Hitchhike to Hell [Blu-ray]

Director: Irvin Berwick Irvin Berwick

Overview

Howard (Robert Gribbin) is a nice, clean-cut young man who has a job driving a laundry van. In addition to picking up other people's dirty laundry, he also picks up hitchhikers, whom he proceeds to rape and strangle. After the bodies begin piling up, a cop (Russell Johnson) starts to investigate.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/19/2019
UPC:	0760137307389
Original Release:	1978
Rating:	R
Source:	Arrow Video
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:28:00
Sales rank:	27,455

Special Features

Brand new 2k restoration from original film elements 1.33:1 and 1.78:1 versions of the feature; High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation; Original uncompressed mono audio; Optional English Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; Of Monsters and Morality: The Strange Cinema of Irvin Berwick - Nightmare USA author Stephen Thrower on Hitch Hike to Hell and the career of Director Irvin Berwick; Road to Nowhere exploring the dark side of hitch-hiking in the real world and on the screen ; Nancy Adams on the road - singer Nancy Adams on her prolific musical career, from providing the lead song for Walt Disney's animated Robin Hood to working on Hitch Hike to Hell!; "Lovin' on My Mind" - the original version of Nancy Adams' song before she re-recorded it with alternate lyrics for Hitch Hike to Hell; "Lovin' on My Mind" alternate opening titles - watch the opening titles of Hitch Hike to Hel accompanied by the original song for a truly bizarre experience! ; Original theatrical trailer; Orignal press book (BD-ROM Content); Reversible sleeve featuring orignal and newly commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robert Gribbin	Howard Martin
Russell Johnson	Captain J.W. Shaw
John Harmon	Mr. Baldwin
Randy Echols	Lt. Davis
Dorothy Bennett	Mrs. Martin
Mary Ellen Christie	Mrs. Burke
Kippi Bell	Evelyn Davis
Sheryl Lynn	Lisa
John Grant	Mr. Burke
Jacqueline Poseley	Sharon
Beth Reis	Pam
Jane Ratliff	Gail
Don Lewis	Gay Boy
Gail Bowman	Lydia Welles
Vincent Lucchesi	Mr. Lathrop

Technical Credits

John Buckley

Irvin Berwick	Director,Producer
John Buckley	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Sensitive viewers may find the blunt nastiness of Hitchhike to Hell too much to take, while the hardy few with extreme tastes will consider it a sick, tacky masterpiece. Making up for clumsy execution with nihilistic bombast, director Irvin Berwick drags his cast through a grimy, repetitious film that doesn't change the serial killer formula much, but certainly pushes the pitch into the red. The film is detailed in its violence and doesn't lack for topless victims, and though the rape scenes are implied, they're unmistakable and brutal. Aside from the teenage hitchers, who are nubile, sexually willing, and ignorant, nearly every other character looks tired, insane, or spiritually beaten. In a brief subplot, one policeman is so affected by the violence of the world that he reacts with dismay when his wife announces her pregnancy. Robert Gribbin's turn as the nebbishy psycho is intense, but also overblown enough to satisfy as comic. In his role as a dedicated cop, Russell Johnson (who everyone will recognize as the Professor from Gilligan's Island) has little to do other than give impassioned speeches on bad parenting and wring his hands over the latest dead teenager. Hitchhike to Hell concludes with a nicely anti-climactic finale, providing the first possible hint of realism in an otherwise tawdry and exploitative feature, though the lack of an exciting shootout or car chase at the end is probably due more to budget constraint than a desire for accuracy. Thanks to the generally bad performances, a primitive synthesizer score, mechanical plot structure, and unflinching cruelty, Hitchhike to Hell should be greasy entertainment for junk film fans with strong stomachs.