Terreur au Km.

I'm rating this film high due to the fact it was one of those that seemed to make a big impact to a 10-year-old kid when I first saw it, and incredibly, still seems to hold some of that original charm. Made in 1966 but supposedly not released until a year later (although I swear I remember seeing in sometime in '66 on TV), it is basically a cautionary tale with some good tense action and decent acting. Fast-paced and furious, as a kid I found it to be quite scary and disturbing, and I remember worrying about what might happen to the family during their plight. This is a very rare sleeper that is difficult to find, much less on DVD, but I am happy to report that Netflix now offers it as a rental! Nine stars for the nostalgia of it all!

Hot Rods To Hell is one of those movies me and my buddies rode our Schwinn stingrays to the theatre to see on a saturday afternoon... Of course we all got thrown out before the film was over for getting too loud or dumping popcorn from the balcony! However over the years I,ve seen it several times on television and I have to appreciate the really campy style in which it portrays the "wild youth" of the latter 60,s....If you,re lookin for good acting and plot "forget this movie" But if you want to see a movie for sheer brainless fun...this is it!!! I absolutly love this movie.....

This movie continues to amuse me although I've seen it countless times. The straitlaced family plunged into a world of "hot rodding" teenagers "looking for kicks"...it can't get much better than this. Particularly fun are the overly dramatic performances of Dana Andrews (Tom) and Jeannie Crain (Peg) as the family sedan is chased by a carload of teenagers (one girl managing to sit up on the back and hang on the whole while). After the family arrives at the hotel that the father has just bought, they are horrified to realize that it's a roadhouse that caters to these same bored teenagers and others like them. Much to her parents' dismay, the daughter becomes infatuated with Duke, one of the hot rodders who earlier that day ran them off the road. The scenes inside the roadhouse are backgrounded with music by "Mickey Rooney Jr. and His Combo" which adds to the cheese factor. Still, you can't help loving it.

Given a title like this, it's a cinch no one will take this road movie seriously except for a few of us who hate seeing a decent family being harrassed by some mindless hot rodders intent on making dangerous moves in speeding cars for no apparent reason. Later, though, the script gives them a reason and the mayhem continues throughout with the man, wife and children being subjected to dangerous maneuvers by the teen-age punks until he manages to turn the tables on them in an unexpected way.

It's a pity Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain couldn't have found themselves a better script and story. By today's standards, the dialogue is rather unrealistic and corny--and the preachy element that Andrews is forced to utter to the kids seems a bit theatrical and pointless. It's the kind of movie you might expect to find as a B&W cheapie at a drive-in--but here it's wrapped up in MGM technicolor although modestly produced.

Not a serious indictment of hot rodders nor more than a standard melodrama that seems somewhat dated in its attitudes. Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain do what they can with stereotyped roles but neither is seen at their best. Crain is flatteringly photographed and looks as lovely as ever while Andrews seems to have gone through some hard times in his personal life that give his tight-lipped demeanor a worn look.

I'm just writing this review because someone reviewed this movie and wrote that Dana Andrews was pretty good in old horror movies...what the hell is thinking? Horror movies???? Dana Andrews was in one the greatest films of all time, The Best Years of Our Lives and he was also in one of the greatest film noirs of all time, Laura. I know he was in Curse/Night of the Demon , which is a gem. It just bothered me that someone can know so little about Dana Andrews.