michaelRokeefe Review of Penny Dreadful

Penny Dreadful (2006)

Can the vision of a car really strike fear?

[6/10 · 7 September 2007]

From After Dark Films, a simple little story of terror. Penny(Rachel Miner)has been traumatized severely by witnessing her parents die in an auto accident. Her therapist Orianna Volkes(Mimi Rogers) takes her on a road trip as part of her therapy to overcome the fear of cars. It is pretty rough going; and gets rougher when they almost rundown a hitchhiker(Liz Davies)on a long lonesome mountain highway. Of course at the expense of knowing a hell of a lot better, Orianna decides to give the shaken hitchhiker a ride down a dirt road not much better than a hiking trail. Letting their passenger out, it is discovered a knife is stuck in one of the tires rendering a flat. Cell phones are useless; so the therapist takes a walk looking for help. Is there not a killer lurking in the woods in a flick like this? A dreadful detour for sure. Also in the cast: Chad Todhunter, Mickey Jones, Tammy Filor and Michael Berryman.