Writer/director David Twohy is not a household name, possibly because he sabotaged his own franchise (based on his Richard B. Riddick character, played by Vin Diesel) after the nifty Pitch Black — a small, unheralded monster movie — by following with the bloated The Chronicles of Riddick, an overblown mess that could have ended his career. Now, in an act of celluloid contrition, he takes us on A Perfect Getaway to prove he can still make a lot of movie with few resources.

Twohy follows newlyweds Cliff and Cydney (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) on a hike along a popular nature trail in Hawaii. They meet other people along the trail, including Nick and Gina (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez), and the shadowy Kale and Cleo (Chris Hemsworth and Marley Shelton). The nerdy Cliff is having enough problems erecting his tent in a downpour and defending his masculinity from Nick, a macho former special ops soldier, when they hear a bulletin from Honolulu: A man and woman have been brutally murdered and the authorities suspect — you guessed it — that the psycho killers may be trying to escape over the trail. Cliff’s paranoia shifts into high gear. Could the killers be Nick and Gina, whose idea of dinner includes skinning a mountain goat, or Kale and Cleo, the ominous psychotic couple stalking them?
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