What makes it different from others?

From my favorite movies..

Am I Missing Something?

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Plot--A gang of hot-rodders torments an All-American family on a back-country road. In the process, Dad must prove himself capable of handling the situation since no cops appear available.Looks like this movie of 1966 was caught in a transition. Change was in the air. Drive-in teens and hot-rods were giving way to a youth counter-culture of Vietnam and protest. The movie's styles at the dancehall suggest this new movement, while the rest of the film appears mired in norms of the 1950's. This may account for the screenplay's awkwardness. Drive-in fare is no longer a sure thing, which the movie seems to sense, but doesn't know where to go.The hot-rodders amount to a caricature of empty-headed speed demons, typical of 50's drive-in flicks. At the same time, the wholesome Phillips family is right out of Father Knows Best, except Dad's lost confidence in his abilities following an auto accident. Then too, comely daughter Tina's attracted despite herself to the "cool" speed freaks. All this plays out on a god-forsaken desert road that no one else appears to travel. Then there's the ending's moral upshot that drops out of nowhere, except maybe an old time Western where the sheriff finally decides to clean up the town.Anyway, those two fine Golden Age actors Andrews and Crain give the material their best, despite the drawbacks. It's kind of poignant seeing their careers on the downgrade with exploitation fare like this. Ditto director John Brahm a past master of Gothic noir—The Lodger (1944), Hangover Square (1945), et al. He does, however, keep things moving such that the many repetitive scenes at least don't linger.All in all, the movie's kind of schizophrenic with Andrews, Crain, and Mock giving A-grade efforts to D-grade material. Too bad the script wasn't sent back for a serious re-write, a new title, and a better role for the talented Mimsy Farmer.

I remember watching this as a tween on television way back in the 80's. It really made an impression on me. It's very entertaining and the script is so bad, it's good. Definitely worth a watch!I'll never forget the hilarious scenes with the 'good girl' daughter who is 'seduced' by the bad boy hot rod enthusiast. Would probably be great to watch this with friends, maybe make a double feature with another very cheesy B movie. There was one called 'Mission:Mars' where the 'monster' stalking people on planet Mars was a giant ball of rolling aluminum foil. Check this one out!

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.

Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain, who had been in "State Fair" and "Madison Avenue" together, reunite for this story about a family being terrorized by young punks who have nothing better to do but race down the desolate highway somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Arizona, I think, and run people off the road.To be more specific, the father can't defend himself or his family due to his bad back and recovering from a previous car accident, where it was all just awful, "the rain, the bright headlights, the Jingle bells (on the radio), everything." In fact, what sounds like an awful film that should be forgotten makes for some good campy fun, due mainly to some hilarious dialogue spoken mainly by Dana, like: "I had to do something. I couldn't just sit here like a stick." It's funnier with Dana saying it. In fact his whole on-edge performance is practically the whole show.I'm sorry to read here that Mr. Andrews was an alcoholic, but I've told family members about this film and said I've never seen anyone who could act so unhinged as Dana in this film, and also in "Zero Hour!". Another ingredient, alluded to in message boards, is Dana's speech and/or way of speaking words like "animals" and "police." So, it may be because of Dana's condition, or is it just his little acting tricks, that make for entertainment in this 60s camp classic. At least that's what it's called on a camp classic DVD set, which includes "Zero Hour."Lastly, I will add that the actress who plays the daughter is quite good and we see her as more three-dimensional than any other character in the movie, And for that matter, the dialogue between the siblings and the way they treat each other make us feel they really are brother and sister.So, if you want a hoot from the 1960s, get out the popcorn and pull into your own "drive-in" theater for some real hot rods and Dana unnerved.