A group of Federal agents, lead by former Special Ops agent Jack la Roca (Lou Diamond Philips) and his partner Steph (Lori Petti) are transporting prisoner Fred Smith (Stephen Williams) across the Arizona desert, along Route 66, to his court appearance in LA. But, unlike the old song, it seems this group won't be getting any kicks on this highway.
Following a run in with a bunch of Mafia hitmen, who want Smith dead, the Federal agents decide to take a cross country shortcut down a disused stretch of road, referred to locally as Route 666, to try and shake them off.
Unfortunately, it seems the pursuing hitmen are the least of their worries. Ignoring the local legends about the area being cursed (never a good idea in a horror movie) the agents find themselves fighting a running battle against a group of crusty faced zombies wearing prison overalls, who come up out of the road.
Stranded in the middle of nowhere with no apparent way of stopping the creatures, which pop-up periodically to wreak murdernumber and mayhem, they think help is at hand when the local Sheriff manages to find them. But has he got other ideas?
For the most part, Route 666 proves to be quite an enjoyable action/road movie and certainly the zombie make-up, showing the creatures tar-seared features and dusty prison uniforms, proves to be extremely effective. Unfortunately, where the film is let down is its deliberate use of shaky camera work whenever the zombies are on screen, and the extremely cheap camera tricks employed showing them "materialising" out of thin air. Neither method does anything to enhance the film and simply makes the Direction look inept.
Worth a watch, but not a masterpiece of zombie cinema by any means. Don't expect Lou Diamond Phillips to be singing "La Bamba" in this one either!