Hitch Hike to Hell

Hi and welcome to my review of Hitch Hike To Hell - 1983

What with a splendid title like this, it would have been hard to keep it from my B-Movie and Horror radars. If you're a loyal fan of these genres, then the title will attract you to your doom, like a moth to a flame. Surprisingly Hitch Hike To Hell turned out to be an entertaining, though mildly annoying, watch.

The story gets a 1 out of 2: John Buckley does his best to convey an Ed Gein psychopath to the screen. If weren't for Robert Gribben's over the top portrayal of him, it would have been a competent representation. Hitch Hike To Hell is the story of Howard. Howard is a Momma's Boy. When he gets ill, Mother's there to squeeze his hand. When Howard has trouble at work, Mommy jumps to his aid. Even when he has nightmares, she will get into bed with him for a supportive cuddle. These affections wouldn't be too harmful if Howard were a child, but he's an adult. All of this over devotion and care has given Howard a misconstrued idea of love. Though he merely wants to help, which is his true nature, when he learns the Hitch Hikers are runaways who don't love their Mothers, he loses control and punishes them. His actions are further supported in his mind because his own sister abandoned his Mother. Therefore, every hiker he punishes assumes her face in his cracked mind.

Here's the chief drawback though, even though the film deals with rape and murder, it's a little too light. The flippancy becomes particularly evident when an eleven-year-old girl runs away from home. We see her jump into the van, and we begin to hope and wonder if this story will follow a more sinister path? It's here I realised precisely how upbeat the film is. Now I don't know if this is down to the story or the direction. Because of this crucial moment, I think the film needed to be a tad darker in outlook.

The Direction and Pace receive a 2.25 out of 4: Irvin Berwick could have decided to keep the feeling light as it would help to portray Howard in a more human light, which it does. We know he's the killer, but the upbeat feel helps prove him to be the bumbling, unsure, nervous, yet kind man he is to everybody... until the switch is flipped in his mind, and the beast is released. This merry feel provides interest and engagement for the audience, and the speedy pace keeps the story moving happily along.

Though Berwick tries to capture some iconic and disturbing imagery, it falls short. The best of these is after Howard's first kill. He opens the vans rear doors and kicks the lifeless body into the dirt. Berwick shoots this from a distance, and we see the wasteland behind an abandoned building. It's a splendid shot and adds a depth of despair to the proceeding. But it all too quickly disappears. For the most part, the filming is standard and average. It's the tempo and story which kept me watching.

The Acting gets a 1 out of 2: For the most part, the cast is more than suitable for their roles. I especially liked Russell Johnson and Randy Echols as the two detectives on the case. Johnson does well as the driven Cpt. Shaw, while subordinate Lt. Davis, is shown experiencing his own personal issues with the job.

Sadly, it's the lead of Howard Martin that lets the whole film down. Robert Gribbin wasn't the correct choice for this psycho. He's passable as the calm and bumbling Howard. However, this too could have been handled better. It's when poor Howard enters beast-mode that Gribbin losses all control. Gribbin oversells every aspect of his meltdown. Howard's twitching is too pronounced. His mental breakdowns are excessively loud and visible. These inevitably caused me to cringe and laugh when they happened. That reaction is not a good thing, especially when the film is supposed to be serious.

And, my Enjoyment level hits a 1.25 out of 2: That said, even though Gribbin deserves a raspberry for this role. The story, the direction, and the other actors and actresses nevertheless made it enjoyable for me. For a B-Movie shocker come exploitation flick, there's not much exploitation or shock. But it does possess something. And, in the end, I felt a tad guilty at finding the movie more enjoyable than thought-provoking. But, hey, it made me smile, and that's not an undesirable thing.

Hence, Hitch Hike To Hell receives a total rating of 5.25 out of 10: If you love your B-movies and Chillers, then I'd say give Hitch Hike To Hell a try. Hell, I may even watch it again... and guilt-trip myself for doing so. Guess I'll have to put this in my Guilty Pleasures list.

Stick out your thumb and hitchhike on over to my Killer Thriller Chillers, The Game Is Afoot, and Guilty Pleasures lists to see where Howard and his Momma landed in my rankings.

