Reed Alexander's Horror Review of 'Toad Road' (2012)

Toad Road invokes an urban legend about a place where the seven gates of hell can be visited right here on earth, a place right in your own home town. It's the sort of stories you hear about that trail that use to be a utility road for an insane asylum, or a place like a sewer tunnel with labyrinthine ducts like the one in New Jersey. We had one in my home town in CT, the Norwich asylum. It's the sort of place you hear about when you're in high school; not coincidentally the place you likely went to do drugs. Or maybe that was just me and my friends. It starts with the sense you're being watched, then touched, then assaulted metaphysically, and so on. And here we find ourselves, of all the idiotic ideas, engaging in drug culture for a cheep thrill and a little sense of adventure. If you identify with that, you will love this movie. Even if you're just a ghost hunter who digs urban legends, you will love this movie.

I think the most important part of this story is the bridge between the pursuit of a higher state of consciousness and just being a wastoid druggy. What is getting fucked up? What are we after when we chase that high? So many lost down the rabbit hole in the pursuit of that perfect beautiful moment. So many after that high who only find the lowest low achievable.

The main character is clearly a wastoid who's just trying to drag his girlfriend into the abyss, using the excuse of pursuing a higher state of consciousness. God alone know why anyone would want to do that while trying to find a gateway to hell. Seriously though, I can relate and that connected me to the movie's plot.

And for a shoe-string independent movie with zero budget, the acting was actually okay. Not good, but okay. Good enough for horror at least and that's acceptable.

Now, the movie was basically shot on a standard digital camera, so it almost feels like shaky camera, but that only helps the feel of the movie. I mean, if we're going for 'Urban Legend' the feeling of almost a 'found footage hybrid' really fits.

I'm not sure who this movie would appeal to outside of ghost hunters, drug users, and urban legend enthusiasts, but I highly recommend giving it a chance.

SPOILER!!!

At some point these two lovers—the druggy and his girlfriend—walk down that haunted road. But the druggy doesn't actually believe there is something on the other end of that rabbit hole. He's just out to get high, to fill this void in his life. His girlfriend is just beginning her journey. So, there they find themselves on Toad Road. On a head full of acid. Not the brightest idea. However, from the audience's perspective, the female lead actually begins a journey to see that moment of higher consciousness, and on the other end does find a final gate. To where? Lord knows. We're seeing things from the perspective of two people on acid. The druggy, after all, has never found a bottom to that rabbit hole, and only sees tragic years wasted.

Suddenly, the girl is just gone. The druggy wakes up and his girlfriend has vanished. This is where the plot really kicks in. Did she find the other side? Was there actually a portal to another dimension? Or did she just get lost in the forest, high on acid? That's a reasonable explanation, after all. The druggy doesn't come off as the most responsible person who would actually know how to take care of someone doing acid for the first time. Believe me, you do need to babysit them closely sometimes. There's also the possibility that the druggy killed her or got her killed. That's pretty much what the town thinks. That only strengthens the urban legend of Toad Road. The idea that some drugged out lunatic murdered his drugged up girlfriend trying to open a portal to hell.

But for him there is nothing. He can't remember what happened and none of it seems real. For all he knows, he did murder his girlfriend, or at the very least got her killed. And you as the audience don't get to know. All three things are perfectly possible in a horror movie. The only thing he finds is rock bottom. In the end, for him, is a dark decay, his own personal trip through the seven gates of his own private hell.

God it was soul crushing, and amazing. Watch this!