Cinema surveillance images are loading at the bottom of the page

Outside Ozona

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

A killer is on the loose. The FBI are on the trail... and seven strangers are on a collision course with destiny.

Outside Ozona, Texas, the loneliness of the open highway reflects the lives of the people who travel it - a widowed trucker, two bickering sisters, a down-and-out circus clown and his stripper girlfriend. Their common companion as they drive through the night is an angry disc jockey on the local radio station... and a serial killer intent on continuing his own nightmarish journey.

With an all-star cast that includes Robert Forster, Kevin Pollak, Penelope Ann Miller and music legends Taj Mahal and Meat Loaf, Outside Ozona is a quirky but thrilling road movie in the tradition of films like Kalifornia, The hitcher and U-turn.

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Scene 99. Int. Car. Night. Get used to it.

Actually, this film is better than you'd think, given that it didn't get a cinema release in Australia. It has a nice, laid back feel to it (ably assisted by Taj, the laid-back, mulled-up, mother-fucking DJ) that doesn't make too many demands on your average couch potato. The story rolls along like a big ol' river takin' it's time.

Or, in other words, it's slow.

The drama comes from the characters: a whole bunch of sorry-assed mother-fuckers living their sorry-ass lives. That's not much to go on, so someone threw in a serial killer as well. One who likes to kill sorry-ass people who drive about at night listening to laid-back, mulled-up, mother-fucking DJs.

Or, in other words, there's no plot.

(At this point I inform you that I had a lot of medication last night, so this review might not be too coherent.)

I enjoyed this movie because it was perfect for the mood I was in: tired, slow, a little brain-dead and looking for something a little bit out of the ordinary. No hassles, a bit of entertainment, a bit of excitement, but not too much of either. Sounds like a good time to watch Outside Ozona.

Security censorship classification

MA 15+ (Medium level violence, nudity)

Surveillance time

96 minutes (1:36 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

VHS rental: 21 July 1999

Cinema surveillance images