Penny's parents were killed in a horrible car accident and young Penny who was with them had to lay injured while watching her mother die. Since then Penny has been getting therapy and one day her doctor suggest that to overcome her fear or cars, they should go on a trip to the scene where it all happened in order to help Penny come full circle. But on the way there they accidentally hit a hitchhiker with the car and while things at first seems to be all right, it later proves that things are not only bad, but absolutely terrible.
First off, this film has way more footage in it than what was ever needed and while things at first look totally all right, it later feels like the film's somewhat repeating itself over and over again. There are actually tons of moments throughout the course of the film where you're definitely expecting something to happen; we get quick flashy shots, suspenseful music and then it just stops.. to later repeat all over again. This happens so many times, or better put, too many times. Since I've already started complaining right from the start I may as well continue to do so and get it outta the way.
The character Penny herself (Rachel Miner) is a whiny teenager and if you decide to watch this flick, you'll be aware of that almost right away. She's crying, complaining, shouting, screaming, whining, crying some more and takes pills like 600-something times. Ok so I'm being a bit too cold here and should really start to feel some sympathy for the poor girl, but it's hard because she is irritating like hell, despite of what she is put through. Penny's parents got killed in a car accident when she was young and since then she has had a phobia for cars, and that's of course totally understandable. Her shrink/doctor suggest that they should go on a road trip to the place where the horrific accident took place to heal Penny and make her come full circle with what happened. All this happened right at the beginning but Penny just complains, whines and cries so much I found myself pressing the mute button several times throughout the film just because I couldn't stand listening to her.
 
So while on the road the doctor explains that Penny has nothing to be afraid of and at the same time Penny seems to be afraid of pretty much everything. If things didn't suck enough for Penny, the good doctor does not pay attention to the road and run the car right into a hitchhiker. Luckily the hitchhiker wasn't hurt and is offered a ride, and during that time, the hitchhiker just sits in the back and acts very creepy, not saying a word. Obviously you expect something to happen but it doesn't and after a while of awkwardness, they let the hitchhiker out. But soon they find out that one of the tires has blown and when the doctor goes to look for a phone, things really start to go downhill.
The fact that not too much happens for two thirds of the movie was a pain sitting through but when the horror kicked in, the horror also delivered quite a bit. Most of the film takes place with Penny being trapped inside the car which of course delivers quite a claustrophobic feel, but at the same time it keeps building scares that never come. While I was complaining about the character that is Penny before, I must admit that Miner is doing an awesome job portraying her. For most of the time it's just Penny alone out there in them dark woods and Miner do a great job catching the very fear a character in that situation must feel.
In the end I believe that Penny Dreaful is probably worth to take look at but at the same time I can't really recommend it. It's a bit slow and drags too much but still it has a few things that made one feel somewhat ok with the time spent watching it.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE:
MOVIE YEAR: 2006
DIRECTOR: Richard Brandes
WRITING CREDITS: Richard Brandes, Diane Doniol-Valcroze
GENRE: Horror
CAST: Rachel Miner, Mimi Rogers, Michael Berryman
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 92 min
RATING: 6/10
Penny Dreadful Website/IMDB Click here
Penny Dreadful Trailer Click here
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