Woodyanders Review of Hitch Hike to Hell

Hitch Hike to Hell (1977)

Beware the deadly dweeb in the delivery van!

[8/10 · 26 March 2006]

I absolutely love this delectably cheap'n'cheesy late 60's exploitation trash psycho howler. Hopelessly geeky bespectacled dweeb Howard (a hilariously histrionic performance by Robert Gribbin, who overemotes to the point where you swear he's going to give himself a nosebleed) drives a delivery van for the local laundromat service. Howard has gone murderously around the bend ever since his beloved sister ran away from home six years ago. While making his daily rounds Howard picks up stray runaway teenage lady hitch-hikers and brutally butchers them. Among Howard's victims are a token gay guy, a little girl whose bloodied corpse Howard leaves in a dumpster, and one luckless lass Howard strangles in the back of his van with a wire coat hanger (I'm sure Joan Crawford would have approved of this last one). Earnest, but ineffectual police captain Shaw (well essayed by Russell Johnson; the Professor on "Gilligan's Island"!) tries to catch Howard, but thanks to indifferent and negligent parents finds this to be a most difficult task to accomplish (nice pointed social commentary here). Not released for ten years until it was picked up by legendary soft-core flick king Harry Novak's Box Office International Pictures for theatrical distribution in the 70's, sporting suitably shoddy production values, largely atrocious acting (the scenes where Howard either experiences painful seizures or erupts into a wildly raving psychotic frenzy while killing folks are especially sidesplitting), and a gloriously ghastly country-and-western theme song ("Danger on the road/Danger on the road/There's no way you can tell/When you hitch-hike to hell/Danger on the road tonight"), this grubby grindhouse gem is well worth picking up if you're a fan of deliciously down'n'dirty drive-in dreck.