Hitch-Hike

A road rager full sick people and guilty pleasures. Nero is a twisted newspaper writer with a nasty streak against his lovely and all too forgiving wife played by Clery. On a return from holiday they pick up a stranded motorist (David Hess), who unknown to them was just involved in a $2 million dollar heist. What follows is a weell-paced often violent road flick that manages to entertain and promote a little thoght. You almost need a score card to follow all the backstabbing and two-timing going on. The plot zig-zags like a road to hell and nobody taking the trip is who they seem. 7/10

Not a bad little exploitation yarn. We have Hess from 'Last House' to spice it up, he always plays a great psycho. He almost verbatim repeats his character from "House on the Edge of the Park" but that's okay. We're not sick of it yet! In this new age of torture porn and despicably uncool modern horror, it's refreshing to see where these things came from. Here you go.

"Hitch-Hike" is a rip off of Mario Bava's classic road-horror, "Kidnapped," with a dash of "Last House on the Left" and sprinkle of "Race With The Devil" thrown in for good measure. While it is less entertaining and way less convincing than "Kidnapped," it still works as a fun little romp for those who are not schooled in Italian horror and exploitation. Seems that more folks are discovering Blue Underground nowadays and you vets will recognize that in reading the reviews on here. For those of us who've done the research, this obscure, newly released film does deliver on many levels but nothing we haven't seen before. Watch Franco Nero who rocks the house in what has to be the most despicable man ever portrayed in a film. No redeeming qualities to be found there. I thought he pulled it off wonderfully.

There are many, many Italian exploitation/sleaze/horror films that you should have seen before this one if "Hitch-Hike" shocks you at all.

Oh yea- the soundtrack is awesome.

7 out of 10, kids.

I agree with the other reviewers who lament David Hess's minor film career--his three key roles (Last House, House on the Edge, and Hitch Hike) showed amazing sleaze potential (he could've been the wisecracking villain in summer action movies if his time had come 20 years later). "Hitch Hike" can be called a precursor to the action films that litter multiplexes now, but it is also much more. It's an uncommon little B movie with the gloss and name actors (Franco Nero, Corrine Clery) of an A picture, along with a surprising moral slant, gay stickup men, and twists galore. Like most Italian exploitation films, "Hitch Hike" sometimes bogs down in a bit too much excess talk, but it helps flesh out the characters--they're not mere victims or heroes, but people, too. And for fans of Hess, this is a no-brainer. (A word of advice--seek out the Anchor Bay DVD, which is remastered and preserves the film's 1.85:1 aspect ratio.)

7/10

"Hitch Hike" is one of the best road movies I have ever seen. The legendary David Hess pulls off another great performance as the brutal hitch-hiker whilst the loving couple Franco "Django" Nero and Corinne Clery as Walter and Eve make for compulsive viewing.

Involving and always engaging. Some great twists, wonderfully nasty minor individuals complete with decent characterisation make this essential for any video collection.

8/10

No, they don't do movies like this anymore. A tough one about self-hatred, mayhem and self- destruction: Franco Nero as a down-&-out reporter, Corinne Clery as his sexy, completely hollow spouse, plus David Hess doing his usual good- humored-and-mean-as-hell thing. "Autostop Rosso Sangue" is sleazy, sexist, ultra-violent, but not without some unforgettable moments: The naked Clery in front of a trailer holding a huge rifle in the middle of the night is like a hastily written, edgy but brilliant poem found in a tattered paperback left in a cheap motel. For a few short hours in his life, Pasquale Festa Campanile, creator of some of the worst Euro comedies ever, turned into a poète maudit of the most cynical kind. This is the kind of grindhouse cinema nobody can embrace with seventies nostalgia: mature, brutal, knowing, never "cool", always cold, gripping and utterly nihilistic. Anything else you would ask for?