story of the same name, the film follows a woman whose husband disappears after they stop by a rural diner in the Arizona desert.

<i>Mary Goes Round</i> 2017 film

Mary Goes Round is a 2017 Canadian drama film directed by Molly McGlynn. It was screened in the Discovery section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.

<i>Skin</i> (2018 short film) 2018 short film by Guy Nattiv

Skin is a 2018 American short drama film, directed by Israeli-born filmmaker Guy Nattiv. Co written with Sharon Maymon, the film won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 91st Academy Awards, marking distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures' first win in the category.

References

  1. 1 2 Moore, Debi (4 June 2007). "Zzyzx (DVD)". Dread Central . Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  2. ↑ "Burned (2006)". Letterboxd. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  3. 1 2 BROWN, RYAN (15 June 2007). "'Zzyzx' on cusp of download revolution in movies". The Sun Chronicle . Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  4. ↑ "Zzyzx (2007) - Richard Halpern | Releases". AllMovie . Retrieved 2 December 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.