Munger Road Movie Review

I saw Munger Road at the Tinseltown Theatres Friday 10/14.

I had not been to the theatre in a long time, so this one had better be good.

Interesting for local lore, but not understandable or that thrilling.

I was never able to tell what or who the villain was.  And this kind of mystery did not add to the overall effect.  There is a lot of footage from inside the spooky old house (cliche), and later the spooky tunnel.  The characters were flat, unimpressive, and not likeable.

I did notice all of the local references to Pratt's Woods and downtown St. Charles, but I always felt this film lacked a key element.  It seemed to delay on matters of lower consequence.  It tried to create a fearsome air, but the sequences were draggy and the ending was surprisingly quick, and without sufficient resolution. 

Two stars out of four is all I could give. 

Are All Rural Railroad Crossings Spooky?

The thing about  a story like Munger Road is that communities across the country have similar legends and folklore about some part of their town. 

It's what makes a small town a small town.

Kids like to (although they shouldn't) play near the tracks.  So that's a childish human tendency.

Sometimes people hear and see trains where there are none.  It's the same principle as a mirage.

And what group of teenage boys have not spent a cool fall Friday night wanting to scare the girls?  Been there, done that.


Add it all up, and Munger could have been shot anywhere.  I am just glad a local boy got to it first. 

Mungaphobia: What's in a Name?

Rumor has it that Van Halen changed their name from Mammoth to the surname of the famous guitarist and his brother, because the name evoked a blazing-comet image. 

What is it about Munger Road that evokes suspicion and fear?

"Munger" has the same syllable count and accenting as "monster," so there's a thought.

"Munger" sounds like "monger," and this means a fierce proponent of something.

"Munger" rhymes with "hunger," and that's what the mysterious roadside killer had for blood.

Any way you slice it, it's a classic name for the mysterious road.

Did You Take the Road From Town?

Munger Road opened at theaters across the country today.  And I lived not too far from there.

Our family left the tightly-packed suburb of Forest Park, IL for rural West Chicago in summer when I was 10. One of the first things I remember was riding my bike on exploratory missions down Smith Road in the hot summer sun.  Other than making myself very thirsty, I explored and found several new things about living in the country: farm machinery making strange new sounds, high-tension wires crackling with electromagnetism, acres and acres of cornfields, and a few new roads connecting unincorporated West Chicago to Army Trail Road near Wayne.  One was Powis Road; it became the first point of connection for my bike to the good old Wayne Country Store, where I could get candy and cold pop as the reward for my journey.

The other road featured a equally strange name, but was more deserted.  Munger Road.

Now I realize I lived a bit south of the eerie and fabled railroad crossing north of Army Trail, and most of my cycling took place on the south end of the road.  But for some reason, I always felt something strange about going near that area--even in broad daylight.  Perhaps it was just my imagination--running away with me.  Or was it a premonition of a frightful future?