26 reviews
Good, spooky thriller
Drew Barrymore must have been about 13 when she made this during her career revival (after she had put her much-publicized substance abuse issues behind her), but she looks much more mature.This was the first movie I ever say Anthony Rapp in and he was excellent. He's got to be one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood today, if not THE most underrated, and his chemistry with Barrymore was pretty good. Matt Frewer turns in a good "Dad" role. The acting is pretty good on all counts, and it's creepy enough to watch once or twice, with a great "Whodunit" kind of twist between various characters. Cool scenes shot in a run-down camp trailer park, in an incomplete building, etc.
Not bad for a 'B' movie
This is the kind of film, that from the very beginning, you can tell right away, not to expect much. However, it does surprise one. It has it's moments of being really terrible (one scene in particular, with the land lady of the trailer park), and other times, where it involves you in the story really well.
I almost turned it off not quite half-way through, because it was so bad, but after the first murder arises, the film picks up, and you start to suspect who the murderer might be. Although, I'm a movie buff, I hardly think it was such a surprise by the end of the film who the murderer ends up being. It's not the most well-written script, but like I said, it does get you involved in the story, and that's the whole point really.
Drew Barrymore, in one of her younger roles, plays a fourteen year old, who's on a road trip for the summer with her father. Her parents are divorced, and is looking forward to going home the next day, from which the film starts, to celebrate her fourteenth birthday with her mother. Unfortunately, they are stranded in the depths of the Nevada desert, without any gas for their car, and end up sheltering at a trailer park, run by a wicked woman, with two very strange children. One, is a dark and mysterious boy whom Barrymore's character grows interested in, however is warned by more than just her father to stay away from him.
The film may be too slow for some, but I thought it was alright. I was able to watch it all the way through, which is more than I can say for a lot of films. This, being the type that it is, really isn't all that bad, and if you're a big Drew Barrymore fan, you should check it out. I think you'll also find a different role for Anthony Rapp in this as well, who is really good.
If you're interested check it out, however don't spend a large amount of money buying or renting it. It's not worth it, for the quality of film it is.
I almost turned it off not quite half-way through, because it was so bad, but after the first murder arises, the film picks up, and you start to suspect who the murderer might be. Although, I'm a movie buff, I hardly think it was such a surprise by the end of the film who the murderer ends up being. It's not the most well-written script, but like I said, it does get you involved in the story, and that's the whole point really.
Drew Barrymore, in one of her younger roles, plays a fourteen year old, who's on a road trip for the summer with her father. Her parents are divorced, and is looking forward to going home the next day, from which the film starts, to celebrate her fourteenth birthday with her mother. Unfortunately, they are stranded in the depths of the Nevada desert, without any gas for their car, and end up sheltering at a trailer park, run by a wicked woman, with two very strange children. One, is a dark and mysterious boy whom Barrymore's character grows interested in, however is warned by more than just her father to stay away from him.
The film may be too slow for some, but I thought it was alright. I was able to watch it all the way through, which is more than I can say for a lot of films. This, being the type that it is, really isn't all that bad, and if you're a big Drew Barrymore fan, you should check it out. I think you'll also find a different role for Anthony Rapp in this as well, who is really good.
If you're interested check it out, however don't spend a large amount of money buying or renting it. It's not worth it, for the quality of film it is.
- Pookyiscute
- Jun 22, 2006
- Permalink
Fair enough
Fair thriller about a father/daughter tandem that gets stranded in a trailer park due to the lack of gasoline. Berrymore does an average job, the best acting probably on behalf of Pinky Sears. If nothing else, the story is just good enough to keep you tuned in and it sure doesn't hurt when you have two of the hottest females in Berrymore, and more so in Tilly, who I cant believe is 31 in this movie! she looks so fine. I wish Jennifer Tilly would have done some films before she got so old, but she still looks pretty fine in this movie. I have to give it a 5 because its just that- average.. and I laugh at the 54 people that gave this a "10" no way in hell.
An okay film , but nothing special.
- SnipChop87
- Mar 7, 2006
- Permalink
Not just porn for the boys!
Admittedly, this film did not deserve a place in the Oscars, but for an average thriller it is watchable.
Pic centres on a young girl just entering adolescence and interested in what every teenage girl is interested in - boys! It is her naivety and inexperience which lands her in trouble. Barrymore is generally good as the confused and lonely angst-ridden teenager, and is sometimes quite realistic in her scenes with Matt Frewer. As a teenager when I saw this a few years ago, I certainly could relate to her and her ineptitude with boys, but now it's just another coming-of-age film with a weak murder plot. Jones was convincing as the ice-cold lust figure for Barrymore, but we never saw enough of him and his character was too rigid. Girls will like him - especially in a wet T-Shirt (Barrymore isn't the only one!)
