One for the hard core horror fan this upcoming effort from Southgate, as he takes a chance on a long hard road ahead, with a couple of new faces, a hatful of novices and some barely credible choices for the support roles.

This is a dark tale, unsettling for many and even long-standing fans of Southgate may find the excessive use of youth in the cast a little unnerving. It unfolds with two friends Jones and Turnbull taking a summer holiday together and being hounded by a mysterious truck that tries to run them off the road in scenes familiar to fans of β€˜Duel’, the truck sporting an odd registration plate β€˜R1PP3RS’. The terrified pair later see the same truck outside an empty Riverside, and a cloaked figure performing a ritual around a small fire at the entrance with what looks like a ball, a knife and a newspaper. Being inquisitive and stupid to boot, they return to the scene to investigate the area when the truck disappears, and then their troubles really begin, as the shadowy figure returns, having seen them skulking in the shadows, driven a short distance away, and then crept back on foot.

Cut to the main thrust of the movie as Jones and Turnbull try to outwit the persistent lunatic as he plays them into tight corners. They escape not by skill, but by luck, first one, then the other trying to save the day, but letting successive chances to end it all slip through their fingers. In the final scene, the two are finally chased down on the pitch by the hooded form, who ties them between the goalposts and brandishes the knife with murderous intent. At this point it looks like the game is up for the pair, as the figure reveals the β€˜ball’ wrapped in newspaper, is in fact the head of their predecessor Mark Schwarzer, and that the same fate awaits them with the readied headline in the bloodied tabloid, “Heads Roll at Riverside as Keepers Get Chop”. Cue the appearance of the hero, Paul Robinson, who jumps in at just the right moment and KO’s the villain with a well timed blow using an old trophy. At this point the shadowy figure is revealed as none other than Southgate himself, Robinson chastises him “Did you really think you could get away with this?”, to Southgate’s retort “Yes, and I would have gotten away with the kids too, if it wasn’t for you meddling.”

4/10, Use of some classic scenes is not able to save this one; the quality of the cast (barring Robinson) is poor, and the script less than believable. Clever use of some real quality in the final third just saves this from a drubbing.