Hell's Highway

Hell's highway is about a group of four teens on a road trip. On their travels they pick up a hitchhiker called Lucinda. After a short while she says she is going to kill them all, just like their friends before (who had set off on the same road trip). They expel her from the car forthwith, but have they seen the last of her? It also appears that many have met an untimely fate on the Devil's highway, judging by all of the crosses on the side of the road.

Directed by Jeff Leroy, who is still making horror today. Joe Castro, also a familiar name for practical special effects, in low budget films provides some excellent work here.

Excellent cast that include. Phoebe Dollar and Beverly Lynn, both well established scream queens on the indie circuit, and with a cameo by porn legend Ron Jeremy, who is suitably killed with tongue firmly in cheek.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It had a good story, acting was good. Kept my attention throughout. Some of the special effects were excellent and really delivered on the gore groceries. Nothing is quite what it seems and this will keep you guessing to the bitter end.

Great little homage to the original Texas chainsaw massacre as Phoebe wields a chainsaw like Gunner Hanson.

I would wholly recommend this film to all gore hounds and those that like low budget horrors.

This nifty little NO BUDGET shocker was a surprise to me. It was made by talented kids but still they're kids and it shows. There's a lot of stuff that's either lifted from other films, or supposed to be in homage to other films. You'll know it when you see it, and this is typical of kids just starting out making films. They have this whole sensibility that it's funny and hip to reference other films in their work, little "in jokes" that their social circle all get. The interviews with cast and crew at the end show this level of immaturity. Still, there's enough original stuff here to make it worth seeing. I got this because of the nice box art and well written synopsis, but when I saw it was shot on video, and not even very good video, I thought it was a mistake to watch. But I gave it a chance and was surprised at the many good points, and of course it is uneven yet there's enough good in it to give congrats to the writer/director for coming up with a literate and interesting script with a nice plot twist that's totally unexpected. Good acting by Ms. Dollar as the evil "entity", and some good grisly effects, though I wish she had handled the chainsaw a little better. Plus there's not really any slow or tedious points. It would be interesting to see the director do this again but in about 15-20 years when he's grown up and got more experience and a bigger budget to shoot it on film or HD. The basic story is literate enough to do it again and make the weak parts stronger, cut out the silliness and kid stuff, give it an overall sense of maturity and really develop the twist ending more. It's actually a good enough weirdo story to rank with the film stories of DePalma and Stephen King. Anyway, you won't be bored.

What can I say? My fiancee and I one night decided that it would actually be fun to go ahead and rent some low budget horror films to get us laughing. C'mon, what other horror movie could you see Ron Jeremy in? This plan worked effectively. We were rolling on the floor even before the previews were over.

The special effects were horrible (i.e. the priest's head exploding after being hit with a shovel, the missing appendage of Mr. Jeremy, and the incredibly gory dragging torso), the acting worse, and the characters out of a low budget porn movie.

If you need a laugh, rent this!

If you ever decide to watch a film like this, please take into consideration that it was probably shot for the price of a used car and in the spans of a week. Total Roger Corman/Ed Wood style, so you should never expect a Spielburg quality film(His catering budget is usually bigger than the entire budget of a film like this.) So what does a film like this have to offer a viewer? A dialog heavy script with thick subplots and well known actors? Mind blowing special effects? Beautiful breath-taking 35mm Cinematography? No, but it has couple things that make it unique. Despite the fact that it was probably shot on a camcorder, some of the shots were well planned and executed. Unlike the normal all-hand-held Shot-on-Video features usually do. Of course the Director and the Cinematographer were the same person, which can be difficult. The Characters were unique, yes at sometime they were over-the-top or flat at certain times, but I feel that they were tolerable. It's also obvious at time there was a lot of ad libbing and some of it didn't work. I am a fan of Beverly Lynn though. She started out in the Brain Damage world and has definitely out-shined many of her counterparts. I do hope that she will grow in her craft and lands roles that will gain her the respect that she deserves. This was Phoebe Dollar's first film credit, she definitely shines as the evil Lucinda. She is definitely a presence that will go far in the future. The story also is unique for the fact if you actually try to follow what's going on, you will be pulled in many different directions and will be left still wondering what exactly happen. It definitely had some interesting twists in it. Now onto the special effects, outside the low quality of the video image the special effects look even worse than normal. They are totally laughable. Especially Joe Haggerty's blow to the head.( Which can really be the charm of a film like this, where the gore is so over-the-top that it's actually funny. I can imagine how a movie like this would be in a college dorm, with a room full of drunk men.) Especially when watch the toy model cars driving by or see the miniature gas station blow up! That was funny!! I had to rewind to make sure I saw what I thought I saw!! The Sound was something to be desired. It was for the most part inconsistent. Some of the sound effects were very "fake" sounding and again laughable at times. There also obvious continuity issues like switching props, road movement in the background in a car scene when the car is supposedly stopped. But what do you expect when you can afford re-shoots? To me this movie, seems to be a turning point for the whole Brain Damage world. Where their movies started moving up the ladder from their pocket-change budget beginnings. Good job Jeff LeRoy!! If you want a movie that scares you, it probably won't. If you want a movie that will challenge your intellect, don't rent this. But if you appreciate the micro-budget, and want to see something different that the normal movie studios wouldn't put out, then you might want to check it out.

What can I say, what can I say?? "Hell's Highway" is a piece of art. Well, not really but, then again, it was not meant to be. This is a straight to video movie about four friends traveling from PA to CA, who meet up with a "sexy thang" who just might be the devil herself, himself, itself...?? Look past the Matchbox Cars and the horrible effects(personally I liked the feel they bring to this movie), and what you get is no better or no worse then any other straight to video horror movie you have ever seen. With an ending that caught me off guard and, hold your breath, makes sense!@#, some decent acting, eye candy for both the men and the women, and a short enough running time to hold one's interest, you can do a lot worse then "Hell's Highway". P.S.- As a side note, these film makers obviously have an affection for what horror movies once were, the gratuitous nudity and all out gore show it!

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