In 1988 former cameraman, theater director and Army documentary filmmaker William Wesley made the superbly eerie and grisly living dead horror zinger variant "Scarecrows." Some thirteen years later Wesley finally resurfaced with this snazzy direct-to-video terror shocker which centers on a dry, dusty, desolate patch of remote desert backroads haunted by the lethal, murderous, unrestful eyeless, zombie-like, asphalt-encrusted, crumple-faced spirits of four extremely vicious and dangerous chaingang convicts who were all killed in a brutal roadside massacre back in 1967. Rugged Federal marshal Lou Diamond Phillips, feisty lady cop Lori Petty, antsy mob informant Steven Williams (the tough, determined bounty hunter out to bag Jason Vorhees in "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday"),and several expendable fuzz who include Dale Midkiff (the dumbbell doctor dad in "Pet Semetery") and Alex McArthur (the chillingly emotionless serial killer in William Friedkin's "Rampage") encounter the fiendish undead felons when they make the unsound decision to use the titular condemned, closed-off highway as a shortcut. Meanwhile, a mob assassin pursues our beleaguered bickering bunch.

Ingeniously blending a tried'n'true fright film premise with elements lifted from your basic chase action yarn and rough, gritty, noir-leaning crime thrillers, "Route 666" provides loads of crisp, pacy, straight-up grue-slinging creeped-out monstermash fun. Wesley directs in the same taut, spare, stripped-down no-nonsense manner which distinguished "Scarecrows." Philip Lee's sharp, panoramic cinematography vividly evokes a quietly unnerving wide-open feeling of total isolation and vulnerability. Terry Plumieri's countryish shuddery score likewise hits the spooky spot. The cast all turn in sturdy performances: Philips is less stolid and more agreeable than usual, Petty has spunky charm to spare, and Williams delightfully supplies the hilariously whiny, craven and conniving comic relief. Better still, we've got nice cameos by venerable character actors L.Q. Jones as a folksy sheriff and Dick Miller as a gruff, gravel-voiced bartender. In short, "Route 666" is just the place to find plenty of good, gory, neatly streamlined and to the point horror pic kicks.

ROUTE 666 is an engaging little zombie B-movie from William Wesley, the director who brought us SCARECROWS back in the 1980s. This one's very similar and the story's quartet of zombies are even reminiscent of the straw-filled scaries in his debut feature. Although low budget, this film's a lot of fun thanks to some clever photography in the zombie scenes, an eeriely isolated desert setting, and a solid performance from Lou Diamond Phillips as the hero of the hour. TANK GIRL's Lori Petty adds sass in support, but the real ace in the deck is the great Steven Williams, who has been hugely entertaining in everything I've seen him in and who continues to be so here. The film isn't exactly scary but it feels fresh and engaging in a similar way to a film like RETROACTIVE, and the action scenes are a lot of fun.

Are you ready for some weird entertainment? What seems to be a decent cop show turns into a horror flick. Yes, there is plenty of action...but you find yourself wondering how much stranger can this thing get. Some pretty good actors assembled to do this thing for producer Terence M. O'Keefe. William Wesley directs no doubt with a grin. This is a toss up between being really bad and being just a below average B-movie.

Lou Diamond Phillips and Lori Petty are government agents that track down a Federally protected witness(Steven Williams)hiding in the desert along Route 66. After convincing him to return to LA for his appearance in court things get crazy. It is decided to take a shortcut on a piece of closed highway, Route 666, where the now small FBI caravan is attacked by four zombies. The undead are four prisoners/murderers that were slaughtered while working on a road crew several years earlier. One of the zombies happens to be Phillips' estranged father.

Phillips has starred in worst...check out BATS. Somehow he keeps his dignity without embarrassing his following too much. I found Miss Petty pretty much irritating throughout. Williams is outstanding and has most of the best dialogue. Dale Midkiff is notable as a pompous FBI agent. And kudos to the veteran actor L.Q. Jones playing the corrupt county sheriff. The road less traveled is finally rid of its phantoms. Worth your test drive.