Take an Easy Ride DVD Review from Odeon!
Take an Easy Ride is sort of a pornographic public safety film which began life as a TV production but ended up playing the sex screens, courtesy of nifty porno king, David Grant, who wished the director to spice things up a bit. A bit? He went a whole chunk it appears, cramming so much insanity into 40 minutes it’s almost uncomfy.
In the early 70s, hitch-hiking was apparently a new craze in the UK, as lots of nubile girls in skimpy gear thumbed lifts up and down motorways (and boys did as well, but this film doesn’t mention them).
“The producers of this film wish to give you the opportunity to judge for yourselves whether hitch-hiking should be….banned!” the sinister final word leers from the screen as the narrator relishes every drop of emotion. “Is it a form of Russian roulette?” We see a police car zooming down long country roads and then cut to two American lads who explain what hitch-hiking is like in the USA, then two Euro girls who speak in thick accents. An even heavier accented British guy says, “There’s been fairly recent reports of young girls being raped, y’ know.” His teeth deserve their own credit for the show of tombstones.
Let’s meet jolly flared trousers-wearing Mary, who almost skips across the road to meet her friend Ann. Two long haired pretty college girls means one thing in this film, as we shall see. They dance the evening to a wide mouthed deejay surrounded by forgotten fashions. “Let’s have another track from the LP of the week! Here we go!” Oh my God what a dick! The two girls discuss heading to a festival.
Back to the two American kids and they explain how there’s usually trouble in the South — girls get robbed and raped. We know them moonshine swigging yokels are up to naaaahhh guuuuuuddd. In the South it seems groups of people drive around looking for students.
A mature blonde is stopped by the camera crew for an interview. She says, “Oh yes I used to hitch-hike, but it’s not a pretty story.” Flashback and Suzanne is carefully hitching. A couple, Alan and Margaret pick her up. You see straight away these two are eyeing her up in almost drooling ways.
Cut to a sulking Mary who has to listen to her mother tell her off about the festival. In comes sweaty suited father who says, “What the bloody hell’s going on?” Is this a set-up for some kind of kinky incest movie that David Grant would have rubbed his money over? Nope, instead of a strip or Mary getting a spanking, Dad is quite happy to pass her some cash to head off.
Meanwhile, two more nubile girls are jumping into a lorry, one flashing her panties to the camera. The driver, Jock, keeps staring at their bare legs with his oily face and scruffy undone tie and mad hair. Then we meet the man who is infamous in this movie, Mr. Black Gloves. He has no name, and we never see his face. All we can witness is the back of his head in his sports car, and his black leather gloves fingering through some well shuffled pornographic magazines. The writer of this happy romp, Derek Slater, plays this deranged character (and one of the parents) in a thankless role which David Hess would be proud of, as well as he reminded me of Uncle Ernie in The Who’s Tommy. For no reason at all, we are now in Soho, with tons of dancers and stills from 70s golden porn of all kinds. The main dancer looks as if she is wearing a plastic mask like the home invaders in The Purge, however on closer inspection she is just frikking ugly!!!
Jock appears to be a decent chap. He warns off a fellow trucker whilst at a cafe stop. “Leave it be, they’re only kids. Jailbait!” Off they go all happy.
Our two cute main characters are thumbing in very short skirts and we see the black gloves gripping the steering wheel as the sports car pulls up alongside them. Oh dear, this won’t end well will it kids? We see an article in a nation newspaper regarding a strangler who is at large. They tell him where they’re going. “Bet there’ll be plenty of boys there.” he says, “Bet you like boys don’t you?”
Alan and Margaret take Suzanne to a B&B for a quick drink, and somewhere else in time or in the country, two bad girl hitch-hikers steal a knife and money from a cafe, with loud drum banging music. They buy some weed and get stoned in a field, plotting their next moves.
Mr. Black Gloves takes our girls down a quiet country road, they are uncomfy, covering their legs a bit. The music has become eerie. He passes them a porno mag, “Ever tried this with your boyfriend?” My Horror Soulmate chucked, “That’s like something you’d do.” What???!! If you recall my review for the rape roughie, Forgive Me for Raping You (see review here), she compared me to the central vile sex pest in that and said the same thing. I swear down my Horror Soulmate has some bizarre ideas about me. It all turns out bad as he begins diddling Mary, who runs from the car screaming. Ann is giving chase but sees Mr. Black Gloves strip and beat Mary down. He runs and catches Ann, leading to a long molesting scene as the camera zooms on her crotch, breasts and crying face.
Our two fugitive stoner’s kill a young motorist, and then Suzanne’s story reaches in sleazy conclusion with the couple. After a bath wherein Margaret joins her, Suzanne is drunkenly taken to bed whilst Alan films the girls groping. Then his chubby-assed naked body slides on top in a mass of legs and arms rolling around.
Take an Easy Ride finishes with the parents of the attacked girls, the police and the hospital, of course we see a quick glimpse of Mr. Black Gloves again.
There’s something rather disturbing about the upper class stiff upper lip mentality of this short flick, and the amount of nudity and nastiness. It’s absolutely first rate and stays in your head after you’ve watched it. Rape, violence, porn, strippers, lesbians, murder, drugs, Take an Easy Ride is a 40 minute catalogue of almost everything we symbolize with Grindhouse and Soho creations. It feels like Last House on the Left and I Spit on Your Grave, as a grubby muddy chore. The nudity isn’t a pleasure, it adds to the feeling of doom for some of the young cast. Then we have Mr. Black Gloves. The fact he’s never seen and the way he gropes the girls is rather epic in itself.
Take an Easy Ride is a classic, when all said and done. The cast of unknowns and bit players do very well with the script, and the locations in and around Kent are very well used. With such a short running time, Odeon Entertainment decided wisely to pop on a 20 minute interview with Ken Rowles, and a way out pilot episode for a never made TV series called Go Girl which is so sixties in appearance you can almost smell the miniskirts. Plus with a few trailers for other features it makes up a bit of value for the cash. Worth mentioning is the grainy atmospheric transfer and the excellent sound levels.
Directed by: Kenneth Rowles | Written by: Derrick Slater | Produced by: Chris Rowles, Kenneth Rowles | Cinematography by: Douglas Hill | Music by: Don Harper | Cast: Helen Bernat, Derrick Slater, Pauline Bates, Charles Erksine, Ina Skriver, Tara Lynn, Jeanne Field | Year: 1976 | Country: United Kingdom | Language: English | Colour: Colour | Runtime: 41min
Distributor: Odeon Entertainment
DVD SPECS:
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Region: PAL R0
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
– Go Girl TV Pilot
– The Ups and Downs of a Filmmaker
– Trailers
