La trappe à nanas

In 1979, I was a boy of 12 years old, My parents had just got the home box office which was pretty new to our neighborhood. As a 12 year old boy, this was the first time I saw boobs on television. I will never forget the joy of those times. Racing vans, the total ass-wipe with the baddest van, the water bed, the smoking of herbs, the hot 70's chicks, the 'makin love in my Chevy van song, it was all so new to me. A complete movie with all of the memories you could hope for. I own it and enjoy it about once a year. When I watch this movie, it makes me want to get my skates, with 4 wheels, not in a strait line, go to the park and hunt down some babes with feathered hair. truly great memories of young adolescence!

The cult of personality has elevated the status of Roger Corman, Sam Arkoff, Lloyd Kaufman etc. as kings of the B's. Because the folks at Crown International were so key, they haven't been elevated to the status they richly deserve. A film like THE VAN may now seem like a disposable piece of Drive-in esoteria, but it was a sizable hit when it was released (not to mention subsequent re-releases as a double feature with other Crown hits).

THE VAN was a perfect example of Crown's hit strategy of seizing upon the mood of movie-goers at the time of a film's release. Here, it was sex, drugs, rock 'n roll and the brief "Custom Van" fad. As others have noted, it is ironic that the "hit" song in the film refers to a Chevy when the title vehicle is a Dodge in the film itself. I had a town Selectman where I was at the time even declare these vans to be "dens of sin on wheels!" A perfect ad line for the film!

There are the usual assortment of "good" and "bad" girls, muscle-heads and low-brow hijinks (including a supporting bit by Danny DeVito). In many ways this isn't much different from the old Beach Party movies of the 60's, but now spiced up with Nudity and Drug use. Obviously done on a limited budget and a limited schedule, the film coasts along pleasantly enough with a breezy charm that compensates for some, by today's standards certainly, un-PC views of women.

The classic touch is a Toaster for Bobby's den of sin on wheels. Yes, a Toaster! Hey, you gotta have something hot for those munchies!

Grindhouse Fest.

this film is one of lifes little pleasures...................and it is a must see for fans of the street car flick, its about a teenager who blows his entire college savings on a coustom chevy van as a way to lure girls in for wild sex parties. there are 2 versions of this film the edited version and the original version, unfortunately the edited version is the only one that remains in circulation. the original version included several nudity scenes,and some pot smoking scenes. the re-released version has all those scenes removed. however there is some great 1970's music in this film - and its funny to watch --- I never knew Danny DeVito was ever that Young. this is a fun movie and its a perfect break(getaway)from the period dramas and war movies that I love so well. The most memoriable thing about this film is it's theme song. --- even if you dislike this film, you will still find yourself walking around for several days singing the theme song.

Positively THE definitive film about toaster-equipped van lovin'. A must for anyone who loves insanely bad movies - I saw this movie by accident 8 years ago, and now own 3 copies of it, and have watched it at least a dozen times. Do yourself a favour, and hop on board with Bobby and his pals(?)... and remember, "There ain't a woman around who don't like the sound of a zipper goin' down!"

...this is, above all else, the typical Crown International Pictures drive-in (read "passion pit") programmer. The 1975 Sammy Johns hit record "Chevy Van" is heard repeatedly on the soundtrack (this movie has even been reissued with the title CHEVY VAN), despite the film's title vehicle being a Dodge. Danny DeVito makes only six minutes of on-screen appearance, but countless VHS reissues falsely credit him as the star of the flick. The movie is a comparatively sexist morality tale -- will Bobby find sexual satisfaction through the one-night-stand his customised van facilitates, or must he wait until Tina, the girl of his dreams, gives him the time of day? Still, it is representative of the prevailing carnal dream of male American high schoolers of the time, and on that basis alone THE VAN has, almost in spite of itself, become an artifact of the period that must be referenced in any honest retrospective of the period's popular American cinema...