The wonderful worlds of short fiction, especially horror fiction, and contemporary horror cinema, rarely find a sturdy and safe bridge in which to cross to each others' realm.  Countless efforts have been made to expand limited horror plots by renound authors such as Stephen King, Clive Barker, and H.P. Lovecraft, and with only a few welcomed exceptions, their transition onto the big screen is quite often more of a miss than an actual hit.  A production company can really only hope for some kind of a cult following with some of these titles.  H.P. Lovecraft has had the most luck (even though he died at an unfortunately early age) with his more popular short works becoming successful cult films.  Re-Animator being probably the biggest title, nonetheless, I still enjoyed Dagon and From Beyond.  Most of the time, when a film is derived from short fiction...we stay away and with good reason.  Are they still making Mangler movies?

Stephen King has had the worst transfers (short fiction wise) of all time, and I can only imagine him sitting at home while watching some of these horrible films.  On the other hand, Stephen King has had some of the better scripts written that were derived from his more popular works of short fiction.  Stand By Me is a classic in it's own right and it seems that with Riding the Bullet, Mick Garris has tried to copy a similar style to how that story was told by Rob Reiner.  No complaint really.  Riding the Bullet's strongest elements rest with the way its story is presented, and the fantastic characters that are met throughout its entire running time.  Depending on your taste...these elements may also be, in your opinion, the film's main downfall. 

Meet Alan Parker, he's a young death obsessed artist who has just received some terrible news from home.  After the night Alan fails at attempted suicide, he gets a call stating that his beloved mother has just suffered from an unexpected stroke.  Alan then decides to cancel his immediate plans and hitchhike all night so that he can visit his mother by her bedside.  The catch is that Alan does not know the nature of the stroke and how severe her condition may or may not be.  Far into the night, and along a lonely highway road that will eventually lead to his mother's bedside, Alan is visited by the devil's messenger (David Arquette for Christ's sake!), and he must make the most important decision of his life.  Should he ride the bullet?  A roller-coaster as it is physically represented to us in the film, but metaphorically speaking, it is also a strong symbol of life and death itself.

Garris has directed this feature in a style that I found to be very surprising.  The picture is vibrant with many glimpses of both bright red and blue shades.  It's like you’re watching Dario Argento's Inferno all over again but...not.  Anyway, the story is always told with a rather comedic undertone, and at no point will you ever take Riding the Bullet too seriously despite its rather meaningful content and depressing subject matter.  There are many times when certain visions or fantasies that happen within Alan's vivid imagination are downright silly while still being very dreary and often times violent and graphic.  You'll laugh and at times turn your head at some of the more scarce scenes of gory detail.  Riding the Bullet is more of a tug of war between genres of horror, dark comedy, and drama.  To tell you the truth, the film does a fairly good job at all three, even if that, because of its many unique qualities.  The film in the end, will divide its audience into two different groups.  You will either highly enjoy this film, or be completely turned off by its approach to try and be much more than it ever should have been.  Still, Mick Garris was successful at throwing everything he had into this film.  I can't imagine a better man for the job.  Though I'm not surprised by his attachment to this film as he seems to have his name strapped onto so many of King's well knows stories.  It's just a shame that half the time they seem to be lacking in many different ways despite a solid effort in the director's chair.

In the end, unfortunately, the drama of the whole story takes hold and we are left with a rather trite meaning that is undoubtedly forced down our throats.  Although it does wrap up the story quite nicely, it may leave some others feeling as if they were just preached at a little too much for a movie that could have used a few more jumps and scares.  It all depends on what your cup of tea is, and how hot and flavorful you like it.  If you want a downright creepy tale of terror...look elsewhere.  If you want another Stand By Me...look elsewhere.  But if you want something in between, look no further, because Riding the Bullet has wonderful characters, superb acting talent, and great style to help out what is a rather uneven roller-coaster ride of a film.