Nevertheless, some good acting and not a bad film overall, particularly from the women like Susan Tyrrell and Karen Austin, who seem to hold it together better than the men!
Pic centres on a young girl just entering adolescence and interested in what every teenage girl is interested in - boys! It is her naivety and inexperience which lands her in trouble. Barrymore is generally good as the confused and lonely angst-ridden teenager, and is sometimes quite realistic in her scenes with Matt Frewer. As a teenager when I saw this a few years ago, I certainly could relate to her and her ineptitude with boys, but now it's just another coming-of-age film with a weak murder plot. Jones was convincing as the ice-cold lust figure for Barrymore, but we never saw enough of him and his character was too rigid. Girls will like him - especially in a wet T-Shirt (Barrymore isn't the only one!)
Nevertheless, some good acting and not a bad film overall, particularly from the women like Susan Tyrrell and Karen Austin, who seem to hold it together better than the men!
- AnneSLReid
- Jan 1, 2002
- Permalink
How is it that someone can be so right and still be so wrong?
Susan Tyrrell's movie
- Matthew_Capitano
- Jan 25, 2015
- Permalink
"I guess living here will drive anyone nuts".
- lost-in-limbo
- Dec 31, 2011
- Permalink
Asinine thrills
"Far from Home" is a stupid mystery thriller starring Drew Barrymore as a sexy teenager who's stranded, along with her father, in a trailer park being stalked by an unknown killer. A good cast wastes their considerable talents in this mess which didn't involve me from start to finish. It's neither scary or thrilling. It is interesting to watch Barrymore in her first grownup role, but she should have selected a better script than this.
* (out of four)
* (out of four)
- jhaggardjr
- Nov 17, 2001
- Permalink
Needed more of woman in trailer....
The film was good, but would have been much better if there was more of the woman in the trailer. She was the best thing in the whole movie! She kept us all wanting for more. Perhaps she might have played the Drew Barrymore part?
Seen it all before
Ah the curse of insomnia compels me to watch yet another crappy late night movie on the goggle-box.
Horny teen Drew Barrymore and her dishevelled looking dad, run out of gas in the Nevada desert and wind up stuck in a godforsaken town / trailer-park. According to the sign the population is 132, every one of them a stereotype.
As luck would have it father and daughter have arrived just in time for a spate of murders. However, any interest that might arise from these slayings is soon curtailed by the fact that you can guess who the killer is almost straightaway.
Meantime, dad keeps searching for someone / anyone with gas to sell, while Drew attracts the attentions of the local bad boy by wandering around in her swimsuit. And for a fourteen year old she certainly fills out a bikini top disturbingly well.
Of course it all ends as it began - predictably. But at least I managed to get some sleep afterwards.
Horny teen Drew Barrymore and her dishevelled looking dad, run out of gas in the Nevada desert and wind up stuck in a godforsaken town / trailer-park. According to the sign the population is 132, every one of them a stereotype.
As luck would have it father and daughter have arrived just in time for a spate of murders. However, any interest that might arise from these slayings is soon curtailed by the fact that you can guess who the killer is almost straightaway.
Meantime, dad keeps searching for someone / anyone with gas to sell, while Drew attracts the attentions of the local bad boy by wandering around in her swimsuit. And for a fourteen year old she certainly fills out a bikini top disturbingly well.
Of course it all ends as it began - predictably. But at least I managed to get some sleep afterwards.
- alan_wyper
- Dec 4, 2007
- Permalink
unique mystery thriller
Drew Barrymore stars with Matt Frewer, Jennifer Tilly, Susan Tyrell and Richard MASur in this murder mystery. Barrymore and her father Frewer are stranded at a trailer park owned by Tyrell. They make friends with Tilly and her mother while someone is stalking them one by one. You can probably guess who's doing it but that doesn't take out the suspense or the one liners. Recommended
Drew Barrmore in a murder mystery slasher.
