Side Roads

Side Roads

R 1988 · 115 min · ★ 3.2 · Crime, Thriller

Joe Velasco is awarded parole for good behavior, promising to live life as a reformed man and avoid the underworld activities which landed him in jail. But almost immediately following his release, a series of occurrences begin to steer him back towards the road to ruin.

Directed by Bill Bordy · Written by Bill Bordy

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Jeff Speakman Joseph Velasco
Ingrid Vold Bonnie Velasco
Jim Malinda Rob Washington / Rick Washington
Vito Scotti Hank Delicado
Laura James Mrs. Jenkins
Lucy Lee Flippin Mrs. Purbaugh
Henry Beckman Ed Clayton
Bill Bordy Lou Velasco
Lori Lynn Andrest Sally Marcowitz
Craig Weisman Janitor
Peter MacLean Alan Middelton
Corinne Calvet Maria Champlain

Make it a double feature

3h 40m together

Side Roads

Dead Bang

A close match in mood and era.

More from Bill BordySee all →

The Ice Runner

The Ice Runner · 1992

US-agent West travels to Moscow for the CIA in order to buy Russian weapons and to send them to the rebels in Afghanistan. When West gets caught he hides his identity and receives 15 years in a working camp in Siberia as penalty

Censorship U.S.A.

Censorship U.S.A. · 1971

Censorship U.S.A.

MovieDocumentary

A look at the rapidly evolving issue of sex censorship in the USA, focusing on the period just as hardcore was just about to become accepted.

Une Soirée Elégante

Une Soirée Elégante · 1983

Une Soirée Elégante

SOV feature by Bill Bordy, produced in French, and left deliberately untranslated into English as an American homage and pastiche of the "French farce" genre. [This film was completed in 1983 and seemingly shelved until Vinegar Syndrome's blu-ray release in 2024 without English subtitles added to the presentation.]

Annabel Lee

Annabel Lee · 2010

MovieThrillerDrama

It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by me . . . ." And so begins one of the most famous and haunting poems from the enigmatic mind of one of literature's most prolific dark poets, Edgar Allan Poe. This chilling classic adapted for a 21st-century audience. EDGAR ALLAN POE'S 'ANNABEL LEE' tells the story of Jack Blythe, an artist who rents a summer house in a quiet beach town to find creative inspiration. He gets more than he bargained for when he meets a beautiful but hauntingly mysterious woman who offers to be his subject for a painting. When Jack discovers that his seductive stranger resembles a woman presumed dead for 18 years, he becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. Soon, Jack is caught up in a terrifying struggle that will unravel an unsolvable mystery and reveal a horrific secret

Twilight Blues

Twilight Blues · 1985

SOV feature by Bill Bordy, completed in 1985 and seemingly shelved until Vinegar Syndrome's blu-ray release in 2024.

More Like This

Best Seller

Best Seller · 1987

MovieActionCrime

Hit man Cleve approaches writer/cop Dennis about a story for his next book: How Cleve made a living, working for one of the most powerful politicians in the country. To get the story right, they travel around the country to gather statements and evidence, while strong forces use any means they can to keep the story untold.

Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone · 2007

MovieCrimeDrama

When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt, Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detectives freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons—they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live.

Layer Cake

Layer Cake · 2004

MovieDramaThriller

When a seemingly straight-forward drug deal goes awry, XXXX has to break his die-hard rules and turn up the heat, not only to outwit the old regime and come out on top, but to save his own skin...

Dead Bang

Dead Bang · 1989

MovieActionThriller

Los Angeles homicide detective Jerry Beck searches for the murderer who killed a police officer on Christmas Eve. The investigation takes Beck inside the violent world of hate groups and white supremacists, who are hatching a deadly plot to attack even more innocent people. Beck must also confront his own personal demons, including his growing problem with alcohol, if he wants to track down and stop the violent neo-Nazis before it is too late.

Final Analysis

Final Analysis · 1992

MovieDramaThriller

A psychiatrist becomes romantically involved with the sister of one of his patients, but the influence of her controlling gangster husband threatens to destroy them both.

