Reeker
Encyclopedia
Reeker is a 2005 American horror film
, written
and directed
by Dave Payne. It spawned a prequel, No Man's Land: The Rise of Reeker.
when they hit a deer. The dad gets out and walks towards the bushes and comes back with half his face gone. The family is attacked by something foul-smelling.
The scene shifts to a lavish apartment where Trip, one of the film's main characters meets with a dealer named Radford who provides him with a number of pills for a rave in the desert. Trip steals all the dealer's pills. He meets with his friends Cookie, Nelson, Jack (who is blind) and the driver, Gretchen. The group notices an overturned car on the highway, which they dismiss as an abandoned accident.
Gretchen discovers that Trip is carrying drugs and stops the vehicle to kick him out. She agrees to take him back to a diner, which they discover has been abandoned. The car runs out of gas and inexplicably breaks down, so they decide to stay at the "Halfway Motel". Learning from the radio that the highway has been closed, Trip decides to walk down the road for help. After walking into a room in which he does not see the mother from the opening of the film--now with a damaged mouth and unable to speak, carving "Tell my son I lov(e him)"--Jack and Gretchen pitch camp and decide to sleep outdoors. After a haunting experience with the drug dealer Radford, Trip escapes and meets a man named "Henry" driving an RV, who is looking for his wife who has gone missing. He goes with Trip to the motel and sets up camp there. Trip doesn't tell his friends about his run-in with Radford but tells them to be careful and to scream if they see or hear anything (much to Jack's chagrin).
Looking for signal reception for his mobile phone, Trip releases from a rubbish skip the still-living head, torso and arms of a truck driver who then crawls away. Henry then meets Trip and discovers that Trip is seeing the dead people, as well. While in his camper, Henry collapses, suffocating as a dark figure moves through the trailer. Still looking for reception, Trip is attacked on the roof by a hooded figure. Cookie is attacked whilst sitting on the pit toilet
and is killed by being dragged into the hole. Upon noticing her absence, Nelson is almost dragged under his bed but pulls himself back up and jumps on top of the bed. He takes his sneaker off and drops it on the ground, watching as it is shredded. He then tries to escape by jumping through the window. However, a shard of glass cuts his throat, and he dies. He is found by Gretchen and Jack. They go to the RV to tell Henry, only to find that he is also dead. Gretchen decides to look for Trip and leaves Jack, who encounters the creature. As he tries to get away, Trip starts shooting at the figure with his gun, giving Jack time to get away. Trip is overpowered by the creature and dies.
An RV had crashed into Gretchen's car, after Trip had gotten out to call for a ride. None of the group had noticed the RV, whose driver, Henry, who had suffered a massive heart attack and lost control, as his wife, Rose had explained. The car that the group had seen leaving the diner was in fact their own (as seen after Gretchen crashed the car again herself). Each of the deaths at the hotel were reflected by their own deaths in the car; Cookie had died from internal bleeding, Nelson had been thrown through the windshield, cutting his neck on the glass, Trip's arm was severed gripping the cell phone (as when he was attacked) and he died from blunt force trauma, while Jack, who had received a massive head injury, and Gretchen, who was wearing her seat belt, remained in the car and alive. Radford, who had been stalking Trip witnessed the accident and attempted to assist; hence the visions of him at the motel and highway.
In the final scene, Gretchen and Jack briefly discuss the fact that neither has any recollection of the accident, and no mention is made of the incidents at the motel. Jack comments that, for a moment in the crash, he thought he could see Gretchen, offhandedly mentioning the color of her eyes.
, with eight out of 12 critics giving it positive reviews. Variety critic John Anderson wrote called it a "glossy, gory takeoff on the teensploitation slasher flick
that might just shock skeptics by scaring up crossover success."
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, written
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
and directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Dave Payne. It spawned a prequel, No Man's Land: The Rise of Reeker.
Plot summary
The film opens with a family driving down a desert highway. The mother and son are playing I spyI spy
I spy is a guessing game usually played in families with young children, partly to assist in both observation and in alphabet familiarity. I spy is often played as a car game....
when they hit a deer. The dad gets out and walks towards the bushes and comes back with half his face gone. The family is attacked by something foul-smelling.
The scene shifts to a lavish apartment where Trip, one of the film's main characters meets with a dealer named Radford who provides him with a number of pills for a rave in the desert. Trip steals all the dealer's pills. He meets with his friends Cookie, Nelson, Jack (who is blind) and the driver, Gretchen. The group notices an overturned car on the highway, which they dismiss as an abandoned accident.
Gretchen discovers that Trip is carrying drugs and stops the vehicle to kick him out. She agrees to take him back to a diner, which they discover has been abandoned. The car runs out of gas and inexplicably breaks down, so they decide to stay at the "Halfway Motel". Learning from the radio that the highway has been closed, Trip decides to walk down the road for help. After walking into a room in which he does not see the mother from the opening of the film--now with a damaged mouth and unable to speak, carving "Tell my son I lov(e him)"--Jack and Gretchen pitch camp and decide to sleep outdoors. After a haunting experience with the drug dealer Radford, Trip escapes and meets a man named "Henry" driving an RV, who is looking for his wife who has gone missing. He goes with Trip to the motel and sets up camp there. Trip doesn't tell his friends about his run-in with Radford but tells them to be careful and to scream if they see or hear anything (much to Jack's chagrin).
