Hitch Hike to Hell

Wow, talk about a pleasant surprise! I was expecting to see a terrible, bottom-of-the-barrel exploitation fodder from the seventies, but I ended up seeing a spirited cult gem that really makes the most of its minimal budget. The story introduces Howard Martin; an introvert and rather nerdy young man who lives alone with his mother since his sister ran away from home. This event somewhat messed up Howard's brain, since he now picks up hitch-hikers in his laundry van and savagely strangles them if it turns out they're runaways from their moms. The subject matter certainly isn't original, since it's an ordinary serial killer on the road premise and the culprit is once again an oppressed mommy's boy ("Psycho", anyone?). Still, the screenplay of "Hitch Hike to Hell" is well thought out and features some really clever ideas that immediately gained my respect. The setting, for example, is a middle-sized town that serves as a junction for the state's most important highways, which makes it extra difficult for the police to keep an eye on all the hitch-hikers. The drama-element of the story surprisingly isn't an obstacle and actually rather captivating. This is all very nice so far, but what REALLY sold me to this movie is the dared ending that you can't possibly see coming! The image of what might happen will briefly cross your mind, probably, but there's no way you expect the film to actually execute it! Watch and see! There are some some dull moments and odd padding scenes to struggle yourself through, but the acting performances are quite good and the music is adorably kitschy. I really don't understand why some people write such harsh things about "Hitch Hike to Hell"...Definitely recommended if you're into rare cult stuff.

A clean-cut Mama's Boy (Robert Gribbin) works as a delivery man for a dry cleaner, and has a tendency to pick up young people hitch hiking along his daily route on the highway. When he finds out that they're running away from home and they despise their mothers, he twitches and turns into a maniac who goes berserk and slaughters them. This actually plays unintentionally funny in many places, and it's hilarious watching gray-haired Russell Johnson (the professor from "Gilligan's Island") portraying a frazzled police captain who has to deliver horrible dialogue with a concerned face. But there are also some gruesome moments too. I watched this with a couple of friends and while it's certainly not a good movie, my friends and I had a good time with it, MST3K-style. There's also a delightfully silly redneck theme song for the credits... "therrrrre's no way you can teellllll when you Heeetch Hiiike to Heelllll". If you get a chance to see the narrated trailer, it's also a riot ("He doesn't drink anything stronger than root beer!"). **1/2 out of ****

As female runaways turn up dead in a town of Greater Los Angeles, the chief of police and his partner (Russell Johnson and Randy Echols) zero-in on an unassuming delivery man for a laundry cleaning business (Robert Gribbin).

"Hitch Hike to Hell" (1977) is a 'B' flick with a simple story and prosaic delivery featuring an antagonist reminiscent of Clark Kent and the police chief played by The Professor from Gilligan's Island.

Speaking of whom, the captain makes a reference to three serial killers that were popular at the time: The Zodiac Killer in San Francisco (who has never been identified), The Skid Row Slasher in Los Angeles (who turned out to be Vaughan Greenwood) and The Houston Mass Murderer, Dean Corll. Yet, the movie is actually loosely based on Edmund Kemper, The Co-ed Killer whose victims in 1972-1973 were six female students hitchhiking in the vicinity of Santa Cruz County, which is an hour's drive south of San Francisco.

The movie was originally advertised as a fun Crown International hot-chicks-and-cars flick, but it's nothing of the kind. Despite its modest budget and pedestrian technique, it's a serious take on a psychologically messed-up serial killer in which sympathy is worked up for the murderer. Don't get me wrong, there's no excuse for what Ed Kemper did in real-life or what the fictitious killer does here, but it all comes down to the consequences of serious mental-spiritual illness, not to mention a questionable relationship with one's mother.

The tone is similar to "Targets" meshed with "The Toolbox Murders." While it's easy to look down on these kinds of films, there are some well-done parts here that are respectable and even moving, such as the lieutenant's hesitancy about bringing children into a world where such wicked things happen. Then there's the climatic depiction of the shock/grief of the girl's mother, which is actually moving.

