The Last Stop in Yuma County
Written and Directed by Francis Galluppi
Starring Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan
Running time 1 hour and 30 minutes
MPAA Rating R for Violence and language
In theaters and available digitally May 10

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport and Editor in Chief

“Is a coffin considered furniture?”

Would you be willing to die for a piece of rhubarb diner pie? This is a very real question to be considered for the patrons that waltz through the door of this middle of nowhere cafe in Arizona.

Upon learning the connected gas station has run out of fuel, customers are directed to wait it out in the restaurant until the truck arrives. With the next filling station not for one hundred miles, the travelers don’t really have a better alternative. The film first introduces an unassuming knife salesman (Jim Cummings) that is headed to Carlsbad, CA to see his daughter. Initially hesitant to head into the diner, he quickly changes his tune when he realizes that sitting in his blazing hot car is not appealing. Unfortunately, upon entering the diner he finds the air conditioner broken. Luckily, despite the sultry temperature, the waitstaff of one is amicable and may even lead to a potential sale. Soon other interesting characters blow in like tumbleweeds and fill the cafe booths with personality and trouble. When two bank robbers show up on the scene a tranquil situation turns hostile when the guys decide to hold the server, Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue) hostage.

This film is a breath of fresh air amongst the suffocation caused by Hollywood superhero worlds, universe building, remakes, and rehashes. Writer/Director, Francis Galluppi has managed to make an old style shoot ‘em up, noir story that plays off effortlessly. While watching, I could not help but think of the 1936 Archie Mayo picture, The Petrified Forest starring Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and Leslie Howard. Similar to The Last Stop in Yuma County, unsuspecting folks find themselves held against their will by sinister thieves. And much like The Petrified Forest, Galluppi’s picture is driven by the uncertainty of the characters’ future.

Galluppi manages to make his main location (the diner) a character in the film, just as much as the actors themselves. This is achieved by strategically sitting each of the diners throughout the space to create unease for the viewer. When the majority of your production is shot in one place, it can be difficult to keep things interesting. Although, due to Galluppi’s pacing, an engaging cast, and rousing screenplay the run time moves swiftly. There is a scene in which a couple refers to Jim Cummings’s character as a Norman Bates type from Hitchcock’s 1960 Psycho, and they could not have been more spot on. Jim Cummings (The Wolf of Snow Hollow, Thunder Road) is a treasure and, I’ll be honest, any time he shows up in a film I am gonna watch it. In the case of The Last Stop in Yuma County, Jim’s performance was of course superb but the ensemble cast, including famed horror queen Barbara Crampton, were icing on the cake.

Something I particularly enjoyed about this picture was the realism. The cops are dopes. The thieves think they are in full control until other bandits show up to serve as a reminder that even perfectly laid plans often don’t go off without a hitch. In the end, even the most demure are willing to risk it all when money is involved. A sack of cash will bring out the worst in many of us and be cause for terrible decisions.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is an impressive feature debut from Galluppi and I was excited to learn that he recently has been attached to a future Evil Dead project. For those cinephiles out there looking to watch a clever, original movie (complete with a Psycho reference) then you should plan to make your next viewing destination in Yuma County.