Hitchhike to Hell (1941) User Reviews

Not surprisingly, it's crap....

[planktonrules · 1/10 · 7 February 2012]

"Hitchhike to Hell" (a.k.a. "Going My Way Mister" and "Highway Girls") is clearly a grade-z exploitation film--the sort of incredibly low budget film that pulled in audiences hoping to see a film with lots of hot action. But, as it pretends to be educational, it managed to be seen despite various censor boards. In this case, the film is trying to warn us of the dangers of prostitution along the highways of America. I doubt if there was a rampant problem of this sort but it made for a great topic for exploitation films. But there's a problem--the film isn't the least bit explicit and it's dull from start to finish.

The film is narrated by a guy who owns a bar--and his own son is a pimp and tries to steal his dad's liquor license so he can turn the place into a brothel. But, words like prostitution, brothel and the like are never used--and it's all tame. It also is chock full of bad acting, random edits and is incredibly preachy. It's not all that interesting unless you like watching and laughing at exploitation films. Sadly, this one isn't even all that funny on a camp level--it's just dumb.

1930s Exploitation without Any Shock Value

[Michael_Elliott · 20 February 2011]

Hitchhike to Hell (1937)

1/2 (out of 4)

Awful exploitation flick that pretty much forgets to do exploitative. A pimp named Slavick wants to take control of a small bar owned by a do-gooder so that his prostitutes has somewhere to bring their clients. You see, the pimp sits the girls on the side of the street where the hitchhike for clients so it would save time by just having the women come back to the bar. Daddy bar owner refuses and of course the pimp goes after his son who also happens to be falling in love with one of the girls. This film was released under countless titles including GOING MY WAY, MISTER?, HIGHWAY GIRLS and HIGHWAY HELL, which is the title used by Alpha on the DVD as well as the print. No matter what you call this thing the end result is one of the absolute worst of the 1930s exploitation. I think most people go into films like this, REEFER MADNESS and MANIAC expecting something really bad and you always want to get lucky and find one that's so bad it's good. Sadly, this film here is just downright bad and it's way too bland to have any sort of entertainment. The only reason this sucker doesn't get a BOMB rating is because it's one of those movies where you keep yourself entertained just by waiting for something good to happen but of course it never does but at least the 55-minute running time never dragged too much. The performances are all beyond horrible including the "girls" as many of them can't even get their line of dialogue (Going my way, mister?) out. Julian Harris plays the pimp and has to be the most boring, non-threatening pimp in the history of pimp hood. Charles Maurice plays the bar owner and doesn't do any better but his preaching to the camera gets a few minor laughs. What really kills this film is the fact that it was sold as an "Adults Only" film and yet there's very little here in terms of exploitation. It's known what the girls are doing yet you never see them with any clients and the worst thing they do in the film is have a drink of alcohol. I'm really not even sure if this thing would have had any issues getting past the Hayes Office but thankfully this thing didn't get into more theaters as I'm sure the manager of the place would have had to be handing out a lot of refunds.

Hitchhike to Hell review

[JoeytheBrit · 2/10 · 23 April 2020]

Z-grade exploitation flick that promises a lot more than it delivers. Awful direction and chaotic editing are compounded by uniformly terrible performances from actors who mostly have only this one credit to their name.

Incredibly tame considering the subject matter

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 22 June 2017]

HIGHWAY HELL is an exploitation thriller from 1941 that aims to tackle the subject of criminality and prostitution - although, of course, thanks to the Hayes Code, none of this stuff is actually mentioned explicitly, merely alluded to. The story is about a bar owner whose bad-guy son is trying to turn the business into a brothel, but apart from a brief hitchhiking interlude or two, the whole thing takes place inside the bar or at a swimming pool. It's talky, tame, and very, very dated, a cheapie bore that's all dialogue and no action or intrigue whatsoever.

Not review of movie..

[godfreecharlie · 1/10 · 27 November 2021]

It is nearly impossible to write a review or even a "hi ya" when the damn screen won't scroll!!! After the first few lines the text being typed out is nowhere to be found. That's because it's hidden behind the keyboard.. the gd screen is stuck. This only happens with this app.wish someone would fix it.this quite unnerving, actually it pisses me off to no end fixable irritan.the *ucking curser is on my keyboard now!. There's my review. Hope someone can help. Otherwise I can just uninstall it off my Toshiba Smart TV and phone. P. S.: I know it can be fixed because it has run for a few minutes and then took a dump.

Going my way, mister

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 1 September 2014]

Pop Bartlett (a lively performance by Charles Maurice) discovers that his roadhouse cabins are being used by a prostitution ring run by ruthless pimp Slavick (smoothly played with lip-smacking panache by Julian Harris). When Pop refuses Slavick's offer to become partners with him, Slavick has his gal Billie (an appealing turn by Diane Winthrop) seduce Pop's naive son Bob (likable Don Hirsch) so he can monopolize the cabins for his seamy business. Director Patrick Carlyle relates the entertainingly tawdry story at a zippy pace and maintains a so-clumsy-that-it's-oddly-endearing earnest tone throughout. Pop's heavy-handed preaching about the dangerous permissiveness of modern society provides a few hearty unintentional belly laughs. The decent cinematography boasts neat use of wipes. This film further benefits from choice footage of an old fairground. However, it's this picture's conservative sensibility and the tame handling of the potentially trashy subject matter which give this exploitation relic a certain quaint ramshackle period charm.