"Only bad people own vans." I really wanted to like Creep Van more than I did. Any flick that teases us by showing a young boy playing ball by a beaten down, junky looking van as its opening scene definitely proves the makers have their tongues planted firmly in cheek. The fact they quickly follow this up with two car thieves falling victim to the same van (one is even cut in half by the passenger side window!) before the credits roll filled me with promise. And they actually deliver on that, at least for the first half.

Best described as a bloody slasher flick meets Duel, our put upon hero here is Campbell (Brian Kolodziet), a regular guy who's down on his luck and having trouble keeping a job. He also doesn't have a set of wheels, which makes things even more difficult. After taking a job at a local car wash, he soon sees our titular van by the side of the road with a for sale sign on it. Sure that it's in his price range, he calls the number little expecting what's to follow.

And what follows is this: our van, driven by a shady character, proceeds to roam around town killing off random victims while Campbell gets menacing phone calls from the driver. They've also seen fit to throw in a pointless subplot involving a drug dealer Swami Ted (Collin Bernsen) and the bags of pot he's left behind as well as given Campbell a love interest in the form of co-worker Amy (Amy Wehrell). Amongst all these decent death scenes, that benefit from the practical effects by Robert Hall's Almost Human shop, things stumble their way to the finale as the last third brings back Ted to help Campbell, throws in a few detective characters who do nothing to help the plot, and has a lame killer reveal. Then comes a twist stolen directly from Scott Spiegel's 1988 slasher, Intruder.

Don't get me wrong, Creep Van definitely has its moments. I dug the Hell out of the first half and was pleased with the flick's attempts at humour - when a hitchhiking metal head victim goes on a spiel about Deep Purple and his last words are "Dude", you have to chuckle. I also appreciated the 80s vibe running through it and enjoyed Troma honcho Lloyd Kaufman's cameo more than I usually do (let's be honest, the guy shows up everywhere!) but, in the end, I just didn't really overly care.

In the lead Kolodziet brings an agreeable sarcastic vibe to his character. He's a likeable enough guy, though a bit wimpy for our "hero". Wehrell is simply on hand as a ho-hum girlfriend-type and I didn't really buy the speed in which the two fall for each other. Bernsen (Puppet Master II) does what he can with his throw away character but I wish he would've channeled the manic, over-the-top energy his brother Corbin usually does in the multiple b-level genre flicks he's in.

With its old school vibe and enough well-done gore effects to pull you in, Creep Van isn't a bad way to waste 84 minutes. Like I said, it doesn't maintain the manic energy of the first half and does falter anytime the Ted character comes into play, but there's enough here to appeal to slasher fans. (Chris Hartley, 12/11/12)

Directed By: Scott V. McKinlay.
Written By: Jim Bartoo.

Starring: Brian Kolodziek, Amy Wehrell, Gerald Emerick, Collin Bernsen.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Shot using Red digital cameras there's absolutely nothing to complain about here. The image is consistent and pretty sharp.

Extras: Not a bad batch of stuff here with two trailers, a lame deleted scene, a featurette about the van crash set piece, a brief "Making Of" featurette, dumb interviews with the actors, and a fairly listenable commentary track (that even promises a sequel!).