good back-story, and good acting

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Just spent the afternoon viewing a horror double bill before heading out for the night. The Shining was the other movie - understandably, that film has an experienced director, cast, crew and a budget that yielded what it sowed: a horror masterpiece. Hot Rod Horror - the second on the double bill - is the complete opposite. It wasn't the fatigue of the double bill that made me dislike this. We watched Hot Rod Horror first as we had preconceptions of The Shining through its reputation and having read the book. The thing I didn't like about this is its weak structure, terrible direction and bad dialogue. I got the feeling that the cast were amateurs - some were OK, whilst the others seemed not to know what they were doing. There's simply no tension or horror in Hot Rod Horror - the car lot of junk was cool and the film being shot in daylight gave me the presumption that I had a Texas Chainsaw Massacre / The Hills Have Eyes on me hands. Unfortunately, there was nothing here - no thrills, no suspense, no fun - looks reasonably shot for a low budget, but there's nothing here to write home about.

This is not your typical horror-gore film. In fact a lot of the horror is left to your imagination-that's one of the things I liked about this movie. True-the acting isn't perfect-but then again-most of the teens in this movie were just starting out. I do think the editing could have been better. But I did get creeped out by this movie and at the same time I got a kick out it! It's also campy and funny. Whether the director was going for campy/funny-I don't know-but I think that's what makes this film work. Most of the film takes place during the day which is also different. The good thing about that is that you're able to see what is going on. A lot of horror films take place at night or they are just so dark you can't see anything. Over all I think this is a decent indie horror/action/comedy movie.

With the development of film technology, anyone can knock out something visual for the 'entertainment' of others nowadays and at a next-to-nothing cost. Unfortunately, this has produced a load of tripe hitting the internet, and straight to release DVDs.The makers of HRH (Hod Rod Horror - I've a feeling I'm gonna grow tired of writing this title in this review) are no exception; what they may have saved on using a scrapyard as the set to this movie (and used scrap for the rest of it), they've neglected to spend on entertainment value.One of the main problems (there are many) with HRH is that the audience's appreciation for entertainment is neglected; and that is a big problem if you create anything to stimulate an audience. Not that the actors are solely to blame for this. However, the selection is a desperate one... especially the big, ambling, constipated, blonde (Stephanie Hoover) who seems to barely exist as a human and always needs to run off to find privacy either to 'pee' or to spew (yeah, 'tis natural, if seeing a corpse and feeling nauseous, to have to hold it in and find a place to chuck instead of being real and doing what comes naturally - to vomit on the spot).When it comes to acting, what you discover in HRH, is a cast of amateurs (don't tell me that these individuals have studied acting - although Mark McPherson and Matt Severson do OK) thrown into a scrapyard and permitted to walk aimlessly around by a director who hasn't a clue to perform his main task... i.e. direct (just need to point that out to you, Darrell Mapson). Thus these dead beings wander and wonder around in a suspense-less environment, dramatically pursued by an incompetent 'menace' (ahem) of a ghost (ahem) whose role is to be hellbent on avenging his death 40-50 years earlier.Now, the so called car, 'Hot' rod, that gives the main portion to the title of this movie is something to behold. Being less than tepid - I've seen lawnmowers move quicker... and that's an insult to garden tools - the movie consequently stumbles sluggishly along as the 'menacing' motor hunts down the kids, who, 'frozen' (through fear of acting, no doubt) 'try' to flee, joggingly quiet, dumb through fear (or is it through shock of being cast in such a crap movie?) into the next 'what do I do here, Mr Director' scene. Unintentionally amusing is one scene where the car runs over Jenny's cellphone. This is achieved with the 'Hot' rod slowing down (if that's possible) just to make sure it doesn't miss the phone in its tracks. Besides the car affecting the pace of HRH, are the aforementioned actors who aren't allowed to breathe and inject some life into this movie; as a result, there's little difference between the kids in their living and dead states - both are mute and stiff.Others reasons for the poor acting and quality of HRH is the lame script everyone had to work with. Oh, if you check the credits, you'll notice that this is written by the same guy who portrays the menacing murderer, Axel (Willy Ortlieb). Why oh why didn't any of the cast or crew question the poor value of this scriptwriting? Lines are either unrealistic or just pointless... I guess there must have been a bit of nepotism going around concerning Mr Ortlieb's role in HRH (you'll also notice a couple of other Ortliebs in HRH too). The editor, Lisa Donette May, is another culprit for the catastrophe that is HRH through neglecting to control the finished state of this movie: there are so many pointless scenes where nothing happens and thus slow down a no-go film. Lisa, what did you actually cut? This is not a Terrence Mallick film, where a scene can compose of stillness yet resonate in tranquility and beauty. It's a disaster, so 'cut to the chase' when you edit in future... pardon the pun.Regardles of all these faults, I managed to strenuously watch all of HRH - just out of sheer curiosity to see what else could go wrong. One bit of advice: fast forward the 'Hot' rod scenes - just as a means to inject some life into that wagon and make that piece of junk move.... oh, and if you're going to have a ghost, maker of HRH, give 'im a car that'll not age: the whole thing's a rust bucket.. and so is this movie, which is an insult to films made on a cheap budget, but actually work! PS: There are positive reviews to this movie, but as I sense they've been left by someone connected to HRH, I'd be very wary.

HOT ROD HORROR www.myspace.com/hot_rod_horror Combining Murder, Ghosts & Hot Rods with a driving soundtrack ! You know they say that nothing great came out of Fresno; Besides raisins, This was until now with HRH. A nice collection of classic vehicles including Street Rods, Race Cars and a sweet motorcycle are used as props to enhance the authentic flashbacks. Let's talk about "AXEL", The main bad guy…Maybe a ghost or demon and comes with some driving skills. I like the Willy O interpretation, I wanted some scary makeup on character but, Maybe the car he drives like possessed and the ghost-like nuances were enough, He had to act more than Robert Englund with mask. The stunts are pretty safe and then there was one, Done with a tire iron and blow torch, STEALS the whole movie and took a father and son stunt team to cook it ! Okay, Let's sum up to make this a Modern Cult Classic film, Guys get ahold of the Speed Channel on cable TV and sell this puppy to them, Talk with Autozone and get it carried in their stores by the counter and put Willy O and His Rat Rod on tour in car shows with copies of HRH to autograph/sell !