★★★1/2

A suspense-fueled horror film from the Netherlands, Tailgate is a rollercoaster ride of chaos. The premise is basic in design, the execution proves equally as thrilling as logically challenged at the same time.

A family of four are headed to the grandparents’ house for a holiday visit. Naturally, everyone is running late which frustrates Hans (Jeroen Spitzenberger), as he wrangles his two daughters and is seething over whatever delays he can blame on his wife Diana (Anniek Pheifer). In this regard, we can all relate to the stress of trying to get somewhere in a hurry.

Hans’ overbearing mother is discussed and complained about. The ease with which Hans can badger his wife with needling complaints and frustrations is a bit alarming. And what we already know, that this family does not, is that one particular man, driving a windowless white van, is not to be messed with.

As a prologue shows us, Ed (Willem de Wolf) is out there among us in the world; an exterminator with a unique definition of what pests he is attempting to control. Already running late, Hans attempts to pass a number of cars on the freeway, only to run up behind a measured gait of a pace by this same white, windowless van.

This isn’t Spielberg’s classic Duel. Tailgate is more ominous and terrifying. However, once Ed and Hans and his family cross paths, the film becomes a cat-and-mouse game where someone we don’t like all that much is trying to avoid someone we really don’t like all that much. As Ed’s blood begins to boil, director Lodewijk Crijns believes he has us in the palm of his hand. Without much thought, Tailgate is a blast, balancing palpable tension and some gallows humor with a really nasty villain who never stops until he gets what he wants.

Also: Tailgate is full of really bad decisions made by several significant characters, which can prove absolutely maddening. Crijns may be making the case that toxic masculinity and bravado stifles an ability to make logical, reasoned decisions, but the film never commits all-in to the idea. So, we end up with a really well-crafted suspense film with some far-reaching need to suspend disbelief. 

In the end, Tailgate completes the bag of popcorn. It makes you laugh out loud uncomfortably and can even force you to utter a “WTF!?” more than once. Just don’t think about it. Accept it for what it is. And enjoy the perilous, dangerous ride.

Tailgate was screened as part of the Fourth Annual North Bend Film Festival.