Hot Rod Horror

I certainly didn't have high expectations. The premise couldn't be more familiar, and in actuality the picture is even more common and ordinary. More substantively, second- or third-tier, small-time horror is all too rarely any good. In the age of the Internet, when anyone can make anything and have it distributed for an audience, there is far too much muck out there and a dearth of earnest, quality film-making. That's not to say that there aren't exceptions; I've seen no-budget amateur horror that with care and hard work far outpaced major studio offerings. One must allow for the possibility that, given the opportunity, any Nobody making an unheard-of flick might surprise us. Thus did I sit for 'Hot rod horror' prepared for the worst but hoping for the best. Unfortunately, this is the sort of title to inspire profound skepticism right from the start, and not only does it not improve, but if anything it gets worse as the minutes tick by.

I'm not inclined to doubt the sincerity of anyone involved. I think they applied what effort they could with the capabilities they possessed. The skills of the contributors are another matter, however, and the glaring lack of resources only exacerbates the issue, shining a spotlight on what those involved could not do. Darrell Mapson's direction is achingly limp and weak, coming off as agonizingly false and artificial; the tone is at best flat and unbothered, and the fundamental orchestration of shots and scenes is deeply troubled, with dubious timing and otherwise consideration even for things like sound effects, reactions, and basic movement. I recognize that the cast, including star Alexandra Gorman, are really trying to give as meaningful of performances as they can, but the most that could be said is that the acting is highly variable. More than not it's direly unconvincing, and amidst hopelessly dull, even-keeled delivery we even get some flubbed lines that weren't corrected in another take.

In a spirit of generosity we might at least say that there were some fair ideas in the story or scene writing, but under Mapson's guidance they amount to nothing. Just as much to the point, the pen of Willy Ortlieb, also starring as apparent boogeyman Axel, is representative of skills that are equally, sorrily undeveloped. The plot is desperately thin and barely holds any water; forget "thrills" altogether. Not least with a lengthy "flashback" scene to provide "lore," the development of that plot raises a quizzical eyebrow. The dialogue is roundly awful, and even if there are indeed scattered fair ideas, the scene writing is not truly any better when you get down to it, with too many moments almost inciting one to anger for how flimsy they are (e.g., an unprovoked attack on a scrapped car, or another brief flashback late in the length). The image quality is so bare-faced as to almost be painful on the eyes; Mapson's cinematography exists on about the same level as his direction, and the editing is generally just tiresome.

Is there any unmitigated point of positivity to find in this film? The production has the benefit of a swell filming location, ripe with possibility, in the centerpiece junkyard. While the original music here is bland and generic, Kurt Oldman, Paul Vawter, and William Verkler were at least aiming for the right vibes, and some select examples are pretty decent, including a title song that meekly mimics AC/DC. Tiny tidbits here and there are more clever and/or well done than some others, including a couple death scenes, minor stunts or special makeup, or even an odd shot or two. And look, I'll say it: I feel bad being so negative. I think Mapson, Ortlieb, and all others on hand were just trying to make a movie, and were simply unable to do so in a manner that meets any particular standards. I believe they gave 'Hot rod horror' an honest go, and I hope that all went on to grow in their skills; maybe some day I'll see something else they made and be impressed. Still, none of this changes the fact that the end result tends to be a labor to sit through. The feature needed far more time to incubate, with in the very extreme least a director of more experience, to have any real chance at succeeding. And that's just not what we get.

There are far worse things you could watch. I've seen the bottom of the barrel, and for as gravely unsatisfactory as this is, all the same it's nowhere near being a nadir. I see what they tried to do. Be that as it may, there is not remotely enough value in these eighty-eight minutes to merit a watch, and one is best served by just never bothering. Well and truly, I extend only my best wishes for the writer, the director, and the cast and crew, and part of me wants to like this more than I do. One way or another, though, 'Hot rod horror' just doesn't cut it.

I'm not sure where anyone could find merit enough to give a movie this bad more than 3 stars at the most. It is total camp and filled with horrible acting. The story line itself wasn't that bad but the acting was so bad that at times it seemed like they were reading their lines from Que cards. The person or persons that own the wrecking yard has a gold mine though. The old Harley "Knucklehead" at the beginning of the movie was the only prop that was worth any real money. I have heard of shoestring budgets for making movies, this one is beyond broke. Glad I didn't pay money to see this flick, ugh. It gets a generous 3 out of ten.

I am the Executive Producer of our Low Budget Film that we had to Shoot on Sundays only because this was a working Wrecking Yard that was open 6 days a week. It took us almost a year to to shoot. We used Local Actors from DeVore Studios in Fresno CA. they all gave it their best and I am very Proud of everyone for working so hard and sticking it out. We shot in the Hot Summer Days, We shot in the Cold Winter days. Making a full length film is not easy and takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Myself,Willy and Darrell did what ever it took to make this film. We did our own stunts. I modified my Hot Rod in this Film to look the part. I drove this Hot Rod in most of the Scenes,I played a small role in this Film. I helped set up a few scenes as did all three of us making this Film. Willy and I wanted to make a Unique Campy Fun Film that highlighted Classic Cars inside of a wrecking yard so these Vintage Cars would be captured on Film for future generations to enjoy. Given the small budget that we had to work with and the limited time that we had to film this Movie, Sundays only I will give our Film 5 Stars because all of us,Cast and Crew Worked so hard to make this Film A Reality.

This Film was made with Car Buffs in mind who appreciate Classic Cars and Hot Rods..

Thank You, Respectfully, Michael V. Caldwell Executive Producer of our Film "HOT ROD HORROR"

HOT ROD HORROR www.myspace.com/hot_rod_horror Combining Murder, Ghosts & Hot Rods with a driving soundtrack ! You know they say that nothing great came out of Fresno; Besides raisins, This was until now with HRH. A nice collection of classic vehicles including Street Rods, Race Cars and a sweet motorcycle are used as props to enhance the authentic flashbacks. Let's talk about "AXEL", The main bad guy…Maybe a ghost or demon and comes with some driving skills. I like the Willy O interpretation, I wanted some scary makeup on character but, Maybe the car he drives like possessed and the ghost-like nuances were enough, He had to act more than Robert Englund with mask. The stunts are pretty safe and then there was one, Done with a tire iron and blow torch, STEALS the whole movie and took a father and son stunt team to cook it ! Okay, Let's sum up to make this a Modern Cult Classic film, Guys get ahold of the Speed Channel on cable TV and sell this puppy to them, Talk with Autozone and get it carried in their stores by the counter and put Willy O and His Rat Rod on tour in car shows with copies of HRH to autograph/sell !

This is not your typical horror-gore film. In fact a lot of the horror is left to your imagination-that's one of the things I liked about this movie. True-the acting isn't perfect-but then again-most of the teens in this movie were just starting out. I do think the editing could have been better. But I did get creeped out by this movie and at the same time I got a kick out it! It's also campy and funny. Whether the director was going for campy/funny-I don't know-but I think that's what makes this film work. Most of the film takes place during the day which is also different. The good thing about that is that you're able to see what is going on. A lot of horror films take place at night or they are just so dark you can't see anything. Over all I think this is a decent indie horror/action/comedy movie.