“You know what they call that stretch of highway? Slaughter Alley … They say a trucker patrols that highway looking for people to kill.”

Sadistic truck driver Rusty Nail (Ken Kirzinger) is back on the road looking for fresh meat. This third installment of the horror franchise tries to integrate some elements of The Fast and the Furious as a nod to the first film’s star Paul Walker.

The young members of the Wells Racing Team are driving cross-country to compete in a big race. The crew includes drivers Jordan Wells (Jesse Hutch) and Austin Moore (Gianpaolo Venuta), mechanics Mickey Cole (Ben Hollingsworth) and Bobby Crow (Jake Manley), and PR girls Jewel McCaul (Kirsten Prout) and Alisa Rosado (Leela Savasta). When the gang stops at a diner to get directions, they are warned to avoid Route 17—also known as Salughter Alley—but taking this shortcut will shave a day off their travel time, so they ignore the advice. While speeding down the highway the racers decide to play a game of chicken with truck driver. However, they don’t know who they are dealing with. Rust Nail doesn’t appreciate the game, and decides to get revenge, hunting down the racers and eliminating them one-by-one in gruesome ways.

Joy Ride 3 is what you would expect and want from a direct-to-video horror sequel—it’s bloody, gory mix of thriller, action and horror, with a dash of humor. The film has a nice blend of tense moments, over-the-top gore, and breathers for a laugh—such as having the villain cap off each of his kills with a bad pun. Rusty Nail comes up with some creative ways to kill his victims, and the film keeps you guessing as to who will be next.

The movie does require the viewer to ignore some deficiencies in the story—for example, how does Rusty Nail move around so quickly and stealthily when he’s this big, stocky guy who drives a large, slow and noisy rig?! And yes, there is some poor acting at times—one scene that comes to mind is the reaction of one of the young men listening to the gruesome death of one of his friends. The film’s special effects are for the most part decent. However, when it comes to faces being smashed or crushed, this is where the choice to use practical effects sometimes results in more obvious cutaways and almost comical death scenes. However, the way to enjoy a film like this is to not over-analyze and just sit back and enjoy the ride.

The Blu-ray presentation looks really good, with a nice crisp picture that shows no signs of graininess, even in the darker nighttime scenes. The audio track delivers on the dialogue and the sound of racing motors and bone-crushing sound effects. However, I didn’t really notice much use of the surround channel. The bonus features include an interesting running commentary, and over 30 minutes of deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Overall, the film kept my interest, and at the edge of my seat at times. If you’re looking for a fun, gory horror flick, then Joy Ride 3 is worth checking out.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:35:53)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Closed Captioned

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 6/17/2017):

• UltraViolet DigitalHD Copy redeemable via Flixster, Google Play or Vudu

Extras (Both Blu-ray & DVD):

• Commentary by Declan O’Brien (1:35:53)
  Writer/director Declan O’Brien and Brett Levison (who worked on the Making Of the film) provide an interesting running commentary throughout the movie. They talk about idea for the film, the practical effects used in the film, and share various behind-the-scenes production tidbits.
• Riding Shotgun with Declan: Director’s Die-aries (9:22)
  This collection of production diary videos by writer/director Declan O’Brien gives viewers a look behind-the-scenes at the filming some of the movie’s gruesome death scenes. Play All or select from “Day 4”, “Day 8”, “Day 14”, and “Day ‘I Don’t Know'”.
• Jewel’s Message (1:20)
  More of a deleted scene, this is Jewel’s full distress plea.
• Road Rage: The Blood, Sweat and Gears of Joy Ride 3 (11:52)
  An interesting behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film with the cast and crew as they talk about the deaths, effects, stunts and more. Includes interviews with writer/director Declan O’Brien, producer Kim Todd, special effects make up artist Doug Morrow, special effects coordinator Cameron Patterson, picture vehicle coordinator Mark Dann, stunt coordinator Rick Skene, stunt driver Daniel Skene, and stars Kirsten Prout (“Jewel McCaul”), Jesse Hutch (“Jordan Wells”), Ken Kirzinger (“Rusty Nail”), Gianpaolo Venuta (“Austin Moore”), Benjamin Hollingsworth (“Mickey Cole”), Jake Manley (“Bobby Crow”), Leela Savasta (“Alisa Rosado”) and Dean Armstrong (“Officer Williams”).
• Deleted Scenes (5:41)
  A collection of 3 deleted scenes that don’t really add anything new to the overall story—”Sc. 52 ‘Creepy Gas Station'”, “Sc. 55-56 ‘Changing Tire'” and “Sc. 84 ‘Jenkins and Williams'”.
• Pre-Vis Sequences (6:57)
  Writer/director Declan O’Brien used toy cars and trucks to previsualize the game of chicken that happens between the racers and Rusty Nail. He provides a running commentary over a side-by-side comparison of his original version of these four sequences and the completed versions.
• Finding Large Marge (3:54)
  Writer/director Declan O’Brien, producer Kimm Todd, and actors Heather Hueging (“Waitress”), Jake Manley (“Bobby Crow”), Kirsten Prout (“Jewel McCaul”) and Jesse Hutch (“Jordan Wells”) talk about the search to find a Large Marge look-alike.
• Sneak Peek (11:10)
  Play All or select from trailers for “Devil’s Due”, “Out of the Furnace”, “In the Name of the King 3”, “3 Days To Kill”, “Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses”, The Bridge Season 1, and Wilfred Season 3.

Final Thoughts:

Joy Ride 3 is pretty much everything you would expect from a direct-to-video horror franchise sequel. It is a fun, gory mix of thriller, action and horror that kept me entertained the whole time. At times it has some poor acting and cheesy special effects, but that is not really surprising or a deal-breaker. The picture looks and sounds great on the Blu-ray, and the disc contains some really interesting behind-the-scenes bonus material. While the film isn’t going to win any awards, if you just sit back and enjoy the ride, it’s a satisfying way to spend 90 minutes.