FORMAT: DVD
The Hitchhikers may not be as well-known as similar fare of the era, but it is a ripe slice of ‘70s drive-in cinema. Written and directed by the husband-and-wife team of Beverly and Ferd Sebastian (who also made Gator Bait, a certified drive-in classic if there ever was one) it tells the story of Maggie (Misty Rowe) who learns she’s pregnant and hits the road to go to L.A. She meets a bunch of oddballs along the way, most who either want to rob or screw her. Maggie eventually winds up at the ranch commune lorded over by a man named Benson (Nick Klar) who lives with a bunch of grungy chicks he calls his “family”.
Any similarities between Benson and Manson are purely intentional.
It seems Benson has quite the criminal enterprise going. He gets his “girls” to pose as sexy hitchhikers, and when a poor schmo pulls to the side of the road to help them, Benson and the gang spring on them and rob them like the highwaymen of old. Unsurprisingly, he takes a shine to Maggie, and before long, he’s showing her the ropes of how to be a sexy hitchhiking thief.
With apologies to Barbie Benton, I think Misty Rowe was the hottest of the Hee-Haw Honeys. Her platinum blonde look and sexy demeanor makes her an ideal Drive-In Queen. For whatever reason, other than a handful of Larry Buchanan movies, her career never really lived up to her early potential as this was a rather auspicious film debut.
The Hitchhikers has some big swings in tone. It goes from a carefree vibe to a buzz-killing rape scene. There’s a depressing makeshift abortion that’s followed by an orgy. Some will be turned off by that rollercoaster effect, but I found the “anything goes” tone to be indicative of its drive-in sensibilities. I also dug the Folk Rock soundtrack that acts as a Greek Chorus over Maggie’s various trials and tribulations.
The only real flaw is the lack of a concrete ending. You would think that having a heroine shacking up with a Manson stand-in would lead to some sort of violent confrontation in the end. However, (slight spoiler) the open-ended wrap-up means Maggie gets her happy ending, but at the same time, the audience really deserved some sort of satisfying conclusion. Instead, the film basically peters out at the end. On the plus side, it has healthy doses of T & A, courtesy of cat fights, skinny-dipping, and sex scenes. Plus, Misty is terrific, so if for that and nothing else, The Hitchhikers is worth picking up.
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