That was an excellent one.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain play Tom and Peg Phillips, an ultra straight (some might say square) couple with a teen aged daughter, Tina (Laurie Mock), and young son Jamie (Jeffrey Byron). After Tom gets into a road accident, he develops a bad back, and his brother Bill (Harry Hickox) arranges for Tom a change of pace: running a motel in small town California. Unfortunately, when the family gets to the desert, they run afoul of the local hot rodders / troublemakers.Just as much of a generation gap drama as it is an action movie,"Hot Rods to Hell" is enjoyable exploitation fare. The protagonists are a little much at times, but Gene Kirkwood and Paul Bertoya are malevolently entertaining as the obnoxious road hogging punks. The movie marks an interesting effort for Director John Brahm, who'd done well crafting Victorian era melodramas in the 1940s and 1950s; it was his final feature film. The action sequences ARE well done, and the cars are of course very cool. The rock score is most groovy, as performed by Mickey Rooney's son and his combo.The performances are all watchable. It's easy to believe the frustration of Andrews' character. Mimsy Farmer is likewise convincing as Gloria, the trampy, sexy blonde associate of Kirkwood and Bertoya. George Ives has the interesting role of Lank Dailey, the motel owner who has no problem taking money from his teenage customers but distrusts them just as much as any other adult.In general, the movie seems to be making a statement about the poor driving habits of Americans: it isn't just the young punks who drive recklessly, but the previous generation as well.It would be hard to knock any movie in which a highway patrolman is made to utter the immortal line: "These kids have nowhere to go,but they want to get there at 150 miles per hour."Seven out of 10.

To me, "Hot Rods to Hell" is a pathetic sequel to the character that Dana Andrews played in "Best Years of Our Lives" who tells Peggy (played by Teresa Wright) that all he wants is a good job and a house and a family: in short, the American Dream. By the end of that film, we know that he will marry Peggy and do whatever he has to in order to earn that American dream. "Hot Rods to Hell" takes place twenty one years later, Dana Andrews is married to "Peg" and he has a rebellious teenage daughter and a standard, cookie cutter, gingerbread boy son of about 13. The nightmare scene that he does in "Hot Rods" so much resembles the nightmare scene that he did in "Best Years" that I expected him to again call out, "Bail out! Gredofusky! Bail out!" I wonder how many people in 1967 bailed out of the movie theaters or drive-in movies after that scene appeared - or later wished they had if they stayed to the bitter end.

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.

Hot Rods To Hell revolves around a middle-aged man, who decides to purchase a hotel located in the southwestern US. He's from Boston. And he realizes that the change in locale will be difficult for himself, his wife, and their kids. Still, he decides to give it a shot, and so he and his family pack-up and head out west. But some reckless teenagers driving fast hot rods, harass them along the way. The man finally decides to stand-up to the delinquent teens, who keep menacing him and his family, during their journey. This film was typical of most mid-60s movies, which highlighted the consequences of the notorious generation gap. It emphasized how wild and uncontrollable young people were becoming in the 60s, in the opinion of their bewildered elders. Most 60s teens were no where near as dangerous, as the older generation believed them to be. And this film did a spectacular job, of exaggerating how malignant young people appeared to be, to older folks during the 60s. Overall, this film managed to milk the suspense element, for all it was worth. There were many hair-raising scenes, that made this movie quite an adrenaline rush. For those that crave a film with plenty of nail-biting moments, Hot Rods To Hell will certainly do. It's a 60s B movie, with a heavy jolt of electrifying thrills.