La proie de l'autostop

Intense, off-beat Italian thriller is an underexposed classic.

Fueding married couple, traveling across the country, make the mistake of picking up a hitch hiker who turns out to be a violent bank robber. But that's only the beginning of the story.

Skillfully well done thriller is gripping in it's wildly turning plot. The cinematography is stylishly good, with some beautiful country side filming locations. The music, though seemingly out of place at times, is great too. In addition there is a decent amount of violence and some nudity.

The real highlights of this film though are it's three stars, who seem to be in a show-stealing competition all through out the film. Franco Nero does a convincingly good performance as the alcoholic reporter, who has grown tired of his wife. Corinne Clery is fetching and talented as Nero's equally weary wife. The terrific David Hess makes for another great villain, also having played a crazed criminal in both Craven's Last House on the Left (1972) and another Italian exploitation film House on the Edge of the Park (1979).

For those who are seeking an unconventional thriller or just a fan of Hess, this film will be a well rewarding watch.

*** 1/2 out of ****

With all the crap movies we in the US suffered through in the 1970's both domestic and foreign, it's amazing that this little gem never got widely released. This movie is part film noir, part existential road movie, and part Italian giallo. It's very suspenseful and contains many strong scenes of realistic violence (and sexual violence), but never veers into the realm of total tastelessness like much of the 70's drive-in fare (especially the Italian-made stuff). The score from Ennio Morricone is great. The three leads are phenomenal. Franco Nero is so charismatic you forget what a bastard he is. Not surprisingly (considering it's an Italian exploitation movie), Bond girl Corrine Clery spends half the film at least partially naked, but what is surprising is that she would have been excellent regardless. And David Hess is better than he was in Last House on the Left. The British DVD contains a superb documentary which interviews the three stars, and it's downright surreal seeing a middle-aged, mild-mannered David Hess. He played a sick creep so well in this and other 70's movies, I had just assumed he was one in real life. The most amazing thing about this movie though was that it was shot in Italy. The filmmakers did such a good job capturing the look of 1970's Northern California and Nevada that I was having flashbacks of childhood road trips with my parents. And what an ending! They just don't make 'em like this anymore. Highly recommended.

A bickering marriage : Franco Nero, Corinne Clery after spending a night at a RV camp, they pick up a man whose car is broken down at a deserted stretch of California . Along the way things go awry , the couple is tormented by the fateful hitchhiker : David Hess . Hitch a Ride..Hitch a Date with Death!

Ferociously surprising film with thrills , chills , graphic violence , nudism , plot twists and anything else . The plot is plain and simple , as a pleasure trip becomes a journey into hell , as all of them attempt to encounter a way to deal with each other when they are tempted for a sum of money , the loot from a heist . The film is as hard as its characters , all of them are unkind , ambitious and unpleasant roles . Trio of protagonists give acceptable performances . Franco Nero is nice , though overacting at times, as an alcoholic reporter with no much success , while his spitful wife well played by Corinne Clery in the best performance of her lousy career . And Davis Hess gives a grim and threatening interpretation as the sadomasochist delinquent who is taking them as hostages to get his purports . Along with brief appearances from some usual secondaries from B-Italian genres as Pedro Sánchez or Ignacio Spalla , Mónica Zanchi , Benito Pacifico and Joshua Sinclair .

It contains a thrilling and suspenseful score by Ennio Morricone, adding catching songs in American style . As well as colorful and evocative cinematography by cameraman Giuseppe Ruzzolini who photographed some Sergio Leone films . Being shot on location Campo Imperatore L'Aquila , Abruzzo , where was filmed Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ, it was chosen because the outdoors looked like California and Mexico territory , though assistants put gas station, marks , and road signs to make an Americanized look . Furthermore , the classic Falls from Monte Gelato where time before shot hundreds of Peplum of Sword and Sandals movies . The motion picture was decently written/directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile , though it has some flaws and gaps . He was an expert on comedies , writing and shooting a lot of them until his early death at 58 . As he made the following ones : When women lost their tails , When women had tails , Rugantino, Bingo Bongo , The Naked Cello , The Chastity Bell, La Ragaza di Trieste , Manolesta , The Libertine , among others . The film will appeal to Franco Nero and Corinne Clery fans.

Director Pasquale Festa Campanile is best known for thoroughly unremarkable comedies, some of which being on the saucy sexy side. This film here, however, does not easily fit into his CV.

Autostop rosso sangue is a moody thriller, with a collection of unpleasant characters one would rather expect in a piece by Ruggero Deodato. If this film contains any humour (which is debatable) then certainly only of the dark and cynical kind. There are clear-cut villains (no surprises: David Hess) in this film, but the complete absence of really likeable characters makes this uncomfortable viewing. This film is certainly not for everyone and many people will find it shocking.

Still, Autostop... is excellently put together, it is very effective in what it is trying to do. Campanile may be out of his genre here but he certainly was not out of his depth - this is one of his best films.

No, they don't do movies like this anymore. A tough one about self-hatred, mayhem and self- destruction: Franco Nero as a down-&-out reporter, Corinne Clery as his sexy, completely hollow spouse, plus David Hess doing his usual good- humored-and-mean-as-hell thing. "Autostop Rosso Sangue" is sleazy, sexist, ultra-violent, but not without some unforgettable moments: The naked Clery in front of a trailer holding a huge rifle in the middle of the night is like a hastily written, edgy but brilliant poem found in a tattered paperback left in a cheap motel. For a few short hours in his life, Pasquale Festa Campanile, creator of some of the worst Euro comedies ever, turned into a poète maudit of the most cynical kind. This is the kind of grindhouse cinema nobody can embrace with seventies nostalgia: mature, brutal, knowing, never "cool", always cold, gripping and utterly nihilistic. Anything else you would ask for?