michael2-281-483645 Actually a pretty good movie and the acting is not all that bad. With the exception of overacting from Jeanne Crain, Mimsy Farmer and Laurie Mock, the others do a good job. Several classic character actors here. Quite suspenseful. As soon as you think of a movie as a movie, and don't get lost in it, you take all the fun out of it anyhow. Not bad for a 21 day shoot. Fun movie to have on hand when in the mood for it. Anyone know the filming location of the picnic scenes? I remember seeing this when it was first on TV. Peter Oliphant played Freddie Helper on Dick Van Dyke Show

Scott LeBrun Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain play Tom and Peg Phillips, an ultra straight (some might say square) couple with a teen aged daughter, Tina (Laurie Mock), and young son Jamie (Jeffrey Byron). After Tom gets into a road accident, he develops a bad back, and his brother Bill (Harry Hickox) arranges for Tom a change of pace: running a motel in small town California. Unfortunately, when the family gets to the desert, they run afoul of the local hot rodders / troublemakers.Just as much of a generation gap drama as it is an action movie,"Hot Rods to Hell" is enjoyable exploitation fare. The protagonists are a little much at times, but Gene Kirkwood and Paul Bertoya are malevolently entertaining as the obnoxious road hogging punks. The movie marks an interesting effort for Director John Brahm, who'd done well crafting Victorian era melodramas in the 1940s and 1950s; it was his final feature film. The action sequences ARE well done, and the cars are of course very cool. The rock score is most groovy, as performed by Mickey Rooney's son and his combo.The performances are all watchable. It's easy to believe the frustration of Andrews' character. Mimsy Farmer is likewise convincing as Gloria, the trampy, sexy blonde associate of Kirkwood and Bertoya. George Ives has the interesting role of Lank Dailey, the motel owner who has no problem taking money from his teenage customers but distrusts them just as much as any other adult.In general, the movie seems to be making a statement about the poor driving habits of Americans: it isn't just the young punks who drive recklessly, but the previous generation as well.It would be hard to knock any movie in which a highway patrolman is made to utter the immortal line: "These kids have nowhere to go,but they want to get there at 150 miles per hour."Seven out of 10.

JLRMovieReviews Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain, who had been in "State Fair" and "Madison Avenue" together, reunite for this story about a family being terrorized by young punks who have nothing better to do but race down the desolate highway somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Arizona, I think, and run people off the road.To be more specific, the father can't defend himself or his family due to his bad back and recovering from a previous car accident, where it was all just awful, "the rain, the bright headlights, the Jingle bells (on the radio), everything." In fact, what sounds like an awful film that should be forgotten makes for some good campy fun, due mainly to some hilarious dialogue spoken mainly by Dana, like: "I had to do something. I couldn't just sit here like a stick." It's funnier with Dana saying it. In fact his whole on-edge performance is practically the whole show.I'm sorry to read here that Mr. Andrews was an alcoholic, but I've told family members about this film and said I've never seen anyone who could act so unhinged as Dana in this film, and also in "Zero Hour!". Another ingredient, alluded to in message boards, is Dana's speech and/or way of speaking words like "animals" and "police." So, it may be because of Dana's condition, or is it just his little acting tricks, that make for entertainment in this 60s camp classic. At least that's what it's called on a camp classic DVD set, which includes "Zero Hour."Lastly, I will add that the actress who plays the daughter is quite good and we see her as more three-dimensional than any other character in the movie, And for that matter, the dialogue between the siblings and the way they treat each other make us feel they really are brother and sister.So, if you want a hoot from the 1960s, get out the popcorn and pull into your own "drive-in" theater for some real hot rods and Dana unnerved.

emuir-1 As a rule I enjoy an old "B" picture, but this one is so bad that I kept watching to see if it got any worse. It is in no way a "So bad it's great" movie unless you had really gone to the drive in for some horizontal boogie. What on earth were two 40's stars doing is this showcase of really bad acting? I can only assume that someone was out to cash in on juvenile delinquent movies but was 10 years too late. Had it been made in the 1950's it would have fitted the period, but 1967!!The squeaky clean JD's looked like Saturday morning missionaries from the Latter Day Saints or Jehovah's Witnesses, the kind who operate in twos as you are trying to catch up with the yard work and won't believe that you are a Muslim/Buddist/Jew/Roman Catholic or atheist (whatever comes to mind). The wife and children were reduced to looking scared and grabbing each other with frightened looks. Father stuck out his jaw and tried to defend them, although I wondered why he bothered. These films usually have a plucky child who comes to the rescue. This family was just wimpy. Jeanne Crain's overacting was simply excruciating to watch and should be shown in acting schools as an example of what not to do. Unless you have time to spare and just want a good laugh, this film belongs on a Mystery Science Theater type show. Throw the popcorn and blow rasberries.