Hitch Hike to Hell

source: Hitch Hike to Hell

Somewhat inspired by the "Co-ed Killer" Edmund Kemper - who shows up on Netflix's Mindhunter and now reads books on tape - Hitchhike to Hell is all about Howard (Robert Gribbon, Trip with the Teacher), a mild-mannered momma's boy whose delivery job gives him plenty of time to pick up runaways and punish them for their transgressions. Can the cops stop him before he kills again? Irv Berwick also directed Malibu High and The Monster of Piedras Blancas, so you know he's coming from a place of pure sleaze. This movie comes from the vaults of the legendary - or infamous - Harry Novak and is one of the last movies that his Boxoffice International Pictures released. You may know them from other films like Axe (AKA Lisa Lisa or California Axe Massacre), The Child, Rattlers, Wham! Bam! Thank You, Spaceman!, The Sinful Dwarf, Dr. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks, Toys Are Not for Children and so many more fine efforts. At one point, Captain J.W. Shaw (Russell Johnson, the Professor from Gilligan's Island and Dr. Steve Carlson from This Island Earth) mentions several real serial killers, like the Zodiac Killer, the Skid Row Slasher and "that nut down in Houston," which refers to Dean Corll, who abducted, assaulted, tortured, and murdered at least 28 teenage boys and young men between 1970 and 1973 in Houston, Texas. Why is Howard so nutty? Is it because of his way too close relationship with his mama? Or because his older sister ran away from home as a teenager and was never heard of again? Did his sister really have it coming, like his mother mutters to herself? Your guess is as good as mine, because this movie never reveals the answers. It does, however, have teenage runaways killed with coathangers, so there's that. Basically, don't hitchhike. You kids don't have to worry about that. You've got Uber now.

Hitch Hike to Hell (1977) Synopsis: Howie is a hard working, timid young man who is having troubles at work and home. His blackouts are straining his work relationships and his lack of appetite is worrying his mother. Elsewhere in town a killer is murdering runaways and the police are helpless to end the crime spree. Thoughts: "Hitch Hike" could have been much better. It was too timid for the grindhouse seventies much like the lead character. I was hoping for much more nastiness but sadly all we are given is a simple script and below average acting. However it will play better with enthusiastic, drunk fans of 70's oeuvre. (Stars: Robert Gribbin, Russell Johnson,John Harmon, Randy Echols, Dorothy Bennett) (Dir...Irvin Berwick) (DVD) (Film Rating: 2/5) (Fun Rating: 3/5)

Howard is a mother's boy who still lives at home, has a hobby of making model vehicles and works as a delivery driver for a laundry company. He picks up hitchhikers in his large red van, most of whom are runaways and as soon as they bad mouth their mothers they end up getting raped and murdered! Appeasr to be a lot of them in this small town. I found myself laughing several times throughout but I am not sure if this movie was meant to be intentionally humorous or if it was a case of being so bad that it's funny. Very cheap with some incredibly wooden acting. In the UK this was released on the Hard Gore label yet the only blood that I spotted was a trickle coming out of one of Howard's victims. A bit of topless nudity, the tops of some of Howard's victims appear to open rather easily revealing bra-less bosoms. If you're in the mood for a bad movie then this is OK. But on a serious note is does provide an important lesson - beware of mother's boys if you find yourself hitchhiking!

Sleazoid supremo Irwin Berwick's far from middle-of-the-road, full-throttle freakshow 'Hitch-Hike To Hell' is a terrifically twisted, tarmac-trashing, neck-snappingly rapid terror trip into the deliriously distempered, murderously malefic mind of uncommonly deranged, Bikini-babe battering, mommy-lovin', monotonously milk-drinkin', severely skeevey serial killer Howard Martin (Robert Gribbin). These unsuspecting, hellaciously hot hitch-hiking hotties take a wickedly warped wrong turn when they unknowingly accept a fiendishly fatal one-way ride to hell in this bespectacled, disarmingly bland-looking, apron string tugging creep's curb crawlingly creepy crimson van of diabolically delivered death! 'Hitch-Hike to Hell' resolutely remains a gruesomely girl-grabbing, curb-goring grindhouse classic, lovingly rescued from grainy DVD obscurity is now finally given a perfectly pristine HD upgrade, wholly deserving its new luxuriously lurid lease of crimson-spattered celluloid life on Arrow Video's immaculately presented Blu-ray edition! This recklessly wrong-headed road to hell is paved with grisly-good intentions!

considering the title(s) and the releasing company-this is a very sincere and definitely non-exploitative film. the quality of the acting is quite good for its low budget roots, and the points it tries to get across are above those roots. it is a very sad movie, no great revelations occur and there is no gladness at the end when the killer is put in the institution. and the theme song is one of my favorites. this is worth your while to see for what can be done with local talent and a low budget.