A surprisingly dark and adult story which is sort of a Neo western murder mystery thriller. The film has an uneasy edge to it, its surprisingly frank and gruesome in places, quite menacing, it all looks good too, effects are done practically, the hot desert like location provides a great sense of isolation from safety and civilisation. Drew Barrmore is also really good in the film and there's a real sense of danger to it which she herself can't help but be drawn into. The script has enough twists and turns also to keep you interested. I'm surprised by the bad reviews, if the film makes you uncomfortable that's perhaps because it's meant to.
jailbait Drew in slasher movie
L.A. writer Charlie Cox (Matt Frewer) and his restless daughter Joleen (Drew Barrymore) are driving home after a cross country trip of the national parks. She's turning 14 and can't wait to return home. They stop at the small desert town of Banco, Nevada. Gas station owner Ducket (Richard Masur) has no gas and Joleen encounters local Jimmy Reed. Sheriff Bill Childers (Dick Miller) is investigating a murder at the store and tells them to go to the nearby Palomino Guest Ranch and Trailer Park. It is owned by the hard Agnes Reed with her bad boy son Jimmy and bratty Sissy. There are Louise (Karen Austin) and Amy (Jennifer Tilly) at the park. Also there is nice boy Pinky Sears.
After her childhood success, a young Drew Barrymore is trying to continue with some jailbait roles culminating in 'Poison Ivy'. This could be a tense slasher thriller but the movie plays up the jailbait element at every turn. It's a bit awkward. It would be so much more appealing for her to be a little reserved and play up more of the innocence. She's a very compelling actress and it would make Jimmy Reed more threatening. The music cues for Jimmy get a bit annoying. The Reeds are so over the top that it borders on camp. The narration is mostly unnecessary, the title is too weak and the twist is too obvious. There are some good elements in this like Drew but it also fails in too many places.
After her childhood success, a young Drew Barrymore is trying to continue with some jailbait roles culminating in 'Poison Ivy'. This could be a tense slasher thriller but the movie plays up the jailbait element at every turn. It's a bit awkward. It would be so much more appealing for her to be a little reserved and play up more of the innocence. She's a very compelling actress and it would make Jimmy Reed more threatening. The music cues for Jimmy get a bit annoying. The Reeds are so over the top that it borders on camp. The narration is mostly unnecessary, the title is too weak and the twist is too obvious. There are some good elements in this like Drew but it also fails in too many places.
- SnoopyStyle
- Apr 13, 2015
- Permalink
decent low budget thriller
Im only one year younger than Drew Barrymore and if teenage boys are anything like I was a few years ago then she will certainly catch eyes with this flick. Though only 14 here, she sports the body of a 20 year old, which is clearly visible in her bathing suit and wet t-shirt scenes, but there is a plot here, too. Shes traveling with her dad through an extremely baron portion of Arizona with no gas left. They stop in some crapola trailer park and take a rental from the trashy Tyrell, in a perfectly grungy performance. Some mini mart dudes been killed, and during the next day and night we get POV (point of view) shots of the killer as he offs residents of the small area. We get some decent mystery of who it might be, though some may solve it quicker than others. The cast is also suprisingly good for a low grade pic, with Drew, Frewer, Tilly, and Masur. Rapp is thrown in as a nerdy crush, with Jones the bad boy who lusts for Drew. And some great middle of nowhere atmosphere, as the desolation is nicely photographed. Dust swirls and tons of empty surrounding land are a good touch. But mostly on display here is Drew, and those of the male persuasion shouldnt be disappointed.
strange and ultimately disappointing
Matt Frewer and Drew Barrymore, plus 1989 Jennifer Tilly -- and Susan Tyrrell too? Gotta see this!
I liked the first half or so of this one pretty well. It jumps right into the quintessential creepy small town in the middle of nowhere right off the bat, but we quickly discover that the people here are tongue-in-cheek stereotypes and give us some surprising laughs. So we have a movie that's a cross between a dark comedy and a low-budget suspense/horror movie. Oh, plus jailbait Drew in a 2-piece and other skimpy clothes. She's an adult *now*, so... that makes it OK... right???!? Eek.
Anyway, among others, Susan "acquired taste" Tyrrell is in fine form here; she made me laugh out loud several times. I think the director was having some fun in a few of her scenes. I know I was! The whole cast does fine. In most ways the movie is competently-enough made. There are some good moments here. However, in the end, the quirky mix of horror and dark comedy which starts us off with such promise loses out to a traditional horror third act, leaving the comedy out. I felt that the movie let me down at that stage.
It's still a watchable movie, but it misses being a great movie (at least for a B movie) by changing formula horses in mid-stream. As a result I can only give it a 5.
For the record, I hope Hollywood can let kids be kids and not sexualize 13-year-olds in the future. As much as I roll my eyes when a 23-year-old plays a high schooler, there is something worse, and that's putting a kid in front of a camera and inviting us to view her as a sex object. Drew played this role well, and she seems to have grown into a really attractive and healthy adult lately, so I guess there's no reason to go on a warpath over this now. Still, I was uncomfortable watching some of these scenes. Yes, she had a great body, but she was 13 (or maybe 14)! Come on.
