Hot Rods To Hell (1967)

Recovering from his severe injuries in a car accident, a father (Dana Andrews) is moving his wife (Jeanne Crain) and children (Laurie Mock, Jeffrey Bryon) from Boston to the California desert. But nearing their destination, they are terrorized by a gang of drag racers who drive them off the road. But it won't end there as the thugs continue to harass them in their new residence. Based on the short story 52 MILES TO TERROR by Alex Gaby and directed by John Brahm. A dreadful piece of junk! Brahm (whose final film this was) had directed some stylish films in the 1940s like HANGOVER SQUARE, THE LODGER and THE LOCKET but the movie is so terribly written that there's nothing a veteran director like him could do to salvage it. It's not even fun enough to qualify as camp! Similarly, Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain were two of the most popular stars at 20th Century Fox in the 1940s (they co-starred in STATE FAIR) and appeared in such Fox classics as LAURA and A LETTER TO THREE WIVES so it's particularly sad to see them reduced to rubbish like this. They're both awful here but I don't blame it on them, Brando and Streep couldn't have made sense of the trite dialogue. Originally intended for TV but switched to a theatrical release at the last minute. With Mimsy Farmer and Paul Bertoya.