The Traveler (DVD, 2011)

Val Kilmer is popping up in more Direct to Video movies that I care to count, and I believe it safe to say he's taken the crown from Steven Seagal as the King of Video. But like Seagal, that's not always a bad thing. Kilmer is a charasmatic, talented actor whose demonstrated his ability to tackle all genres, all types of roles, and physically transform himself for even subpar films. And, that I believe, is the sign of an actor who may not be building a legacy as much as viewing his acting talents as a craftsmanship; employment. No matter what he is hired to portray, and whether quality is elsewhere in the film, he genuinely gives it his all. It's what makes all 'these' films watchable.

Kilmer's latest vehicle, "The Traveler", is a venture down the horror path. A massive storm hits a lone Police station isolating the town for the night when a stranger (Kilmer) comes to 'confess' to 6 murders. It's a thoroughly creepy set up that sadly falls apart in the final act under it's own weight.

Kilmer doesn't fail to impress. He plays a wonderful supernatural villian (or maybe that term is too subjective?) with a mysterious past that ufolds slowly and keeps us in tune; the pay off is a nice twist. Kilmer is subtle, relaxed, all knowing. In particular, he gives a wonderful dialogue on the Old Testament and how God was a vengeful, punishing lord. "I'm a little Old School myself.", he proclaims.

Similar in tone and theme to last year's "Devil" (which I also enjoyed), this go around does it's job economically and in good time. No major frills are pulled, and the simplicity and plot provide an entertaining sense of dread and mystery. "The Traveler" is a decent flick, and gets a good momentum going thanks for an eerie plot executed by Kilmer's talent, however, the last 20 minutes don't hold their own on the preceeding hour. Still, I can recommend a viewing.

Wow this movie stunk! Val Kilmer looks like hes sleep walken threw the movie. Maybe someone should remind him hes in it lol. The support cast was a bunch of unknown acting, that didn't really bother me, but you could tell. Their main way of acting was yelling! Man, they showed the same sceen tons of times, them yelling over and over. And the stuff the yelled tring to get information from a guy, would be the same stuff my 4 year old would yell. Were is my toy!, My toy, where is it? That toy I like, my toy, where is my toy! Over and over and over. I don't rarely do this, but I stopped watching it about 3/4threw I just couldnt bare it anymore. THe plot is cheesy, the acting was HORRIABLE. And the special effects? Sad, sad, sad. I would save your money on this 1 folks, at best its a watch it with a friend, while on the phone, or just maken fun of the movie most of the time. Now my wife watched the whole thing, but shes never seen a movie that she didn't watch. And shes the type of gal that does stuff while she watches a movie. But even my wife said, at best average. I would travel past selecting this 1.

lame,lame, lame. not to mention: 'STUPID'. this movie sucks. they tried to make a modern day 'high plains drifter' with a twist. SPOILER ALERT: evil child killer dies in mental institute and comes back to kill cops who weren't sure if he was guilty or not. whole movie is bad. no surprises. not worth your time. val kilmer owes me $1.50 for rental and $30.oo for my time. kilmer should hang up acting for this garbage. and he should take out full page add in 50 major news papers to appologize to everybody.
so, child killer [kilmer] dies in mental institute and comes back to slowly kill all cops involved with his beating and sending to a mental institute. in these killings we slowly relive what happened and get the surprise ending that he was guilty all along. TRASH!