Zzyxz Road: The Movie?

by E-G May 8, 2007

Zzyzx (Zi–Zux), the suspense-thriller feature-film internet hit, inspired by the famed, mysterious exit sign seen and questioned by millions of drivers traveling to and from Las Vegas on Interstate Highway 15, makes its DVD debut. Zzyzx is not to be confused with a similarly titled film that grossed an all-time-low of $30 at the box-office.

“There has been a lot of talk recently about another Zzyzx movie banking dreadful numbers at the box-office. I am proud to say that, our Zzyzx feature is not that film, that we are the original, and what many have said, better Zzyzx film” says Zzyzx producer/director Richard Halpern, who is also co-producer of Blair Witch director Daniel Myrick’s soon-to-be-released supernatural thriller, The Objective, http://www.objectivethemovie.com “Wes Craven’s original The Hills Have Eyes, the recent Saw movies, Deathtrap, Sleuth, The Exorcist, were all inspirations for Zzyzx. I love movies driven by character, and, oh yes, blood,” smiles Halpern.

Zzyzx is a modern-day cat-and-mouse game about three misfits lost on Zzyzx Road, each of whom attempt to “one-up” each other in a grisly game of murder, drugs and greed. Zzyzx stars Kenny Johnson (Lemonhead of FX’s The Shield & the upcoming TNT’s Saving Grace starring Holly Hunter) and Robyn Cohen from The Life Aquatic.

“It was too easy to fall under that road’s mysterious spell,” admits Zzyzx screenwriter Art D’Alessandro, who recently penned The Final Season, an upcoming Sean Astin and Rachel Leigh Cook starrer. “There were curious occurrences during filming that caught us all by surprise, like twenty flat tires in seven days, and mysterious, symbolic shadows appearing on actors while they performed. It made the whole experience a little creepy.”

To add to its voyeuristic aesthetic, Zzyzx was shot cinema-verite style. “It’s a similar process to how we shot The Shield. Raw energy, with a cast and crew moving 100MPH,” says Johnson.

Features on the Zzyzx DVD include interviews with the stars and crew, homage’s to A Clockwork Orange and The Exorcist, a director/writer commentary track, deleted scenes, a web-link that takes viewers to exclusive content and hidden Easter eggs. Additionally, the website, http://www.zzmovie.com, offers visitors the first 10-minutes of the film for free and a glimpse into the mysterious and murderous history of Zzyzx, providing further mythology for the film.

The 80-minute feature-film is distributed by Yarble.com of Nevada, and is presented on dual-layer DVD. Zzyzx will be released Tuesday June 12, 2007 at Hollywood Video, Netflix, Amazon.com, Tivo download, major retailers and http://www.zzmovie.com.