Southbound (2015) #452

I love a well made horror anthology and “Southbound” was a delightful joyride. The strength of this film is how graceful the five segments are connected and flow from one to the next. Running at 89 minutes, the five separate segments don’t feel rushed and are given enough space to develop narratively. 

Each of the five segments had their own director and cast. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference in direction styles between the segments because it really did flow that smoothly. The director collective Radio Silence helmed “The Way Out” and “The Way In”. Roxanne Benjamin, best known for “V/H/S” directed “The Siren”, while fellow “V/H/S” director David Bruckner helmed “The Accident”. Patrick Horvath, who directed the segment “Jailbreak”, is the only director I who I was not previously familiar with.

 

I did enjoy one or two more than the others but I felt that was due to the story than any other factor. Each story is cleverly crafted to carry on from the previous segment and then transition into the next. This is impressive because each segment is also written by a different writer. There’s not much to say about the actors because the performances were all well throughout. Makeup was the main form of effects throughout “Southbound” although other practical effects as well as CGI were utilized. There isn’t too much outright gore or violence but this fact doesn’t water down the horror in the film.

“Southbound” could refer to travelling south as the stories are all interwoven by their shared theme of horror and terror on the open road of a desert highway. Or it could refer to the various characters entering their own personal hell, as in south of heaven. You, as the viewer, get to decide….