HITCHHIKE
TO HELL (1977)/KIDNAPPED COED (1978)Directors: Irvin Berwick, Frederick R. Friedel
Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment
HITCHHIKE
TO HELL (1977)/KIDNAPPED COED (1978)As certain as death and taxes are, we can always anticipate a new double feature DVD from Something Weird Video. Rather than the usual nudie cuties or sleazy roughies, the features represented on this package are more or less straight dramas that exceed their exploitive titles and advertising campaigns. Both films were released by Harry Novak's Boxoffice International and were also available many years ago as a double-bill VHS cassette.
The first feature is HITCHHIKE TO HELL, which was released in 1977. Many references list this as being from 1968, but the copyright clearly reads 1977, and calendars in background shots say 1976, the year that it was filmed. Howard (Robert Gribbin) is a nerdy laundry delivery driver with a penchant for picking up hitchhiking teenage girls. The problem is that Howard's sister ran away from home, so thoughts of other girls doing the same sets off a twitch in him, causing him to become psychotic. Any young lady that tells this weirdo that she hates her mother and is running away from home is slapped, raped and strangled with a wire coat hanger from the back of his truck.
When Howard gets home, he has to deal with his mama who pampers him to no end. Howard continuously has no appetite, so he drowns down aspirins with root beer and works on his model airplanes in his bedroom. He has no memory of committing any crimes but gets sudden flashback attacks. Howard also has to deal with his boss (he looks just like Mr. Crutch, the villain from the "Little Rascals" short "Shrimps For A Day") who is fed up with his constant tardiness and threatens to fire him, but dumb Howard leaves enough clues around the scenes of the crimes for the police to finally catch up with him.
The police captain is played by Russell Johnson. Johnson will forever be associated with his "Professor" role on "Gilligan's Island," as well as some 50s sci-fi classics, but he's terrific here. The captain is concerned about the young girls and determined to catch the killer, and Johnson conveys this with great authority. It's too bad this fine character actor wasn't in more films of the drive-in ilk, because they'd be better for it. The acting is very good overall (Gribbin is a creepy Bates-type nut), but the direction is shoddy and unimaginative. Even though it's consistently entertaining, HITCHHIKE TO HELL often looks more like an educational film than an exploitation film, and since it's not overly gratuitous, it might be worthwhile to screen for teenagers to alert them of some of the dangers that lurk out there (seriously!).
Appropriately co-featured here with HITCHHIKE is Frederick R. Friedel's KIDNAPPED CO-ED. The opening begins with the credits reading: "John Canon as... the KIDNAPPED CO-ED." Actually, the KIDNAPPED CO-ED title card is inserted in, as the original title was apparently "The Kidnapper" (it also played as "Kidnapped Lover"). Friedel also directed AXE for Novak's company, and if you've seen that film, you know his films are leisurely paced (even with their brief running times) but character-driven and quite rewarding for what they are. The director shot this (and AXE) in North Carolina, exhibiting some genuine talent on a shoestring budget.
John "Jack" Canon (also the heavy in AXE) stars as Eddie, a hood who kidnaps a teenage girl Sandra (Leslie Rivers) for ransom. He makes demands over the phone to the unseen father (voiced by the director), and then checks himself and his refugee into a fleabag hotel to wait for the cash. Shortly after they settle in the room, two thugs bust in and Sandra thinks they're there to help her. Eddie is tied to a chair at gunpoint and forced to watch them rape the girl. With his anger coming to a boiling point, he frees himself, grabs his gun and shoots them both in the Jimmy. Eddie then flees with Sandra, and the rest of the film centers on the unlikely duo meeting an assortment of strange characters and forming a closer relationship.
Like I said, KIDNAPPED COED is a character-driven film with Canon being especially good in this type of role. At first he seems to be really bad, but when other characters are introduced, they make him seem nice and sympathetic in comparison (his desperate calls to his aging nursing home-bound mother show his human side). Rivers (who looks amazingly like Alanis Morrisette, only with red hair!) is convincing as the teenager who is quiet and mousy at first, but is totally changed by the end of the movie. Look for a younger but easily recognizable Larry Drake (of "L.A. Law" and DARKMAN fame) as a burly, longhaired nursing home attendant. KIDNAPPED COED is basically as good or better than anything similar you'd see pawned off as "art" on the Independent Film Channel, and it even has touches of a David Lynch film at times.
Both HITCHHIKE TO HELL and KIDNAPPED COED are presented full frame (1.33:1). HITCHHIKE doesn't look bad, but the cheap film suffers from excessive grain and some print blemishes. It's cropping also seems tight on all sides, so this is either in the transfer or the film was just shot like that. KIDNAPPED looks much better, with colors being far stronger and less grainy. The source print is also in better condition. The audio on both features is adequate.
Extras include a trailer for HITCHHIKE ("Howard is that nice, friendly delivery boy. He never drinks anything stronger than Root Beer."), and two for KIDNAPPED (one with the "Kidnapped Lover" title). There are three "Archival Short Subjects" all in black and white and all from the (circa) 50s era. "The Dangerous Stranger" is a scare film warning children about talking to strangers. Watch as some little rascals help two motorcycle cops capture a would-be kidnapper. "The Hitchhiker" has a stranded lady stripping down to her bloomers in order to get a ride, and "The Cautious Twins" is animated film, again dealing with the dangers of talking to strange men. "Harry Novak Tours Boxoffice International" is an interesting videotaped tour (from 1992) of the man's office/film vault (check out that home theater!). A Gallery of Harry Novak Exploitation Art (with Soundtrack Greatest Hits) rounds out another fine package from Something Weird and Image. (George R. Reis)