Russell Johnson's role in Gilligan's Island ended a decade before this, but he looks basically the same, just slightly older.

It runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in Encino, Los Angeles, which is located 7-12 miles west of the iconic Hollywood Sign.

GRADE: B-

A warped and demented mother's boy, Howard (Robert Gribbin) makes a habit of raping & killing various women hitchhikers. When the bodies mount up it's up to Captian Shaw of the Crescent P.D. (played by Russell Johnson, better known as the Proffesor from Gilligan's Island) to try to catch this deviant. The film is a tad on the tedious side (Howard picks up hitchhiker, rapes, kills, back to momma's for dinner, has flask backs to the murders, rinse & repeat) Of course interspersed with the Professor hamming it up.Their IS however one scene that deviates from the standard path that the movie sets up, it has a stereotypical flamboyant gay guy (aptly listed in the credits as 'gay boy') whom Howard picks up and is obviously used for misplaced comedic effect. Oh and a pregnancy sub-plot that comes out of nowhere and feels like it should be in a different movie completely, in this one it just felt like painful melodramatic filler. Given the subject matter and the fact that this is a low-budget exploitation movie, it's pretty tame going. For all it's faults (and there are a great many of them) the film isn't as bad as it is made out to be and i've seen worse. Russell Johnson himself makes the film watchable. If you lack a pretty high tolerance for these kind of low-budget films though I'd recommend that you steer clear.

My Grade: C-

Something Weird DVD Extras: 3 shorts: "the Hitch-Hiker", "Dangerous Strangers" & "the Cautious Twins"; A 27 minute tour of Box office International with Harry Novak circa 1992; Gallery of exploitation art with accompanying soundtrack (5 minutes, 19 seconds); Theatrical trailer; and 2 trailers for the other film on the DVD "Kidnapped Coeds" (one under it's alternative title of "Kidnapped Lover")

Eye Candy: Jacqueline Poseley gets topless; Jane Ratliff shows brief nipple

Anyone out there looking for some honest-to-God quality B-horror that not only holds your attention but is just inept enough to be funny? Well, look no further, because Something Weird Video and Harry Novak have brought us yet another unknown, Drive-in obscurity from the 70's. About a mama's boy named Howard, who, of course, lives with his clingy, over-protective mother. Mama hasn't always been this bad, you understand, but since Howard's sister ran away (moved out) , Howie is all she has, so it's understandable why she would treat a 20-something year old man like a total infant. Howard has mama, he has Root Beer, he has his hobbie, hell, he even has a job, one would assume Howard is doing OK, considering he's a man-child and all. Unfortunately, Howard has so much repressed rage against his sister for abandoning the family, that every time he picks up a hitchhiker, he ends up blacking out, and killing them. Unfortunately, Howard likes to pick up hitchhikers every single day, probably more than once. What I find odd is that every single time, the hitchhiker turns out to be a girl who's running away from home, which would kinda clear up as to why Howard always kills them, although, it's still odd.

One of the most entertaining and all-around best movies Something Weird Video has to offer. Some may think that that's not saying much, but it totally is, that is, if you dig vintage exploitation, if not, then you're definitely wasting your time here. Hitch-Hike To Hell isn't necessarily a frightening horror movie, but rather a quality movie with a good story that happens to be horror, hence the killing, and if you can't get enough grainy, unintentionally funny 70's B-charm, then Hitch-hike To Hell should make you extremely happy. If the antics of Howard the mama's boy seriously doesn't do it for you, then I would recommend checking out the other half of the double-feature, Kidnapped Coed, just to see how inept B-horror can really be, although, I kinda liked that one too, God help me. Unless we're talking about a Herschell Gordon Lewis gore-epic, or something else awesome like The Psychedelic Priest, then I can't think of anything more worthwhile from Something Weird Video than Hitch-Hike To Hell. Check it out. 9/10