Schoolgirl Hitchhikers (1973)

Two female hitch-hikers get mixed up with a gang of thieves and their stolen jewelry.

Director:

Jean Rollin (as Michel Gentil)

Stars:

Joëlle Coeur, Gilda Arancio, Marie Hélène Règne

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joëlle Coeur	...	Monica
Gilda Arancio	...	Jackie (as Gilda Stark)
Marie Hélène Règne	...	Béatrice
Willy Braque	...	Fred
Pierre Julien	...	Detective Harry
François Brincourt	...	Béatrice's Associate
Reine Thirion	...	Harry's Secretary (as Reine Thyrion)

Storyline

Two female hitch-hikers get mixed up with a gang of thieves and their stolen jewelry.

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Plot Keywords:

softcore | abandoned mansion | revolver | pubic hair | shoulder holster | 

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Taglines:

The kind of film your mother warned you about.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

16 August 1973 (France)

Also Known As:

High School Hitch Hikers

Company Credits

Production Co:

Avia Films, Films A.B.C.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min (DVD) 73 min (censored DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Goofs

When the girls first arrive at the house, they climb an eight-foot wall, and then down a tree, but the tree was not there in the previous shot.

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Connections

Featured in Eurotika!: Vampires and Virgins (1999)

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Soundtracks

Gilda & Gunshots
by Pierre Raph

User Reviews

Lesser Rollin's film, but not a TOTAL waste of time

This movie recently showed up on the DVD collection "The Grindhouse Experience" (as if I haven't bought enough Jean Rollin's movies on purpose) under the unlikely title of "High School Hitchhikers" because apparently the original English title "Schoolgirl Hitchhikers" sounds too perverse or politically incorrect by today's standards (don't worry though--the lead actresses look mature enough that this could have easily been called "Post-Doctoral Hitchhikers"). Actually though it would probably have been more accurate to use directly translated the French title "Impudent Young Girls"--I don't know if the protagonists are all that "impudent" but at no point are they ever seen hitch-hiking.

The "plot" (people familiar with Jean Rollin's body of work should be rolling around on the floor laughing right now) involves two female drifters who go into a strange château for no apparent reason. After some typical girl-on-girl action they run into some criminals on the lam who. . . well, that's pretty much it. It is similar to a lot of better Rollin's movies like "Requiem for a Vampire" with the gratuitous lesbianism and silly and unconvincing bondage and torture scenes, but it lacks the bizarre surrealism or more "fantastique" elements that mark the director's more interesting work. This is just a knock-off softcore sex flick along the lines of "Bacchanales Sexuales" but with shorter sex scenes (which may or may not be a plus depending on your motives for watching it).

The best thing about this movie is that the two lead actresses are very appealing (at least, if you're not some drooling pervert drawn in by the lurid title). Joelle Couer had a short but memorable career in early 70's French sexploitation film, including Rollin's own (much better) film "The Demoniacs", but she refused to make the leap to hardcore and was supplanted by much less attractive actresses like Claudine Beccaire. The other, more obscure lead looks like a 1970's French version of Mena Suvari. She is wearing a plaid skirt at the beginning of the film (though not for long!), which might partially explain the misleading title. I guess this movie isn't a TOTAL waste of time but just about.