A dodgy zero-budget South African horror film. I had high hopes for this one, as there aren't many mainstream films made in South Africa and the exotic terrain and wildlife automatically makes for an interesting movie backdrop. Unfortunately after a mildly promising introduction this turns out to be bottom of the barrel entertainment, one that's entirely predictable and clichéd by genre standards.The whole film is based around a night-time safari drive which is interrupted by a gang of murderous poachers keen on covering their trail. Unfortunately for the viewer, most of the people on the safari are irritating and unlikeable. The first half offers an acceptable build-up, but when all the action hits in the second half it takes place in complete darkness, so that the viewer is squinting all the while trying to work out what's happening.Not a lot really, other than people being butchered with machetes all the while. It all plays out familiarly, and it seems in part to be a reflection on Apartheid relations in South Africa: the beginning with whites murdering blacks, then the blacks rising up and slaughtering the rich white folk, before a twist at the climax with the whites serving justice on the blacks. Hints at black magic add up to little and NIGHT DRIVE as a whole is a nasty and pointless little exercise.

I had no idea what this film was before watching . The info button on my remote gave a brief synopsis that it was about a bunch of tourists who find themselves stuck in the remote South African veldt . Sounds exactly the premise for some torture porn along the lines of WOLF CREEK . Is this how it turned out ? Well yes and no Certainly it's an unpleasant film in parts but where as traditional torture porn the whole selling point is the camera lingering voyeuristically on the victim trying to sicken the audience as the victims anguished , pain stricken pleas fall upon deaf ears here the camera cuts away from the on screen carnage leaving it to the audiences imagination as to the horrors befalling the hapless victim . I'm guessing this is trying to be a psychological torture porn horror rather than a traditional one but it's still very unpleasant Another turn off are the characters . It's been mentioned by some of my peers on this page is that they've been given a lot of backstory and this is true and no doubt was done so that don't appear as mere cyphers come victims like you see n most horror movies . That said all the characters are either boring or unlikable or both and this sort of sums up the movie which is boring and unlikable at the same time

South African cinema may have a long way to go before it can churn out movies as good as District 9 on a regular basis, but I'm happy to see them step away from movies about apartheid and racism and try something different once in awhile. While I've seen scarier movies than Night Drive, I did think it delivered the goods enough times to make it worthwhile. The writing and dialogue won't win any Oscars, but it never seemed to get tripped up with anything too obvious and contrived. It was a bloody slasher flick that knew when to be scary and when to give us a breather.The African bush offers a lot of potential for scary movies and I hope this is something filmmakers keep exploring. The juxtaposition of its daylight beauty with its nighttime dangers can take a good writer and director anywhere. Hopefully Night Drive is just a start with what can be done when filmmakers take advantage of what their own country offers them.

Night Drive is arguably one of the most publicized and controversial films in South Africa's history. Never before have local critics been so divided about one of this country's feature films. Most liberal critics were offended by its portrayal of the so-called 'Dark Continent', whilst others relished the country's first all-or-nothing thriller/horror flick.The film is what is. I don't think it had any aspirations to be the country's next Oscar hopeful. It certainly doesn't give the proverbial intellectual hand-job. But if you're looking for 'bloody' good Saturday night entertainment, Night Drive delivers.My biggest problem with Night Drive is the distinct lack of hot chicks with big boobs in wet t-shirts. Isn't there always at least one in a film like this? Or maybe this was their idea of a departure from the formula, but still...There was something about Night Drive that did strike a chord with me though. While I've been living in the relative safety of my white middle-class suburban existence, people are being murdered daily for witchcraft purposes in SA. The victims are usually from impoverished communities where superstition is rife. Night Drive turned the tables on this one and put me in their shoes. This is a case where the truth is in fact more horrifying than fiction.