Zzyzx movie review

Zzyzx

movie review by Jaime Dunkle

Lou (Kenny Johnson, The Shield), a deranged Gulf War brute, drags his whiny wingman, Ryan, through the Mojave Desert on a wild trip to Vegas. On the way there, Lou pulls off the freeway at the infamous Zzyxz Road exit. Ryan (Ryan Fox) insists the road changes people, while Lou delves deeper into his own post-traumatic insanity. He plays chicken with a man wandering along the road, until he “accidentally” runs him over, blaming it on Ryan.

To make things worse, the dead Manny’s wife approaches. The psychotic duo plays it cool until they eat psychotropic mushrooms with Candice (Robin Cohen). In a nightmarish haze, the darkness takes over. Everything turns upside down, as the innocence of each character diminishes. Everyone is guilty of something, which makes the movie seem realistic.

Richard Halpern was right to cast Kenny Johnson of The Shield, since every character is essentially corrupt. In fact, the whole cast is great. There are very few good films with five characters or less; this is certainly up there with Closet Land! The cinematography was interesting and definitely reminiscent of Kubrick and Tarantino, but in a clever way.

Zzyxz is a psychedelic road of horrific unpredictability. It is paved with the blood of lust and greed. Fortunately, for a humble Mexican family, it also harbors lost treasures.

For DVD sales and show times visit:
The official Zzyzx site at http://www.zzmovie/com
The Zzyzx Myspace page at http://myspace.com/zzmovie