Customer Reviews

Hitch Hike to Hell/Kidnapped Coed

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Something weird has put two really strange films together here. The first is Hitch Hike To Hell in which a deranged man in a dry cleaning delivery van kidnaps women who are hitchhiking and then proceeds to rape and kill them. There is a shocking murder of a child (it isn't seen on screen) that really has an impact. Russell Johnson (Professor on Gilligan's Island) is a policeman assigned to the case. Very odd, but well made film.
The second film is Kidnapped Coed, and this is a film about a kidnapped girl who falls in love with her captor, and he with her. They go on a crime spree together. A great twist ending to this one. The extras are good on this disc, but the highlight is a tour thru Harry Novac's Boxoffice International studios. That is a great 30 minutes. All in all a great disc well worth the money.

One of the best discs yet released by SWV, this little beauty sports two awesome features and a slew of even better extras. "Hitchhike to Hell" is undoubtedly the weaker of the two features, but is nonetheless a laugh riot. The lead actor veers from one extreme to another with such scenery-chewing abandon as to be a marvel unto himself. Half the time he's acting like Lenny from an "Of Mice and Men" production staged by a particularly talentless community theater. The other half of the running time finds him screaming and going as psycho as Norman Bates would have had "Psycho" really sucked. "Kidnapped Coed" is a much better film. The acting (particularly from Friedle regular Jack Cannon) is solid. The story manages to be fairly compelling in its own pulpy way and some of the scenes are actually quite remarkable. Though pacey and far from perfect, it is a solid piece of work from an underappreciated director. As for the extras, I must crown the animated short "The Cautious Twins" as King of School Scare Cinema. This rhyme-narrated little ditty follows the titular twins as they play in the park, attend a movie and walk the streets in what has to qualify as the most depraved town in America. These poor kids can't go two feet without confronting yet another touch-feely stranger offering candy or a free ride. Hilarious!

Here is my take on the two films on this DVD:

HITCH HIKE TO HELL - The movie "Hitchhike To Hell" centers around a deranged laundry deliveryman named Howard. He uses his company van to pick up hitchhikers and kill them. The reason Howard does this is because six years ago his little sister ran away from home and never returned. It completely devastated their mother and Howard is determined to punish young people who want to run away from their mommies.

Not surprisingly, every single facet of this movie is atrocious. From the acting to the direction, from the cinematography to the worthless plot...this is one awful flick. Not a shred of humor is to be found in this macabre tale. It is simply a monotonous pattern of showing Howard picking up hitchhikers and killing them. Terrible!

KIDNAPPED COED - You would never guess that "The Kidnapped Coed" clocks in at a mere 76 minutes. At times, it seemed like an eternity.

I would like to state that I am definitely not someone who needs violent action or gratuitous nudity every few minutes in a movie. However, I do enjoy some dialogue every once in a while. The dramatic pauses in "Kidnapped Coed" are long enough that you could take a solid nap during one. It gets awfully boring sitting around for a full two minutes looking at the main characters and waiting for one of them to actually say something. With tighter editing, this film could have been cut down to about half an hour and none of the plot would have been lost.

"Kidnapped Coed" is about the following: Man kidnaps young woman. He holds her for ransom. Woman falls in love with kidnapper. They spend a lot of time doing absolutely nothing.

The only positive thing I can really say about this little flick is that it has surprisingly good cinematography. A couple of the shots were very nicely set up. Too bad the rest of the film lacked that quality.

DVD EXTRAS: As usual, Something Weird has a knack for including shorts that are more interesting than the movies. This one is no different. An arcade short, a cartoon short and an educational short are all included for your viewing pleasure.