PopHorror Let's Get Scared
SOV director Bret McCormick (The Abomination) was churning out product for VHS rental at a pretty decent clip in the 1990’s. Some of his output is hit-or-miss, and he wore his influences on his sleeve, but for fans of the campy & cheap, but ambitious, this is the stuff! Wildeye’s Visual Vengeance series strikes paydirt again with a jam packed release of McCormick’s 1990 road picture, Highway To Hell.
Synopsis
Mass-murderer Toby Gilmore escapes from prison, and the open desert becomes his playground. An officer sets out in pursuit, and the chase hurtles across backroads, each mile bringing them closer to a reckoning on the highway to hell.
Not to be confused with the 1991 surrealist horror/comedy from Ate De Jong (featuring Ben & Jerry Stiller and Kristy Swanson!) of the same name, Highway To Hell is a “murder on the road” feature that, despite it’s shortcomings, continually punches above it’s weight class.
Escaped murderer Toby Gilmore (Benton Jennings; American Horror Story) is one sick bastard. Prone to un-aliving random people at the drop of a hat, when he’s not busy road raging or talking to himself, he just wants to avoid the law and disappear. But, those pesky murderous urges keep boiling over and soon, the lawman who first took him down, Earl Dent (Richard Harrison; Nudist Colony of the Dead) is hot on his trail. Gilmore finds an insurance policy in young Fran (Blue Thompson; Blood on the Badge) a girl just trying to get home to the family in Dallas for the weekend. Crime, pursuit and, eventually, a reckoning are all on the menu for Gilmore and company.
Gritty, grainy, and dusty, Highway To Hell looks the part. A shot-on-video film that makes the most of the sparse Texas landscape. Used to great advantage on low-fi flicks like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this type of landscape is almost a character unto itself, feeding into the grim, hopelessness of horror films. But, as mentioned above, this is a road picture, with much more in common with films like Race With The Devil and The Hitcher, the latter of which is an obvious influence here.
Performances run the gamut, from overwrought melodrama, to the just plain uninspired, but there’s a real, decent story in the script (penned by Gary Kennamer; Redneck Couty Fever) and that’s what serves to elevate this film: there’s a palpable suspense and a functioning plot to the proceedings, rare in films at this price point. Of course, at this particular budget range, there’s some limitations: virtually nonexistent effects, corny violence, and an absurd exploding helicopter, despite this, Highway To Hell is kept afloat by the solid script and deft direction by McCormick. Entertaining stuff!
Visually, the transfer looks like one would expect from a tape source, washed out in spots, a little garbled audio, but, with a film like this, it does more to add to the experience rather than working against it. As always, Visual Vengeance releases pour on the extras! Slipcase, reversible cover (with the OG VHS art!), the ever-present stickers and a mini poster for Redneck County Fever, a mind numbingly goofy feature McCormick did in 1992 that’s included here in it’s entirety. There’s also a commentary track, interviews with Harrison, Kennamer, and a fun piece with Thompson (McCormick’s ex wife!).
A compelling watch, even with some apparent shortfalls, Highway To Hell shows the evolution of a 1990’s Texas underground fixture in McCormick. He went on to things like Repligator and the like, cementing his legacy in the realm of low-rent, indie cinema. Dusty, mean, and over-the-top, Highway To Hell is essential viewing for fans of the type of flicks you could only find in the mom-and-pop video stores of yesteryear.
Wildeye Releasing’s Visual Vengeance Blu-ray of Highway To Hell streets on 3/10/2026 at fine retailers.
