Zyzzyx Road: 2-Disc Collector's Edition – Dark Arts Entertainment (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 2006
Director: John Penney
Writer: John Penney
Cast: Leo Grillo, Katherine Heigl, Tom Sizemore, Rickey Medlocke, Yorlin Madera, Meguire Grillo, Di Koob, Nancy Linari, Michael Lugenbuehl

Release Date: November 26th, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 80 Minutes 44 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, Dolby Digital 5.1 English, Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $39.95

"A married man (Leo Grillo) meets a beautiful woman (Katherine Heigl) in a Las Vegas casino and allows her to seduce him. But when her jealous boyfriend (Tom Sizemore) finds them together and a scuffle results in the boyfriend's death, the lovers put his body in the trunk of a car and head to the eponymous Zyzzyx Road in the desert to bury the corpse, only to discover the body is nowhere to be found." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5 (4K UHD), 3.75/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "4K Restoration of the film supervised by Director John Penney."

Zyzzyx Road comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 44.4 GB

Feature: 44 GB

Colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, and compression fares better on the 4K UHD. That said, daytime sequences fare better than nighttime ones.

Zyzzyx Road comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.7 GB

Feature: 21.4  GB

The Blu-ray included as part of this release uses the same source that was used for the 4K UHD’s transfer.

Audio: 4.25/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English), 4/5 (Dolby Digital 5.1 English, Dolby Digital Stereo English)

This release comes with three audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English, a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in English, and a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English. All three audio tracks are in great shape; that said, the strongest is the only DTS-HD audio track. Dialog comes through clearly; everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented. Included are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an introduction by director John Penney and actor Leo Grillo (1 minute 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Leo Grillo, and an audio commentary with John Penney.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a trailer (1 minute 34 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a storyboard slideshow, storyboard to scenes featurettes; The Corpse in the Trunk (3 minutes 59 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Fight in the Motel (57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and He's Not Dead! (1 minute 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The Mystery of Zyzzyx Road music video (4 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Then & Now locations featurette (5 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with John Penney (26 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), 11 archival behind the scenes featurettes: Counter Attack (1 minute 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Katherine Gets Physical (1 minute 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Kill Her! (2 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Killing Rickey (2 minutes 11 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Location Scouting (2 minutes 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Marissa Escapes (3 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Marissa Survives (4 minutes 11 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Scouting the Mine (2 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Shotgun Rehearsal (2 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Stunt Work in the Motel (2 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and Breaking Into the Trailer (2 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette with John Penney, Leo Grillo and casting director Valerie McCaffrey titled The Legacy of Zyzzyx Road (93 minutes 18 seconds, an introduction by John Penney and Leo Grillo (1 minute 7 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Leo Grillo, and an audio commentary with John Penney.

Other extras include reversible cover art and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Zyzzyx Road is a film that’s been unfairly maligned because of its box office performance. When one looks into the circumstances of why Zyzzyx Road only made $30 at the box office, it becomes clear that its reputation as the lowest-grossing theatrical film is only because of a technicality. Unfortunately, most people generally read only headlines instead of exploring the subject in depth.

A family man becomes involved with a woman while visiting Las Vegas. Things come to a head when the woman’s jealous boyfriend ends up dead after a confrontation. In the moments that follow, the family man and the woman take her boyfriend's body to the desert to bury it.

Zyzzyx Road is a film that firmly fits into the Neo-noir genre. It has a protagonist who becomes involved with a femme fatale and participates in a crime he would not normally commit. When faced with two choices, he makes the wrong one, and from there a series of other bad decisions seals his fate. Though all of these things are in line with noir cinema, the result is anything but conventional for this genre.

Everything that unfolds in Zyzzyx Road leads to a twist that ultimately reveals the truth. There is a distorted reality that's constantly shifting perception; Zyzzyx Road is a film that overflows with misdirection. The best way to describe the events that unfold is that they are told from the point of view of an unreliable narrator.

Though there are a few secondary characters, the weight of Zyzzyx Road rests on the shoulders of Leo Grillo, who portrays a man who falls for the wrong woman and finds himself trying to cover up a crime. He does a great job portraying a character with a fractured state of mind. The two name-recognizable actors are Katherine Heigl (Roswell), who portrays Marissa, a lolita-like character, and Tom Sizemore (True Romance), who portrays Marissa’s jealous boyfriend Joey. In the case of the latter, he steals every scene that he’s in.

From a production standpoint, Zyzzyx Road is a film that does well with its modest resources. It's a confined film that takes place in a few locations, most of which take place in the desert. At 81 minutes in length, the narrative does a great job maintaining momentum and never overstaying its welcome.

I find it puzzling why so many consider Zyzzyx Road an outright disaster with no redeemable qualities after watching it. That said, even when it comes to elements that could be better, these really are not deal breakers. Ultimately, Zyzzyx Road is a challenging film where things are not always what they seem, and paying attention to the littlest detail matters.

Dark Arts Entertainment gives Zyzzyx Road a solid release that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and insightful extras, recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer