Rolling Vengeance, also known as Monster Truck, is a 1987 Canadian exploitation film directed by Steven Hilliard Stern and starring Don Michael Paul and Ned Beatty. The movie follows a truck driver that builds a special, eight-ton truck to help get revenge against the rednecks who killed his family and raped his girlfriend. The film script's initial premise centered on a young boy that created special monster trucks in order to eliminate drunk drivers.
Plot
The five drunken sons of influential local business owner Tiny Doyle have been terrorizing the streets of their small town in their pick-up truck. Local trucker Big Joe Rosso has a wife named Kathy, a son named Joey, and two young daughters named Allison and Kristin. Big Joe and Joey do business with Tiny, delivering liquor to his bar, but that does not stop Tiny's son Vic from driving drunk and running Kathy off the road, killing Kathy, Allison, and Kristin. Thanks to Tiny's influence, the local judge sets Vic free after ordering Vic to pay a $300 fine. Lieutenant Sly, one of the local cops, is sympathetic toward the Rosso family, but Sly is about to retire, and Tiny has a lot of clout in this town. Enraged and bereaved, Big Joe goes after Vic, but the Doyles and his five sons kill Big Joe. After that, they gang rape Joey's girlfriend Misty. Enraged and frustrated, Joey builds a monster truck out of junked car and truck parts, with seven-foot tall tires, a flame thrower, and a giant retractable combination drill and metal cutter mounted on it. Joey is out to do what the local authorities cannot or will not do...put an end to the Doyles once and for all.
Cast
Don Michael Paul as Joey Rosso
Lawrence Dane as Big Joe Rosso
Ned Beatty as Tiny Doyle
Lisa Howard as Misty
Todd Duckworth as Vic Doyle
Michael J. Reynolds as Lt. Sly Sullivan
Michael Kirby as Mahoney
Michael Dyson as Moon Man
Hugo Dann as Hairlip
Lawrence King-Phillips as Finger
Alan C. Peterson as Four Eyes
Barclay Hope as Steve Tyler
Susan Hogan as Kathy Rosso
Alyson Court as Allison Rosso
Marsha Moreau as Kristin Rosso
Reception
Reception for the film has been mixed, with most reviews upon its initial release being negative. Twitch Film gave a mostly positive review for Rolling Vengeance, stating that although the film didn't go against any genre conventions, it does "play all the right notes to their hilt". Dread Central also praised the film, commenting that it was "a cult film just waiting to be rediscovered". The San Jose Mercury News panned the film, calling it "predictable".