In spite of the flaws, if you like off-beat movies (or Drew Barrymore), you will probably find this worth watching, especially prior to the third act.
I liked the first half or so of this one pretty well. It jumps right into the quintessential creepy small town in the middle of nowhere right off the bat, but we quickly discover that the people here are tongue-in-cheek stereotypes and give us some surprising laughs. So we have a movie that's a cross between a dark comedy and a low-budget suspense/horror movie. Oh, plus jailbait Drew in a 2-piece and other skimpy clothes. She's an adult *now*, so... that makes it OK... right???!? Eek.
Anyway, among others, Susan "acquired taste" Tyrrell is in fine form here; she made me laugh out loud several times. I think the director was having some fun in a few of her scenes. I know I was! The whole cast does fine. In most ways the movie is competently-enough made. There are some good moments here. However, in the end, the quirky mix of horror and dark comedy which starts us off with such promise loses out to a traditional horror third act, leaving the comedy out. I felt that the movie let me down at that stage.
It's still a watchable movie, but it misses being a great movie (at least for a B movie) by changing formula horses in mid-stream. As a result I can only give it a 5.
For the record, I hope Hollywood can let kids be kids and not sexualize 13-year-olds in the future. As much as I roll my eyes when a 23-year-old plays a high schooler, there is something worse, and that's putting a kid in front of a camera and inviting us to view her as a sex object. Drew played this role well, and she seems to have grown into a really attractive and healthy adult lately, so I guess there's no reason to go on a warpath over this now. Still, I was uncomfortable watching some of these scenes. Yes, she had a great body, but she was 13 (or maybe 14)! Come on.
In spite of the flaws, if you like off-beat movies (or Drew Barrymore), you will probably find this worth watching, especially prior to the third act.
- JamieWJackson
- Jul 7, 2014
- Permalink
Horribly bad movie
Dumb and not very well put together or acted
1st watched 1/20/1996 - 2 out of 10(Dir- Meiert Avis): Dumb and not very well put together or acted. Barrymore trying to be a b-movie queen for the younger audience doesn't happen.
Average rural thriller.
- Hey_Sweden
- Nov 7, 2015
- Permalink
Totally awesome movie!
when i rented this film it was just because i am fourteen and i wanted to see a movie dedicated to someone my age. i love drew barrymore and andras jones so this was a special treat. drew barrymore was the perfect example of a teenage girl and what she thinks of her father. andras jones was chilling as a beaten teenage boy with a chilling obsession. i would really recommend this movie to anyone that wants to have something to do that is worth their time.
- atomickitticat
- Apr 15, 2001
- Permalink
Potential laden thriller falls short
Unexpected delight
Okay, most of the movies during Drew Barrymore's "bad girl" phase were pretty bad but this is a good movie. And for all you theater fans, you will recognize Anthony Rapp (as always) the nerd, Pinky. Rent this one and ignore Drew's voice overs and her bad lines like "Did you ever do it?"
Freakish and Good.
- Drew-Barrymore-Obsessed
- Jun 20, 2005
- Permalink
All about a guy who'd kill for Drew Barrymore (and who wouldn't?).
Made when Drew Barrymore was still in the sexy teen stage of her career (though some might say she still is), Miss B and her father stop off in a small town, and Drew's charms catch the eye of a warped teen who proceeds to bump off all the obstacles in the path to make her his own...
Creepy stuff, which though not classic by any means does manage to keep you entertained, and the death of one character in an exploding car, though suffering from a major plot flaw (it's been established earlier that said car has a defective door handle, which traps her inside the car... apparently the concept of getting out through the OTHER door didn't occur to her), is truly frightening. Not the highpoint of Drew's career, but better than the likes of "Poison Ivy" and "The Amy Fisher Story."
Creepy stuff, which though not classic by any means does manage to keep you entertained, and the death of one character in an exploding car, though suffering from a major plot flaw (it's been established earlier that said car has a defective door handle, which traps her inside the car... apparently the concept of getting out through the OTHER door didn't occur to her), is truly frightening. Not the highpoint of Drew's career, but better than the likes of "Poison Ivy" and "The Amy Fisher Story."
- Victor Field
- Dec 4, 2001
- Permalink
Decent
The hilarious fish sticks scene alone makes this obscure film worth watching. You might recognize young Anthony Rapp (Tony from Dazed & Confused). Drew is always good.