When watching a movie like HITCH HIKE TO HELL you have to keep in mind several things. The first is that a movie like his is not art, it's not a hugely successful Hollywood film and it's not the greatest thing since sliced bread. Instead it is a piece of history, a lost or potentially lost film that highlights a segment of the film industry that is only now being remembered and noticed, the grindhouse. The movie has the lowest of budget apparently and it shows in the quality of the end result. Lights to bright, film to cheap and acting that borders on high school level in some cases, the movie is not something one would now pay $8-10 to see. And yet you will find those willing to pay the costs of this disc to add it to their collections. And for fans of the genre it is well worth it. The story is simple and doesn't take long to tell in the scant 87 minutes the film last. Mild mannered Howard (Robert Gribbin) drives the delivery truck for a dry cleaner. He's a nice sort who sees girls hitch hiking and kindly offers them a ride. As they converse he finds out that they don't love their home life or their mothers so he drives to a secluded area and then rapes and kills them. We later discover that all of this was brought on by his sister leaving Howard and his mother behind, something that his mom found devastating. Now she dotes on her boy, spending her every waking moment with him when not at work. The problems for Howard begin when his boss gets upset with him. It seems during these moments of violence Howard blacks out and forgets to finish his route. His boss tells him to get his act together or he could lose his job. The local police are at a dead end when it comes to suspects. They have no clues and can only wait until the next body turns up for more. In the meantime more and more hitch hiking girls are found dead and no one knows how to stop this serial killer. The movie claims that the girls are raped and murdered but you'd never know it from watching. All we see is Howard killing and then blacking out. I'm guessing that they felt it would add a more lurid touch to say it took place. And there is no reason for Howard to rape given he's trying to punish the girls for leaving. But that's a small matter for others to discuss. The film will more likely than not be remembered as the last film directed by Irvin Berwick. His biggest claim to fame was the film THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCA, an effective horror film that began his career. It was short lived though with only 8 films directed by him. But he's developed a bit of a cult following over the years and this film will be one that fans have longed for. Of note is the fact that the head of the police in the film is played by Russell Johnson of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND fame. Apparently that role didn't do much for his career if he ended up in films like this one. But it is nice to see him once again. Arrow Video has done a nice job with their release of this film beginning with a 4k restoration using original film elements. Extras are limited but one would expect that with a film like this. Still what Arrow offers is pretty nice. They include a newly filmed appreciation of the film by author Stephen Thrower, ROAD TO NOWHERE: HITCHHIKING CULTURE GOES TO HELL a brand new video essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas exploring the dark side of hitch-hiking in the real world and on screen, the original theatrical trailer, the original press book on BD-ROM, a reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil and for the first pressing only a collector's booklet with new writing on the film by Heather Drain.

*May Contain Spoilers* Nerdy Howard lives with his mother, drinks A&W Root Beer (blatant product placement here!), assembles model autos, drives a laundry van for a living--and rapes and kills hitch-hiking runaways he picks up along his route. Seems his sister was a runaway who broke Mommy's heart when she took off, which has turned Howard into a maniac. (Come to think of it, using model glue in a closed room probably didn't do his brain any good, either.) Howard slaps his victims around (with his hands visibly some distance from his victims' faces) and strangles them; the chokings, as in most movies, take about twenty seconds. The slayings are shown but the rapes aren't, making for an uncomfortable suggestion of necrophilia. Most of his victims are female but another of them is the sort of swishy, light-in-the-loafers man you won't see in movies today. Russell Johnson, dear to GILLIGAN'S ISLAND'S two dozen fans, appears as a police captain who tries to steer hitch-hikers out of harm's way and makes reference to The Zodiac Killer. The ending is another imitation of PSYCHO. Nancy Adams sings the not-too-bad theme song and the background score also turned up in Cronenberg's RABID. The director's son Wayne served as sound man and "harmonicist" on the theme. The film overall is no masterpiece but it's above average for a Harry Novak release and was made more professionally than I'd been led to expect. Now available on DVD along with KIDNAPPED (sic) CO-ED and a number of incredible short features, including a grand tour of Novak's headquarters.

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

Well, no doubt about it that the fans of '70's exploitation will still really enjoy this movie. I know I did but I of course still can't call this a very good movie really. Everyhing about this movie is making it obvious that it had a very low budget. It's one of those movies that seemed to be shoot with only one camera, who every now and then switched positions to capture the other character's responses. The movie also being filled with some needlessly overlong sequences which just drag on. It also has some simple editing, simple directing and some simple acting. It's fair to say that this movie is not really very surprising in any way. Of course besides the movie has a pretty simple story in it, that relies purely on it's principal concept. It's a movie about a killer who picks up hitchhiking runaways and then goes completely berserk once he discovers that they had run away from home and do not love their mother. This is something that happened as well to the movie it's poor main characters. His sister had run away from home and his poor old mother, which he loves very much, has never got over this. As a sort of revenge for his mother this man kills these runaways. The concept itself isn't too bad really and I guess this is the only reason why the movie still works out within its genre. The movie is being pretty silly and lame at times, which also gets really due to its dialog and the actors performing. Most actors had very little experience before appearing in this movie and most actors had not appeared in very much ever since. Really for the genre fans only. 4/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/