Cover Art

Credits

Director: Pasquale Festa Campanile Starring: Franco Nero, Corinne Clery and David Hess Screenplay: Aldo Crudo, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Ottavio Jemma and Peter Kane Music: Ennio Morricone Country: Italy AKA: Death Drive; Hitchhike: Last House on the Left; Autostop rosso sangue

Journalist Walter Mancini (Franco Nero) and his wife Eve (Corinne Clery) are on vacation out in the wilds of America. It becomes evident very quickly that Walter is an obnoxious chap and treats his wife rather badly. He's also given to frequent drunkenness and often creating embarrassing scenes because of it. Director Pasquale Festa Campanile wastes no time in setting up the scenario of a marriage on the verge of a breakdown, and both Nero and Clery are very convincing in their roles. Nero makes his character highly unlikeable right from the outset of the movie, and Clery does a good job in portraying the suffering wife.

After an awkward night of drunkenness, in which Walter manages to injure his hand, they set off on the road again, with Eve at the wheel. After some bickering between the dysfunctional couple, they pass a hitcher stood by his broken-down car. Eve, on the spur of the moment, stops and offers him a ride. Walter is furious, telling her she's crazy and that they might be picking up a madman. How perceptive. After all, if you saw David Hess hitching a ride, would you pick him up? I think not, especially if you're familiar with Last House on the Left...

The hitcher introduces himself as Adam, and immediately we sense that something is not quite right here. Sure enough, Adam is a psychotic who has just been involved in a robbery and is making his getaway with the profits of his illegal deed. Once the realisation sinks in of who they've picked up, the real fun begins.

I won't go into too much plot detail here, as it twists and turns, and I really don't want to spoil the fun for first-time viewers. Suffice to say, there is more sleaze and violence than you can shake a stick at. Hess and Franco play off each other superbly, and it's a real shame they never made more films together, as they are a fantastic onscreen duo. Clery turns in a good performance, but is outshone by her male co-stars. Director Pasquale Festa Campanile (who sadly passed away in 1986) directs with lots of energy and the film never has a dull moment, right up to it's astonishing twist ending. This is Italian sleaze cinema at it's very best. Faultless performances (who doesn't love David Hess?), great locations, an enthralling story and a fine music score from Ennio Morricone. Top notch B-Movie entertainment and an un-missable treat for fans of Euroshock. I can't recommend this film enough.