Misogynistic psycho wackjob Mark (a creepily manic and intense performance by handsome beefcake hunk Joe Balogh) wears mirror shades, suffers from a severe mommy complex, drives a fancy expensive Winnebago, and has a nasty penchant for picking up stray foxy young female hitchhikers whom he likes to rape, debase and brutally murder. Mark chooses the feisty Daniela (gorgeous blonde hottie Josie Bissett, who went on to slightly more respectable work as a regular on the trashy nighttime soap opera "Melrose Place") as his next victim and abducts her. Daniela's obsessive boyfriend Kevin (woodenly played by Jason Saucier) gives chase.
Limply directed by spaghetti splatter specialist Umberto ("Nightmare City") Lenzi (who also wrote the flat, clichéd, talky cookie cutter script), with slack pacing, nil suspense, mostly mild and goreless violence, atrocious acting, and a humdrum plot which offers no fresh twists or novel surprises, this strictly from hunger Eurodreck rip-off of "The Hitcher" qualifies as a real stinker. However, both Jerry Phillip's polished cinematography and Carlo Maria Cordio's throbbing rock score are up to par, while the copious gratuitous nudity rates as the single most watchable and enjoyable thing in this whole godforsaken turkey (said nudity includes several scenes of Bissett in the buff and an especially tasty wet t-shirt contest). And hardcore Bissett bashers such as yours truly should get a kick out of the extensive degradation Josie suffers throughout the flick: she's drugged, gagged and handcuffed by our star loony, has her hair cut short and dyed black, gets photographed by nutso while nude and unconscious, and is even forced to watch the freak carve the word "pig" in Kevin's chest. Taking that last nugget into consideration, I guess this picture ain't so bad after all.
Limply directed by spaghetti splatter specialist Umberto ("Nightmare City") Lenzi (who also wrote the flat, clichéd, talky cookie cutter script), with slack pacing, nil suspense, mostly mild and goreless violence, atrocious acting, and a humdrum plot which offers no fresh twists or novel surprises, this strictly from hunger Eurodreck rip-off of "The Hitcher" qualifies as a real stinker. However, both Jerry Phillip's polished cinematography and Carlo Maria Cordio's throbbing rock score are up to par, while the copious gratuitous nudity rates as the single most watchable and enjoyable thing in this whole godforsaken turkey (said nudity includes several scenes of Bissett in the buff and an especially tasty wet t-shirt contest). And hardcore Bissett bashers such as yours truly should get a kick out of the extensive degradation Josie suffers throughout the flick: she's drugged, gagged and handcuffed by our star loony, has her hair cut short and dyed black, gets photographed by nutso while nude and unconscious, and is even forced to watch the freak carve the word "pig" in Kevin's chest. Taking that last nugget into consideration, I guess this picture ain't so bad after all.