Duel

Terror on the road. After this movie you may never want to drive again.

Duel stars Dennis Weaver, who plays an average salesman that's just trying to travel from point A to B. However, what he didn't plan on was, between these points, the open road can be a dangerous place. He unwillingly becomes part of a cat and mouse game, where the terrorizer is an enormous truck. Dennis Weaver masterfully portrays his role with pure terror, confusion, comedy and lots of sweat.

Duel was Steven Spielberg's full length feature debut and has common threads to his later films. Even in this early work, Spielberg was able to build tension without showing too much. He offers us a character that we immediately can identify with, which draws us into the story and causes us to sit on the edge of our seats.

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Hot Rods To Hell

Hot rods, hot chicks, juvenile delinquents and one set of tormented, square parents on the road. Buckle up for the ride.

Hot Rods To Hell is a classic cult tale of the youth culture vs. the unhip gown-ups. Filmed in the mid-60's, when the baby boomers were out numbering their elders, it captures America's unease and fear of these ruffians taking over the country. Don't Trust Anyone Over 30 was the teen diatribe of the times and this movie coveys the 60's youth's distain of their authority figures. 

What better way to get back at your elders then to chase them off the road with a tricked out hot rod and a blonde chick gyrating with excitement holding on for the ride. Like other road movies; such as The Hitcher and Duel, this film demonstrates that the highway can be a very scary place. However, this film has cool hot rods and no seat belts.

You may find this movie goofy and dated, but that's exactly what I love about it. The parents are total stereotypes with melodramatic expressions. The youth are all troubled and seem to have no hope for a better future because they lack ambition and goals. The over the top dramatic delivery of the dialogue also adds to the humor. 

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Repo Man

Aliens, punk rock, AND Harry Dean Stanton. This is one of my FAVE movies of all time. Lot's of quotable lines too.

Repo Man 

Directed by Alex Cox (Sid and Nancy, Wonderland)

Starring Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton

Produced by Michael Nesmith (former Monkee and whose mom invented white-out)

Emilio Estevez plays Otto, a punk kid whose parents are more interested in their cult leader than him. So what's an ex-stock boy to do for cash? He reluctantly gets a job repossessing cars, but soon finds out that the life of a repo man in always intense. Meanwhile, there's a crazy dude driving around with radioactive aliens in the trunk of his car. 

Not only is this movie funny but on a higher level it deals with the power of chance meetings and their consequences. But are these mere coincidences or the result of fate? Is everything in the universe actually connected? 

Repo Man has an awesome soundtrack that includes the title song by Iggy Pop along with Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, Fear, etc.  

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