Take Care & Stay Well. Get Inoculated.

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

Hitch Hike to Hell certainly can't be considered a 'great' slice of seventies exploitation, and while this type of film has been a lot better; there are far worse examples to choose from also. The film's influences are wide and largely obvious, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and, of course, Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left standing out the most. It's also obvious that the film didn't have the greatest scriptwriter on board, as while the tacky dialogue can easily be ignored, the numerous coincidences and obvious plot devices stick out too much, and lowered my enjoyment of the film. For example, just how many runaway girls can one man run across? Anyway, the plot focuses on Howard Martin, a weird shy man that drives a laundry truck. Beneath his harmless exterior, the man is a raving lunatic who is obsessed with his mother and can't stand to hear that a young girl is running away from hers. This leads him to begin killing the runaways by strangulation, but it's not long before the police catch on and begin hunting for the mysterious stranger murdering women on the highway.

Hitch-hiking is a common theme within horror cinema, and has lead to some of the greatest genre movies of all time. The main problem with this movie, however, is that it gets a bit monotonous after a while. Basically, the central psycho picks up a woman, she tells him that she's run away from home - and then he kills her. It's clear that the film was shot on a low budget, and indeed; it looks very, very cheap. But despite that, director Irvin Berwick manages to create a great country atmosphere, which is built up by the spacious locations and a relaxed soundtrack. There's not a great deal of violence in the film, and the style of the movie is such that we never really get the impression that the lead character is a bad man. He commits acts of violence, and then in the next scene everything seems OK. It's a rather odd tone for a movie like this, but the mean spirit comes in at the end with a climax that really is quite shocking, as well as being unexpected given what we've seen of the character earlier. Overall, I can't give this film a high recommendation as it really isn't all that good; but in spite of that, it's worth seeing for the exploitation fan.

Anyone out there looking for some honest-to-God quality B-horror that not only holds your attention but is just inept enough to be funny? Well, look no further, because Something Weird Video and Harry Novak have brought us yet another unknown, Drive-in obscurity from the 70's. About a mama's boy named Howard, who, of course, lives with his clingy, over-protective mother. Mama hasn't always been this bad, you understand, but since Howard's sister ran away (moved out) , Howie is all she has, so it's understandable why she would treat a 20-something year old man like a total infant. Howard has mama, he has Root Beer, he has his hobbie, hell, he even has a job, one would assume Howard is doing OK, considering he's a man-child and all. Unfortunately, Howard has so much repressed rage against his sister for abandoning the family, that every time he picks up a hitchhiker, he ends up blacking out, and killing them. Unfortunately, Howard likes to pick up hitchhikers every single day, probably more than once. What I find odd is that every single time, the hitchhiker turns out to be a girl who's running away from home, which would kinda clear up as to why Howard always kills them, although, it's still odd.

One of the most entertaining and all-around best movies Something Weird Video has to offer. Some may think that that's not saying much, but it totally is, that is, if you dig vintage exploitation, if not, then you're definitely wasting your time here. Hitch-Hike To Hell isn't necessarily a frightening horror movie, but rather a quality movie with a good story that happens to be horror, hence the killing, and if you can't get enough grainy, unintentionally funny 70's B-charm, then Hitch-hike To Hell should make you extremely happy. If the antics of Howard the mama's boy seriously doesn't do it for you, then I would recommend checking out the other half of the double-feature, Kidnapped Coed, just to see how inept B-horror can really be, although, I kinda liked that one too, God help me. Unless we're talking about a Herschell Gordon Lewis gore-epic, or something else awesome like The Psychedelic Priest, then I can't think of anything more worthwhile from Something Weird Video than Hitch-Hike To Hell. Check it out. 9/10

Johnson (Professor from GILLIGAN'S ISLAND) plays a cop in this low-budget film. Gribbins stars as a mama's boy laundry driver who picks up Hitchhikers and kill them. The victims are runaways and it triggers him to see them because his sister ran away from home many years ago. Some nudity and violence will be cut for TV, and the film I hear wasn't release till 1970. Gribbin played a opposite role in another drive-in classic TRIP WITH A TEACHER. Johnson actually does a fantastic performance and I am suprised he didn't do more "B" film back then. Not recommended.