Tuchergson Truly the worst movie I've ever seen in a theater

ThiefHott Too much of everything

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Uriah43 After being injured in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, "Tom Phillips" (Dana Andrews) is laid up in a hospital and faces a lengthy rehabilitation that results in his inability to perform his job successfully. Faced with these life-changing events he reluctantly accepts his brother's advice and buys a hotel in the middle of the California desert which he can manage in spite of his painful condition. Unfortunately, upon driving there he and his family encounter several rude and belligerent young men drag racing on the highway who recklessly endanger everyone they come across. And they take umbrage upon anyone who dares to voice displeasure or prevent them from doing whatever they want. So much so that two specific young men by the names of "Duke" (Paul Bertoya) and "Ernie" (Gene Kirkwood) demonstrate that they will stop at nothing to silence Tom from going to the police. Now rather than reveal any more and risk spoiling this film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this particular "Hot Rod movie" was more intense than the usual pictures of this sort produced a decade or so earlier. Whereas the earlier Hot Rod films typically revolved around teenagers simply having fun the specific antagonists in this movie were much more arrogant and ruthless. And this worked in the film's favor in my opinion. In any case, although it was clearly a grade-B production, I still found it to be entertaining and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Scott_Mercer I believe I will go along with the conventional wisdom shared by many of the other reviewers here. The actors here were saddled with plenty of bad assumptions and corny techniques employed by the screenwriter, the director, and the producer, Sam Katzman the king of cinema Cheese. They do the best they can, but ultimately they are doomed, unwilling participants trapped in a corny melodrama with the form of a 1950's juvenile delinquent movie.The release date on this film says 1966, but the whole ethos feels more like 1956, or maybe even 1946. Just change Dana Andrews from injured businessman to injured World War II veteran, and there you go. I'm not even sure when this screenplay was actually written. Maybe it was sitting on somebody's shelf for 10 or 20 years.The most annoying gaffe to my mind is the appearance and affect of the so-called "delinquents" who "terrorize" uber-square Dana Andrews and his family, a bunch of non-realistic cardboard cutouts straight out of a 1950's television sitcom like "Leave it To Beaver" or "Father Knows Best." These well-scrubbed Hollywood actors, with clean well-pressed chinos and button-down shirts, and shiny straight white teeth, are supposed to be threatening? Give me a break! These kids are about as threatening as a Nerf ball. Hard to believe that the very same year, Roger Corman released "The Wild Angels," showing off a REAL group of reprobates who terrorize the innocent straights on the road. Now those bikers, THOSE were a bunch of creepy, unshaven low lifes. These kids are just a little bored. And who wouldn't be, stuck in some crappy desert town in the middle of Nowheresville, California.To say the acting is overwrought is like saying BP made a little oopsie in the Gulf of Mexico. And then, the doofus elderly cop comes into the movie a few times for a little Joe Friday style moralizing. I'm with the idiot in the hat, who later killed himself after crashing his car: that cop was an asshat."Thank you, Daddy, for not telling that cop about...what happened." Huh? What DID happen? Nothing! You made out with one of the hot rod dudes, and did a little snogging against the side of the Corvette? Holy cats, did I miss something? That was enough to drive you folks out of town? This movie is really terrible for a major studio release. An overdone melodrama with a little hot rodding thrown in, and some bad discotheque blues-rock by Mickey Rooney Jr.! (No Gary Lewis he, his "combo" certainly never tore up the charts, but I did enjoy his lyric, something like "Baby don't mess up my hair!") In the end, I can only recommend this movie for the snogalicious charms of Miss Mimsy Farmer. Rowrrr. Such an adorable kitten, overbite and all. Love those giant hair-dos that were all the rage in that era (the era of my birth!) And as many others have commented, Jeanne Crain was also holding it together pretty dang well at age 42, rocking a tasteful blouse and tight skirt. But, overall, these reasons to watch the movie are few and far between, so, I would recommend this film only to the most masochistic of drive-in movie buffs. Fair warning.

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.

Lechuguilla Most of the problems with this dank little road movie can be attributed to its script. Other problems relate to costumes, acting, and music.The story rationale is stupid. No sane person would buy a business a thousand miles away, sight unseen. Yet, the entire story is built around this premise. The Phillips family, an ensemble of characters that remind me of Ward, June, Wally, and the Beaver, get in their corny Plymouth Belvedere, complete with corny luggage rack on top. They then proceed to race along a deserted desert highway at 55 mph en route to the motel they've purchased, presumably by phone.Along the way, photogenic teenagers who like to kick up dust harass them. At one oasis, a cop with a scowling, bulldog face gets out of his old fashioned, and totally enclosed, patrol car ... wearing a motorcycle helmet. This cop reappears from time to time, but always with the helmet on, apparently glued to his head.The script's stupid premise and corny plot are made worse by dialogue that is overwritten and lacks subtext. We don't need dialogue, like "They're going to box me in"; yes, we can see that on screen. Characters blurt out exactly what they think. There's no subtlety in communication. This on-the-nose dialogue is rendered even worse by laughably overwrought acting.The story's theme, likewise, is unsubtle. The writer beats us over the head with a message of morality that is insulting. No wonder viewers laugh. They're laughing at the corny visuals, the melodramatic acting, but also at a script written for an audience of chimpanzees.During the mid-1960s a glut of juvenile delinquent movies came out, including "The Wild Angels" (1966), "Hells Angels On Wheels" (1967), and "The Born Losers" (1967). It's possible that in the case of "Hot Rods To Hell", some producer, sensing a cash cow, had a script hastily written. At least, that's my impression.The film's music is horrible. It's basically nothing but a compilation of repetitive, non-harmonic beats that was so "in" in the 1960s. The photography is the least unpleasant element. Use of rear-screen projection is obvious. Otherwise, camera work and lighting are competent."Hot Rods To Hell" is good for some comic relief. It's also fairly representative of juvenile delinquent movies of that era. Otherwise, it's a film that most viewers over the age of nine will not want to waste their time on.