Hot Rods to Hell ** (1967, Dana Andrews, Jeanne Crain, Mimsy Farmer) – Classic Movie Review 7294

The very low-budget 1967 action suspense thriller Hot Rods to Hell is esteemed director John Brahm’s last film. It was panned back in the day but made a profit and has now developed a camp cult following. 

The very low-budget 1967 action suspense thriller Hot Rods to Hell is esteemed director John Brahm’s last film, originally intended for TV, but thought too intense and released it to cinemas with a running time of 92 minutes.

The screenplay is by Robert E Kent, based on a Saturday Evening Post short story by Alex Gaby, with a working title of 52 Miles to Terror. It came back like a boomerang on TV, when ABC-TV screened in America in 1968 in a version running 100 minutes. Turner Classic Movies have acquired the 100-minute print.

Hot Rods to Hell was panned back in the day but made a profit (the North American gross was $1,268,000) and has now developed a camp cult following.

Dana Andrews stars as Tom Phillips, who buys a remote motel in the desert town of Mayville, California, and sets out there with his wife wife Peg Phillips (Jeanne Crain), teenaged daughter and son, but when they reach the desert they are accosted by a pair of drag racers and a ‘party girl’.

The cast are Dana Andrews as Tom Phillips, Jeanne Crain as his wife Peg Phillips, Paul Bertoya as Duke, leader of the wayward youth, Gene Kirkwood as Ernie, Duke’s sidekick, Mimsy Farmer as Gloria, Duke’s girlfriend, Laurie Mock as Tom Phillips’s daughter Tina, Jeffrey Bryon (credited as Tim Stafford) as Tom Phillips’s son Jamie, George Ives as Lank Dailey, owner of Dailey’s Motel and the Arena roadhouse, William Mims as Man at Picnic, Hortense Petra and Peter Oliphant as his wife and son, Paul Genge as a California Highway Patrol officer, Charles P Thompson as elderly filling-station owner Charley, Harry Hickox as Tom Phillips’s brother Bill, and Mickey Rooney Jr as the Combo leader. Mickey Rooney Jr and his Combo perform songs.

It was mostly shot near the Southern California desert town Lake Los Angeles and Wilsona Gardens, east of Palmdale, California.

Warner Home Video released it on Region 1 DVD on 26 June 2007 in a widescreen format cropping the top and bottom of the frame.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7294

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