Hitch-Hike

The second Italian knock-off of Last House on the Left I've watched this week, and I would actually consider this to the the superior of the two when compared to Mario Bava's Rabid Dogs, even though the twist was a bit less surprising. Franco Nero is absolutely psycho in this and David Hess is rocking quite the perm.

Nero is good value for money as usual, and nobody does curly-haired psycho quite like Hess. The premise and dialogue are entertaining enough, and there are some tense scenes, but it never gets quite as interesting (or nasty) as some of the other similarly-themed genre efforts. The Morricone score is cool, but there's a soundtrack song that pops up from time-to-time which is dreadful. Surprisingly enjoyable.

When slogging through the trenches of exploitation, it's rewarding to come across a gem like this. The acting is top-notch, the story remains interesting thanks to several twists, and it stars Franco Nero. What more do you want?

Franco Nero and Corinne Clery play a European couple on a camping vacation in remote California, who make the mistake of picking up a hitch-hiking David Hess. He's an escaped psycho killer who takes them on a road trip to hell. Lots of corny dialog, but plenty of intense dramatic scenes with a clever and original score by Ennio Morricone, much better known for his western themes. Clery gets naked a bunch of times, too.

O Fugitivo Sanguinário estreava há 45 anos na Alemanha Ocidental. A galera tá zoando o bigode do Alisson goleiro, mas eu adorei, da mesma forma que adoro o bigodão do Franco Nero nesse filme. Rá! Estava gostado bem do filme e todas as referências a clássicos dos anos 70 que tem nele, mas o final é misógino demais pro meu gosto. Box Versátil Cinema Exploitation Volume 3.

A derivative and vastly inferior exploitation flick imitating Bava's "Rabid Dogs", with echoes of "Straw Dogs" and featuring Franco Nero of Spaghetti Western fame and "Last House on the Left"'s David Hess. Watch this if only if you're really scraping the barrel of home-invasion and road-thrillers. I guess there are still worse ones out there, and at least it has a Morricone score, but it's still weird that Campanile directed this after partaking in the writing of some awesome Italian classics.

It's no Last House, but David Hess sure makes it very entertaining.