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 HELL’S
HIGHWAY (Brain
Damage) 80 minutes. Rated R, gore, violence, nudity. While driving
cross country to California, four college pals, two girls, two boys, have
their merry way detoured into a ride of torturous hell. After picking up a
sexy hitchhiker named Lucinda, the four friends realize they’re in a
fight for their lives. So what do they do? They drive a few miles away,
pitch camp for the night, and have sex. The next morning, for some odd
reason, the kiddies think all is ok, but are once again subjected to the
wrath of Lucinda. However, this time the fast acting foursome gets the
upper hand and seemingly kills Lucinda (in a very entertainingly gory
manner). However, just around the corner, Lucinda lurks once again. After
all, this is Hells’ Highway (imagine hellish like echo).
This is one of those movies that I know people will hate but, for
various reasons, I liked. Although this movie has plenty of negative
points, I was able to take the fun, nudity, and gore parts and shadow the
less redeeming aspects. The gore is at times a bit cheesy, but it’s also
way over the top and creative. You’ll dig the way Lucinda is killed by
the car. Even better is the line yelled by the hot blonde after getting
the innards of Lucinda’s head splashed on her; “This is the worst trip
ever!” Oh, I was on the floor. The three female leads are very good
looking and do a good job with the acting. The blond, can’t remember her
real name, does get naked for you. Phoebe Dollar (Lucinda) is pretty hot,
as long as you don’t look at her profile. Although he is one of the top
billed, porn legend Ron Jeremy is only in the movie for maybe five
minutes. However, his short scene is hilarious and rather fitting due to
his line of work. Ya, you’ll cringe too. On the negative side, the male
leads are rather poor actors. But who cares about the men (with the
exception of Richard Simmons of course)?
My biggest beef with this movie is the ending. The story is really
nothing new, but it's entertaining and the ending was an unfitting train
wreck. I will give credit to
the production crew for the time and effort it must have taken, but the
miniature sets are just too fake looking. I also saw a few scenes that
reminded me of three popular icon horror flics; Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw
Massacre, and The Exorcist. I am not sure if these scenes were intended to
be a type of homage, or if I’m on crack. If you are expecting a
masterpiece, you’ll be disappointed. But, if you take this flic for what
it is, an independent, low budget gore horror movie, you’ll like it. –
Denis Sheehan
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