What’s an Insomnia File? You know how some times you just can’t get any sleep and, at about three in the morning, you’ll find yourself watching whatever you can find on cable or streaming? This feature is all about those insomnia-inspired discoveries!

If you’re having trouble getting to sleep tonight, you can always go over to YouTube and watch 1987’s Rolling Vengeance.

Rolling Vengeance supposedly takes place in Ohio but one look at the perpetually wet weather and the misty country side leaves little doubt that this film was shot in Canada.  Joey Russo (Don Michael Paul) is a trucker who seeks revenge after the antics of Tiny (Ned Beatty) and his redneck sons lead to death of first his mother (Susan Hogan) and sisters and then his father (Lawrence Dane).  Joey’s way of getting revenge is to go down to the junkyard, collect a bunch of parts, and build his own monster truck.  Soon, Joey is tracking down Tiny’s men.  Somehow, Joey is able to sneak up on people while driving a gigantic truck.  Also, for some reason, it never occurs to anyone that the best way to escape from the path of a big, lumbering vehicle is to do anything other than run in a straight line.

It’s a bit of a stupid movie and there’s a gratiotious rape scene that is hard to sit through and which leaves a sour taste that runs throughout the final 20 minutes of the film.  Don Michael Paul makes for a blank-faced hero.  On the plus side, the truck destroys a lot of poorly constructed buildings.  Fan of vehicular mayhem will find a lot to enjoy here.  Fans of great character actors going totally overboard in genre films will enjoy watching Ned Beatty as he wears a leather jacket and talks like the leader of the Canadian Hell’s Angels.

As I watched the film, it occurred to me that, if it had been made in the 70s, it would have starred William Shatner as the good trucker and Leslie Nielsen would have played the Ned Beatty role.  Lawrence Dane would have still played the father.

Previous Insomnia Files:

1. Story of Mankind
2. Stag
3. Love Is A Gun
4. Nina Takes A Lover
5. Black Ice
6. Frogs For Snakes
7. Fair Game
8. From The Hip
9. Born Killers
10. Eye For An Eye
11. Summer Catch
12. Beyond the Law
13. Spring Broke
14. Promise
15. George Wallace
16. Kill The Messenger
17. The Suburbans
18. Only The Strong
19. Great Expectations
20. Casual Sex?
21. Truth
22. Insomina
23. Death Do Us Part
24. A Star is Born
25. The Winning Season
26. Rabbit Run
27. Remember My Name
28. The Arrangement
29. Day of the Animals
30. Still of The Night
31. Arsenal
32. Smooth Talk
33. The Comedian
34. The Minus Man
35. Donnie Brasco
36. Punchline
37. Evita
38. Six: The Mark Unleashed
39. Disclosure
40. The Spanish Prisoner
41. Elektra
42. Revenge
43. Legend
44. Cat Run
45. The Pyramid
46. Enter the Ninja
47. Downhill
48. Malice
49. Mystery Date
50. Zola
51. Ira & Abby
52. The Next Karate Kid
53. A Nightmare on Drug Street
54. Jud
55. FTA
56. Exterminators of the Year 3000
57. Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster
58. The Haunting of Helen Walker
59. True Spirit
60. Project Kill
61. Replica
62. Rollergator
63. Hillbillys In A Haunted House
64. Once Upon A Midnight Scary
65. Girl Lost
66. Ghosts Can’t Do It
67. Heist
68. Mind, Body & Soul
69. Candy
70. Shortcut to Happiness
71. Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
72. Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders II
73. Don’t Kill It
74. Listen To Me
75. 300 Miles For Stephanie
76. Hackers