Hitch Hike to Hell (1977)

Too much of everything

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

In Holland I found this one in the 'American grindhouse' series, and even though there's a lot of fun titles in there, this was a bona fide bummer. The protagonist slash bad guy slash bumbling loser killer was doable and the story is in itself is pretty okay, but was stretched out way too long. The pretty nice (vintage) shots of a desolate American area and the city that is located in it, were also a plus. But beyond that, there's not much positive to discuss here.My advice would be to skip this. Also, the attractive ladies on the DVD cover (which is pretty much the same as here on IMDb) are nowhere to be found - or any other pretty ladies...3 out of 10.

Surprisingly , this film was pretty good. The acting was fine and the facial expressions of the lead character- Howard , was outstanding. The story of a social misfit at around 30 yrs. old, still tugging to Moms apron strings. A sister that ran away from home , causes torment to Howard , trying to protect his mother in perhaps the most sinister ways, involving Crescent City Ca. runaways. There were some fine, creative twists in this film , that entertained from start to finish. There was one particular scene with a not so ordinary runaway, that had me laughing hysterically. I do not want to give away the scene; I will keep quiet. The film , though not gory was still very watchable. There are some loose ends about Howards family that took away from the film, but it took away not much. The movie did allow for the expansion of some of the other character bios , but did not overdo it.The scenes where folks were supposed to have violence inflicted, were not done well;Reminding me somewhat of the 'Batman' show of the mid 60's. I think the film wanted those scenes to be a little spoofy on purpose. Russell Johnson of Gilligan fame was the only actor of note. The rest of the cast was more than acceptable . This film passes with high marks, in my opinion.

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

I absolutely love this delectably cheap'n'cheesy late 60's exploitation trash psycho howler. Hopelessly geeky bespectacled dweeb Howard (a hilariously histrionic performance by Robert Gribbin, who overemotes to the point where you swear he's going to give himself a nosebleed) drives a delivery van for the local laundromat service. Howard has gone murderously around the bend ever since his beloved sister ran away from home six years ago. While making his daily rounds Howard picks up stray runaway teenage lady hitch-hikers and brutally butchers them. Among Howard's victims are a token gay guy, a little girl whose bloodied corpse Howard leaves in a dumpster, and one luckless lass Howard strangles in the back of his van with a wire coat hanger (I'm sure Joan Crawford would have approved of this last one). Earnest, but ineffectual police captain Shaw (well essayed by Russell Johnson; the Professor on "Gilligan's Island"!) tries to catch Howard, but thanks to indifferent and negligent parents finds this to be a most difficult task to accomplish (nice pointed social commentary here). Not released for ten years until it was picked up by legendary soft-core flick king Harry Novak's Box Office International Pictures for theatrical distribution in the 70's, sporting suitably shoddy production values, largely atrocious acting (the scenes where Howard either experiences painful seizures or erupts into a wildly raving psychotic frenzy while killing folks are especially sidesplitting), and a gloriously ghastly country-and-western theme song ("Danger on the road/Danger on the road/There's no way you can tell/When you hitch-hike to hell/Danger on the road tonight"), this grubby grindhouse gem is well worth picking up if you're a fan of deliciously down'n'dirty drive-in dreck.