Penny Dreadful (2006)

Spoilers!

Penny Dreadful (2006)
Dir: Richard Bandes
Starring: Rachel Miner, Mimi Rogers, Mickey Jones, Michael Berryman, Chad Todhunter
92 mins.
USA

Synopsis: When she was a little girl, Penny saw her parents killed in a car accident. For years she's been afraid of cars. Now, she is finally ready to face her fears with the help of her therapist, Orianna. Orianna decides to drive Penny to a mountain community as part of her therapy. On the way, Orianna hits a hitchhiker. As a way of making amends, Orianna decides to drop of hitchhiker to his destination, much to the dread of Penny, who fears this mysterious stranger. After dropping off the creepy hitchhiker, the two speed away. But Penny needs to get out and vomit. A mile away from the hitchhiker Penny gets out of the car and vomits. Then she sees something terrifying, prompting Orianna to get out of the car and look. The hitchhiker has punctured the front passenger wheel. As a result, Orianna must go for help, leaving Penny in the ride. Unfortunately for Penny, that's when her fears are just beginning when the hitchhiker decides to terrorize Penny.

My review: I thought it was a good movie. It didn't have any gore and there was little blood. That's okay. It was suspenseful and chilling. The beginning had sweet, brightly lit cinematography. The second part was all dark cinematography that enhanced the feeling of dread. Mimi Rogers played a good job playing a therapist and a dead body. Rachel Miner got some nods from fans of this movie about her acting. But I had to agree with the detractors of this flick: throughout the movie she had to play a woman terrified for her life. How hard is that? Basically, any woman could have done this role.

My only complaints were the unnecessary sex scene and the disposable characters, who I knew were going to be killed. My other complaint was that the villain was a letdown. It was just some mentally retarded female crackhead. I thought the villain was going to be a manifestation of Penny's fears. That would have made this movie a classic in my book. Even though the cliched ending sort of killed things for me.

Still I recommend it. My rating: 2 out of 3 stars, which means it gets a rating of "fair". As of 5/19/2012, this movie is on youtube. I searched "penny dreadful 2006" and came up with the movie in parts. They are under the title "Penny Dreadful Part 1", "Penny Dreadful Part 2" etc. So give it a shot if it's still up there.