The Day of the Jackal

The Day of the Jackal · 1973

The Day of the Jackal

MovieActionThriller

An international assassin known as ‘The Jackal’ is employed by disgruntled French generals to kill President Charles de Gaulle, with a dedicated gendarme on the assassin’s trail.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang · 2005

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

MovieComedyCrime

A petty thief posing as an actor is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation along with his high school dream girl and a detective who's been training him for his upcoming role...

The Swimming Pool

The Swimming Pool · 1969

The Swimming Pool

MovieDramaThriller

Set in a magnificent villa near a sun-drenched St. Tropez, lovers Jean-Paul and Marianne are spending a happy, lazy summer holiday. Their only concern is to gratify their mutual passion - until the day when Marianne invites her former lover and his beautiful teenage daughter to spend a few days with them. From the first moment, a certain uneasiness and tension begin to develop between the four, which soon escalates in a dangerous love-game.

Drop Zone

Drop Zone · 1994

MovieActionThriller

A daring prison break from an airliner at 30,000 feet leaves U.S. Marshal Pete Nessip mourning a brother and gunning for revenge. After being ordered to turn in his badge, he seeks out Jessie Crossman, a noted skydiver, and offers to sponsor her crew for the annual Independence Day parachuting show in Washington, D.C., if she trains him. Meanwhile, the mastermind behind the mid-air jailbreak is planning a daring computer theft on Independence Day.

Topkapi

Topkapi · 1964

MovieComedyCrime

Arthur Simon Simpson is a small-time crook biding his time in Greece. One of his potential victims turns out to be a gentleman thief planning to steal the emerald-encrusted dagger of the Mehmed II from Istanbul's Topkapi Museum.

The Getaway

The Getaway · 1972

MovieActionCrime

A recently released ex-convict and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes wrong.

Finder's Fee

Finder's Fee · 2001

MovieDramaThriller

Friends Tepper, Quigley, Fishman, and Bolan get together for a weekly poker night with two simple rules: Everyone contributes a lottery ticket to the pot, and no one checks the numbers until the game ends. But this particular, stormy night is different: Tepper plans to propose to his girlfriend, and just before the weekly game, he finds a wallet outside his apartment with a winning lottery ticket worth $6 million. Tepper calls the wallet's owner, Avery, to come collect what's his, but keeps the winning ticket for himself...only for Avery to show up and ask to play a hand.

Le Samouraï

Le Samouraï · 1967

MovieCrimeThriller

After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.

Knight Moves

Knight Moves · 1992

MovieMysteryThriller

A chess grandmaster is in a big tournament, and when his lover is found painted up and the blood drained out of her body he becomes a chief suspect. After he gets a call from the killer urging him to try and figure out the game, he cooperates with police and a psychologist to try and catch the killer, but doubts linger about the grandmaster's innocence as the string of grisly murders continues.

No Other Choice

No Other Choice · 2025

No Other Choice

MovieComedyCrime

After being laid off and humiliated by a ruthless job market, a veteran paper mill manager descends into violence in a desperate bid to reclaim his dignity.

Secret Agent

Secret Agent · 1936

MovieThrillerMystery

During World War I, a novelist declared dead is recruited by British intelligence and sent to Switzerland under a new identity to assassinate a German spy. Teamed with a fellow agent posing as his wife and an eccentric assassin known as “the General,” the trio close in on their target — until two of them grow ambivalent when their duty to the mission clashes with their consciences.

B. Monkey

B. Monkey · 1999

MovieRomanceCrime

When wistful introvert Alan Furnace meets quick-witted bombshell Beatrice, he has no idea of her secret life as "B. Monkey" -- the top thief-for-hire in London's criminal underworld. Charmed by Furnace's innocent and chivalrous ways, Beatrice resolves to reform. But to cash in on her first chance at real love, she must escape her former partner in crime, the ruthless Paul Neville -- and a dark past that seems to haunt her every step.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter