Hitchhike to Hell

Howie seems on the surface to be just a likable, clean-cut, hospitable, polite, seemingly amiable, All-American boy, a young man who drives a delivery van for a dry-cleaning business. He has this trigger that snaps him into a total psycho when he picks up hitchhiking girls who dislike their mama and have left home for “wherever”. Howie loves his mama, but what truly pokes his bear is the reminder of his sister, Judy’s leaving home and never returning. Never returning has always tormented his mama so Howie gets really mad at those ungrateful girls who talk candidly rotten about theirs. When you see him batting those eyes and getting bothered, a killing is on the horizon. Calling these wicked girls Judy while pouncing upon them, slapping them a bit before strangling them (even using a wire hanger once), dumping their carcasses (or just leaving them limp) on the ground at whatever dust stop he decides.

Well, Howard/Howie just can’t seem to stomach mama’s cooking like normal, not even in the mood for her vanilla pudding (he can’t resist a root beer, though.), and his work is shoddy as of late because of either missing or late deliveries (when he murders girls, it seems his memory of them is lost on him; it is as if he blacks out into the psycho then re-merges as his normal self). Mama’s little boy hasn’t been himself lately, and she sees he’s acting off, flashes of his crimes are there, brought to his attention when his murders are in the paper or on the news. This is the classic case of a mother that still hasn’t realized her son is like 25/30, still treating him as an eight year old. He has never fully grown up emotionally/mentally which proves awkward around adults, particularly girls.

Less than hidden under a veil is the message regarding an awareness for teenage runaways hitchhiking in the USA in this film. Crescent City Police are investigating the streets, keeping an eye out for the killer, watching area girl hitchhikers, trying to save lives when they can. Believe it or not, Hitchhike to Hell does express concern about the decline in the family unit, such as one instance where a 16 year old girl he's picked up for her own safety, but when Capt Shaw calls her parents they aren’t the least bit concerned, not even willing to send bus fare despite the knowledge that she only has like $4 bucks, with no desire for her to return. Even though Shaw tells them about the “mental case” raping and killing runaways, he still receives the cold shoulder from them. 

 You know something: Gilligan’s Island’s Russell Johnson doesn’t sleepwalk through the role of Capt Shaw. His character is really struggling with what’s going on domestically in families and in his city, the loss of morality that is plaguing society. The lack of concern, how teenagers are on their own without much worry from (and ignored by..) the parents who seem disconnected and can’t be bothered. I like how Johnson wears the burden of his job on his face and how he sits in his chair. This bit of acting, even in a movie that will be seen clearly as exploitative trash with a country-tinged soundtrack, shot on cheap film, made for like ten bucks it seems, leaves me impressed because you can see the actor cares about his role. I think some will be surprised that he’s in this; I imagine many will feel sorry for Johnson for being reduced to 70s no-budget serial-killer exploitation. I guess as an actor he approaches the character with a seriousness that maybe the film doesn’t deserve. In that case, the film benefits.

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When Howie murders a gay man and a child (carrying one of those old school big blue suit cases; I haven't seen one of these since I was a kid, finding one buried away in my grandmother's junk room), we know that he's not particular in who he chooses as much as the wrong words that come out of their mouths, their motives for running away from home. This movie also shows the emotional strain/toll that this killer has on the police, preferably Shaw and his main detective, and discovering the child, her mother in tow, is perhaps the most grueling of the film. I think this scene brings the film into utter darkness; the material was already there, but a child's rape/murder, and how she's just disposed in a dumpster like trash really left me rather chilled to the bone.

I can't say there's any sense of fun in this movie; it is part and parcel with the dark territories of the roughie. The film closes with the killer--his eye glasses were found at the dumping spot of the 16 year old Shaw tried to send away--in a strait-jacket, calling out for mother, his face in a state of mortal shock.

This surprised me with its potency, although there's a repetitiveness that kind of leaves a grinding irritation. He befriends or stops off for a hitcher, they get in his cab, he chats them up, discovers their parent problems, their mission to get away and never return, and (most) cut away (the first two murders are the ones we see) with Howard returning to his place of employment, his disgruntled boss wondering where he's been and why a delivery wasn't made. Mommy's concern for him and Howie's aloofness. He tries to work on his model cars, drink his root beer, and get some relief, but the murders are slipping into his conscience, and we watch as this affects him physically. 

I watched this as a companion in a Something Weird Video packaged with Kidnapped Co-ed, another weirdie that has plenty of out-there and dark moments. The 70s produced a ton of dark zero-budget sick-in-the-head exploitative serial killer flicks featuring seemingly normal guys with a few screws loose. Hitchhike to Hell was no different.

The SWV dvd featuring the movie.