Also see The Films of Jack Hill
If there’s such a thing as a gear-grinding art film, this would come dern close. An aging rebel (Richard Davalos) finds a cause when he’s plucked from jail by a dirt-track svengali (Brian Donlevy) to dethrone the reigning king of the figure-8 raceway (Sid Haig). That’s right, there’s a freakin’ INTERSECTION, folks. Souped-up hot rods roar through the crossroads, often clobbering another driver in a crash of metal-on-metal while a thrilled crowd of rednecks cheer. All the race footage was filmed during multiple nights at a real-deal track where this sort of thing was actually old hat. Jack shot the most up close and personal crash derby moments HIMSELF on account of he just couldn’t bring himself to ask anyone else to risk their necks. In fact, eagle-eyed CineSchlockers will easily spot Hill clutching his camera just feet away from the death-defying intersection. Most of the story swells from the competitive rivalry between Haig and Davalos’ characters, which is fueled by their peddle-to-the-metal egos. Spider Baby’s Beverly Washburn returns with a cropped ‘do as a pre-hippie love child (Jolene) who has an unnerving knack for falling for the wrong kind of fellas. Producer Roger Corman nixed Jack’s notion of having the flick’s hero LOSE the climatic race, yet the wily filmmaker still managed to satisfy his artistic inklings with a sobering finale. Gearheads will thrill to see custom car handiwork by the great George Barris who was responsible for creating the legendary Batmobile and a certain time-traveling DeLorean.
Notables: No breasts. One corpse. Car hopping. Slow dancing. Welding. Gratuitous dune buggy footage. Chaste shower scene.
Quotables: Wrecking yard Romeo comes to Jolene’s defense, "You better look out girl. That old hornytoad’d love to lay a hand on your backside! Especially now that it’s all grown up into that nice little cupcake shape!" Jolene ain’t a Baptist, "I believe that heaven is this big island in the sky where everyone makes love in the sunshine with no shame at all."
Time codes: Appearances by the director as an extra (10:09, 23:56). Dancers boogie at the 190 Club (10:48). Sid emotes behind the wheel (31:37). One-man demolition crew sledgehammers car to bits (39:40). Ernie Douglas plays guitar (1:08:57).