Date with a Kidnapper (1976)

Simply Perfect

Good movie but grossly overrated

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Cynical small-time criminal Eddie Matlock (an intense and credible performance by Jack Canon) abducts teenage girl Sandra Morely (a solid and sympathetic portrayal by pretty redhead Leslie Rivers). However, things don't go as smoothly as planned after a series of unusual and unexpected complications ensue.Writer/director Frederick Friedel, who previously gave us the singular "Axe," once again does his customary bang-up job of crafting a uniquely bleak and brooding atmosphere, relates the absorbing story at a deliberate pace, maintains a harsh grim tone throughout, makes nice use of seedy rundown locations, and starkly exposes the seamy underbelly that exists right beneath the surface of heartland America. Moreover, Friedel's fascinating depiction of a cruel and brutal world populated by deliciously deranged and dangerous secondary characters gives this picture an additional jarring edge: The random encounters with such folks as a sleazy rapist motel clerk and his equally slimy bellhop cohort, a demented pitchfork-wielding farmer with a catatonic daughter, and an unfriendly and unhelpful blind man rate as striking moments of inspired lunacy. Larry Drake pops up in a small role as a nursing home attendant. Austin McKinney's sharp cinematography and the groovy percussive score by John Willhelm and George Newman Shaw are both up to speed. Exploitation cinema fans looking for something different should dig this one.

I just rented a "Something Weird" Double Feature DVD.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140174/ Hitch Hike to Hell (1977) and Date with a Kidnapper. (SPOILERS) BAD BAD BAD. Horrible harsh lighting, static boring acting, lame still static camera-work. Phony acting except for the mother, the cop who was played by Russell Johnson ( The professor on Gilligans Island) and one of the victims mother. A Norman Bates type is mad that his sister ran away from home- so he murders runaway teens on the highway. I tried to find it so bad it was funny- just BAD.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077401/ Date with a Kidnapper (1976) Another Kidnap movie- but this one was WAY better. Clean color- VERY good camera work (nearly every shot was on a dolly). Eddie Matlock, a guy who looks like a cross between Ted Bundy and Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers) kidnaps a dorky college girl. He hides her in a sleazy motel- then 2 other unrelated gangsters come in and rape her.someone on IMDb said: "A woman living in a boarding house is kidnapped by a small-time criminal. Soon others in the gang try to take her away from him so they can get the ransom."I don't think I agree with that- I don't think they were part of the same gang. At one point Eddie Matlock says " I don't know you!"Some VERY cool shots. But it got bizarre when the two fall in love and wind up at a farmhouse owned by an insane ex cop who looks like Santa Claus. He comes after Eddie with a knife and he shoots Santa. Then we see Santa with a pitchfork in him (?). Then they just let 3 hoodlums take the ransom money (!)Did the 3 hoodlums kill them?Was the money traceable? Is that why they let the robbers have it? I didn't buy them falling in love- unmotivated.I agree that I like the direction- the little touches like the old man ignoring the screeches.PS- did they just abandon the mute girl at the farm?

You would never guess that "The Kidnapped Coed" clocks in at a mere 76 minutes. At times, it seemed like an eternity.I would like to state that I am definitely not someone who needs violent action or gratuitous nudity every few minutes in a movie. However, I do enjoy some dialogue every once in a while. The dramatic pauses in "Kidnapped Coed" are long enough that you could take a solid nap during one. It gets awfully boring sitting around for a full two minutes looking at the main characters and waiting for one of them to actually say something. With tighter editing, this film could have been cut down to about half an hour and none of the plot would have been lost."Kidnapped Coed" is about the following: Man kidnaps young woman. He holds her for ransom. Woman falls in love with kidnapper. They spend a lot of time doing absolutely nothing.The only positive thing I can really say about this little flick is that it has surprisingly good cinematography. A couple of the shots were very nicely set up. Too bad the rest of the film lacked that quality. 2/10

This films original title must be "the kidnapper" for the title credit reads "John Canon as", then cut to "kidnapped co-ed". LOL! Anyway, the film runs like a little independent film than a sex/exploitation film. Canon kidnaps a young redhead gal for ransom. But they encounter strange people who want them dead for some strange reason (reasons unanswered). Little violence, rape (but no nudity) might be cut for TV. There is hardly any talk and a lot of padded scene, so the script must be 30 pages long. Watch for early performance by Larry Drake. I don't know why exploitation film company Boxoffice international (well known for X to hard "R" films) pick this film up for there is no nudity or much in this film. Some good scene and the two leads are no bad in what little script offered to them.