DVD REVIEW: SyFy Channel's Roadkill

[JeffSaylor]

Beware the Simuroc...

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Premiering first back in April on SyFy Channel as one of their ongoing line of original films, Roadkill soars onto DVD today as part of the Maneater Series, featuring such memorable classics as Grizzly Rage and Wyvern.

The latest film is set in the mysterious and age-old land of Ireland and finds a group of friends on a reunion road trip traveling cross-country in an RV. On a routine stop for gas, the friends encounter a group of belligerent, backwater Irish gypsies who swindle one of the girls out of her money. A skirmish ensues and in their haste to get away, accidentally run over their elder granny who curses them with her dying breath to be taken one by one by the Simuroc. What follows is a desperate chase where the friends try to stay alive while avoiding the giant predatory bird and the angry gypsies on their trail.

While the film is not the worst that's come out under the SyFy banner, it's nowhere near the best. The biggest problem I have as a mythology fan is that the "Simuroc" does not belong anywhere in this film or the setting. If you Google "Simuroc", you will not find any reference to the creature other than this film, but the "Roc" on the other hand is actually a popular legend from Arabic and Persian mythology. It's been referenced in writings by Marco Polo and the 1001 Arabian Nights including the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. So the "Roc" does not even make sense as a creature called upon by gypsies in Ireland.

The film looks great on DVD and despite having no special features, has moderately decent acting for a tv movie and better production values than a lot of the SyFy films. If you can get over my hang-ups with the story and enjoy the SyFy films as a whole, then you're bound to enjoy Roadkill.

- Michael Klein

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