Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Uriah43 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.

AJSteele Yes "66, not "67 as IMDb says. 1966 gave us all the classics, "Dr. Goldfoot & The Girl Bombs", "Modesty Blaise', "Ghosts In The Invisible Bikini", "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill" and of course "Hot Rods To Hell." I hadn't seen this film in 25 years and suddenly there it was in front of me, a DVD, with the original movie poster artwork right on the case. Dana Andrews gives a serious performance as a old school dad who ends his suburban life and heads out to face some unexpected "animals." Animals being the teenagers who harass his family in hot rods while on the sun lit deserted desert roads of California.Dads at a distance by phone as we're introduced to the main characters who show their cute family affections at home during Christmas. Mom, played by an under-rated Jeanne Crain, daughter Tina played by the gorgeous Laurie Mock, and seemingly 12 year old spunky son Jamie played by a second tier credited Tim Stafford. Dad gets a bit morose after a near fatal car accident on his return home to the family. This induces a semi reluctant property deal of Uncle Bill's to buy a motel in no mans land. The family packs and off they go.Nothing like the teeth gritting smiles and wide eyed looks of a mid sixties teenager to charge you up. Enter Duke, the hot rod king and mega sixties siren Mimsy Farmer who plays Gloria, Dukes brassy mouthed flunky. They and the gang do the chasing while dear old dad is just about to crack. One close encounter after another gets dads already frayed nerves to the boiling point while in route to supposed peace. Pops wisely takes a detour into a picnic area for refuge where Duke tries to sneak up and work some "magic" on daughter Tina.A worthwhile side story involving an arrogant pedal heavy dad and his son at the picnic area works while the real driving force of Dana Andrews carries on with his cranky fed up demeanor. Arriving at the wild atmospheric motel which they intend to purchase, dad rescues Tina from the clutches of Duke with murderous rage. Some jumping sounds emit from the motel bar courtesy of Micky Rooney Jr. And His Combo strumming some nice electrics. Moms always there, never disappointing with her plucky supportive dialog, especially as Tina stokes her ire on the evils of boys. As we race towards hopeful survival some harrowing techniques by dad end up relaying what he was really made of. Duke and the gang turn out to be the punks the teens of that generation thought were hip ,while Daddy O is pretty cool after all.Hot Rods To Hell epitomizes the 1966 era. I always believed that Laurie Mock should have gone further in films with her natural style and good looks. The generic sixties soundtrack throughout keeps time and pace. The small missing dialog between Duke and Tina is a downer and inexplicable but having the film available at all compensates. Hot Rods To Hell is a classic because of its family focusing universal effectiveness. It rises above the mockery of it's meager means. It's time for a definitive release containing extras, baby, extras!

jeffclinthill 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.

emuir-1 As a rule I enjoy an old "B" picture, but this one is so bad that I kept watching to see if it got any worse. It is in no way a "So bad it's great" movie unless you had really gone to the drive in for some horizontal boogie. What on earth were two 40's stars doing is this showcase of really bad acting? I can only assume that someone was out to cash in on juvenile delinquent movies but was 10 years too late. Had it been made in the 1950's it would have fitted the period, but 1967!!The squeaky clean JD's looked like Saturday morning missionaries from the Latter Day Saints or Jehovah's Witnesses, the kind who operate in twos as you are trying to catch up with the yard work and won't believe that you are a Muslim/Buddist/Jew/Roman Catholic or atheist (whatever comes to mind). The wife and children were reduced to looking scared and grabbing each other with frightened looks. Father stuck out his jaw and tried to defend them, although I wondered why he bothered. These films usually have a plucky child who comes to the rescue. This family was just wimpy. Jeanne Crain's overacting was simply excruciating to watch and should be shown in acting schools as an example of what not to do. Unless you have time to spare and just want a good laugh, this film belongs on a Mystery Science Theater type show. Throw the popcorn and blow rasberries.