Looking for signal reception for his mobile phone, Trip releases from a rubbish skip the still-living head, torso and arms of a truck driver who then crawls away. Henry then meets Trip and discovers that Trip is seeing the dead people, as well. While in his camper, Henry collapses, suffocating as a dark figure moves through the trailer. Still looking for reception, Trip is attacked on the roof by a hooded figure. Cookie is attacked whilst sitting on the pit toilet
Pit toilet
A pit toilet is a dry toilet system which collects human excrement in a large container and range from a simple slit trench to more elaborate systems with ventilation. They are more often used in rural and wilderness areas as well as in much of the developing world...
and is killed by being dragged into the hole. Upon noticing her absence, Nelson is almost dragged under his bed but pulls himself back up and jumps on top of the bed. He takes his sneaker off and drops it on the ground, watching as it is shredded. He then tries to escape by jumping through the window. However, a shard of glass cuts his throat, and he dies. He is found by Gretchen and Jack. They go to the RV to tell Henry, only to find that he is also dead. Gretchen decides to look for Trip and leaves Jack, who encounters the creature. As he tries to get away, Trip starts shooting at the figure with his gun, giving Jack time to get away. Trip is overpowered by the creature and dies.
An RV had crashed into Gretchen's car, after Trip had gotten out to call for a ride. None of the group had noticed the RV, whose driver, Henry, who had suffered a massive heart attack and lost control, as his wife, Rose had explained. The car that the group had seen leaving the diner was in fact their own (as seen after Gretchen crashed the car again herself). Each of the deaths at the hotel were reflected by their own deaths in the car; Cookie had died from internal bleeding, Nelson had been thrown through the windshield, cutting his neck on the glass, Trip's arm was severed gripping the cell phone (as when he was attacked) and he died from blunt force trauma, while Jack, who had received a massive head injury, and Gretchen, who was wearing her seat belt, remained in the car and alive. Radford, who had been stalking Trip witnessed the accident and attempted to assist; hence the visions of him at the motel and highway.
In the final scene, Gretchen and Jack briefly discuss the fact that neither has any recollection of the accident, and no mention is made of the incidents at the motel. Jack comments that, for a moment in the crash, he thought he could see Gretchen, offhandedly mentioning the color of her eyes.
Cast
- Devon GummersallDevon GummersallDevon Ryan Gummersall is an American actor, writer, and television and film director, perhaps best known for acting on the cult classic television show My So-Called Life.-Life and career:...
as Jack - Derek Richardson as Nelson
- Arielle KebbelArielle KebbelArielle Caroline Kebbel is an American model and actress. Arielle is perhaps best known for her roles in films such as American Pie Presents: Band Camp, John Tucker Must Die, Vampires Suck, and Aquamarine, as well as TV series including The Vampire Diaries, Gilmore Girls, and Life Unexpected, on...
as Cookie - Tina Illman as Gretchen
- Scott WhyteScott WhyteScott Whyte is an American actor who is best known for his role on City Guys where he portrayed Chris, one of the main characters...
as Trip - Michael IronsideMichael IronsideMichael Ironside is a Canadian-born actor. He has also worked as a voice actor, producer, film director, and screenwriter in movie and television series in various Canadian and American productions. He is best known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, though he has also portrayed...
as Henry Tuckey - Eric MabiusEric MabiusEric Harry Timothy Mabius is an American actor known for his work as Daniel Meade on the ABC television series Ugly Betty. He also worked on the Showtime series The L Word and in the films Resident Evil and Cruel Intentions....
as Radford - Marcia StrassmanMarcia StrassmanMarcia A. Strassman is an American actress best known for her roles as Julie Kotter in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter and Diane Szalinski in the 1989 feature film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, its first sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the 3-D film spin-off Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! which...
as Rose Tuckey - David HadingerDavid HadingerDavid Hadinger is an American film, television, commercial, voice, and video game actor. He is best known for appearing in the episode "Liftoff" on the television series The West Wing. He is also known for playing The Reeker in the horror film Reeker. Hadinger stands 6 foot and...
as The Reeker - Les Jankey as Trucker
- Carole Ruggier as Mom
- Paul ButcherPaul Butcher (actor)Paul Butcher, Jr. is an American actor and singer.Butcher is best known for playing the role of Dustin Brooks, brother of Zoey Brooks, in the four seasons of the TV show Zoey 101....
as Kid - Steven Zlotnick as Officer Bern
- Christopher Boyer as Officer Mansfield
- Wesley Thompson as Officer Taylor
- Alejandro PatinoAlejandro PatinoAlejandro Patino is an American actor. Patino has guest starred on several present-day television programs which include a recurring role on the ABC series, Desperate Housewives as Ralph who is Gabrielle Solis's new Latino gardener...
as Velez the Medic
Reception
The movie has a 67 percent fresh rating at Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with eight out of 12 critics giving it positive reviews. Variety critic John Anderson wrote called it a "glossy, gory takeoff on the teensploitation slasher flick
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
that might just shock skeptics by scaring up crossover success."