The Last Stop in Yuma County, on BluRay

If you grew up in the 1970s, you might remember a time when gas stations ran out of gas. With all the talk about reviving various price controls, we might just bring those bad old days back. For one “last chance” gas station, that reality is already here. Their re-supply track is running late, unnerving several dodgy characters who need to get out of town fast in Francis Galluppi’s The Last Stop in Yuma County, which releases today on BluRay.

This is a thriller in the tradition of The Petrified Forest, but the characters probably feel like they are stuck in Sartre play. Vernon’s filling station is out of gas, so his potential customers must wait for the truck to arrive in Charlotte’s diner, where the air-conditioning is on the fritz. The nebbish traveling salesman hawking knock-off Ginsu knives recognizes Travis and Beau match the description of wanted bank-robbers, which is no coincidence.

Essentially, the two fugitives hold them hostage, but they all try to act normal for all the other customers coming into the diner, including Deputy Gavin. Charlotte tries to send a warning through him to the Sheriff, her husband Charlie, but poor Gavin is an exceedingly dim bulb.

Yuma County is a reasonably successful desert noir, mainly due to its colorful characters and the experienced ensemble of genre-friendly thesps portraying them. On the other hand, the execution and pacing are somewhat uneven. After fifty-some-minutes of ever-so deliberately slow-building, Galluppi seems to say the heck with it and unleashes total bedlam.

Regardless, Richard Brake is appropriately sinister as Beau, the brains of the two-armed robber-operation. Sometimes, Jim Cummings takes over-the-top a bit too far, but he finds the right level of twitchiness for the knife salesman. The great Barbara Crampton also gets a lot of laughs in her slightly larger-than-cameo appearances as the Sheriff’s receptionist, Virginia.

Jocelin Donahue (who appeared in the previous middle-of-nowhere diner thriller The Frontier) solidly anchors the film as Charlotte. Gene Jones (who brilliantly portrayed the Jim Jones figure in The Sacrament) also brings a lot to the table playing Robert, another stranded motorist, whose description of his hippy son in Texas makes the wayward youth sound like a Branch Davidian. Frustratingly, Alex Essoe’s talents are under-utilized as Sarah, another unfortunate bystander-motorist.

The cast is terrific and the setting is evocative. After watching fifteen minutes, you will want to turn up your air-conditioner, out of sympathy. However, the story is just okay. Consider it a highly viable rental option when The Last Stop in Yuma County releases today (7/16) on BluRay.