Stranded during a bus tour of the remote California countryside, a feisty teacher and her small group of sexy teenage students become the terrified targets of two nasty bikers who are intent on rape and murder.
Whilst Trip With the Teacher might not be the all-out sleaze-fest that the above short synopsis suggests, there is still enough gratuitous nudity (from most of the girls), well handled action, and nasty violence to ensure that fans of low-to-no-budget 70s exploitation flicks should not be too disappointed.
Director Earl Barton certainly keeps things moving along at a brisk pace with his no-nonsense direction, and the cast all put in solid performances for this kind of fare, with Zalman King (future producer of soft-core porn) being particularly memorable as the more unhinged of the two bad-guys. His portrayal of deadly nut-job Al brings to mind David Hess's Krug from The Last House on the Left: a cold, heartless killer whose capacity for cruelty knows no bounds. As the film progresses he goes from merely menacing (in his bug-eye wraparound shades), to total psychotic lunaticcomplete with facial ticks, incoherent rambling, and uncontrollable outbursts of violence.
Pete (Robert Porter), Al's brother, isn't quite such a reprehensible fellow, but he just can't say no to his degenerate sibling. So when Al starts to rape and kill, good ol' Pete joins in, rather than upset his li'l bro'.
Fortunately for the trapped teenagers and their teacher, a third biker, Jay (who joined the brothers on the road after helping them fix a tyre), turns out to be a nice guy, and risks his life to save them from their plight.
As I write, Trip With The Teacher has an IMDb rating of 1.4, which is a downright tragedy. The film might be nasty, cheap and sometimes plain silly (the reappearance of a character who is presumed dead is particularly daft), but it's always entertaining. Don't watch this film expecting slick visuals and Oscar winning acting; enjoy it for what it isa raw piece of 'drive-in' style 'trash'.
6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
