Good start, but then it gets ruined

Excellent, a Must See

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I just rented a "Something Weird" Double Feature DVD.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140174/ Hitch Hike to Hell (1977) and Date with a Kidnapper. (SPOILERS) BAD BAD BAD. Horrible harsh lighting, static boring acting, lame still static camera-work. Phony acting except for the mother, the cop who was played by Russell Johnson ( The professor on Gilligans Island) and one of the victims mother. A Norman Bates type is mad that his sister ran away from home- so he murders runaway teens on the highway. I tried to find it so bad it was funny- just BAD.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077401/ Date with a Kidnapper (1976) Another Kidnap movie- but this one was WAY better. Clean color- VERY good camera work (nearly every shot was on a dolly). Eddie Matlock, a guy who looks like a cross between Ted Bundy and Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers) kidnaps a dorky college girl. He hides her in a sleazy motel- then 2 other unrelated gangsters come in and rape her.someone on IMDb said: "A woman living in a boarding house is kidnapped by a small-time criminal. Soon others in the gang try to take her away from him so they can get the ransom."I don't think I agree with that- I don't think they were part of the same gang. At one point Eddie Matlock says " I don't know you!"Some VERY cool shots. But it got bizarre when the two fall in love and wind up at a farmhouse owned by an insane ex cop who looks like Santa Claus. He comes after Eddie with a knife and he shoots Santa. Then we see Santa with a pitchfork in him (?). Then they just let 3 hoodlums take the ransom money (!)Did the 3 hoodlums kill them?Was the money traceable? Is that why they let the robbers have it? I didn't buy them falling in love- unmotivated.I agree that I like the direction- the little touches like the old man ignoring the screeches.PS- did they just abandon the mute girl at the farm?

*May Contain Spoilers*Quiet school-girl Leslie Ann Rivers is lusted after by every man in the first part of the movie, then abducted for ransom by mean John Canon (aka Jack Canon or Jack Cannon, who also starred in Friedel's AXE.) Canon's roles were generally those of dirtballs and sadists, but this time he's not the worst character in the picture, and the KIDNAPPED COED's troubles are only beginning. As he did with AXE, Friedel treats us to many creepy, decrepit Carolina settings and bizarre, often degenerate supporting characters. One old farmer here looks and acts like an aging, maniacal Grizzly Adams; Larry Drake appears as a hulking nursing home attendant. The ending is depressing beyond belief. Now available on DVD with HITCH HIKE TO HELL, another Harry Novak hit. Between this, CONVICTS' WOMEN, THE CANDY SNATCHERS and a few others, fans of nasty kidnap pot-boilers were in Hog Heaven back in the 1970s.

John Canon and Leslie Rivers...what a pair! These two unsung decent actors had surprisingly convincing chemistry between them. They both made this movie that much more tolerable as did the excellent cinematography and the well conveyed moody atmosphere. The story is well-tread and predictable and the incidents too few for the movie's timeframe. As a result, we have a movie that drags on with its poigniant moments of developing love between kidnapper and abductee fizzling to an ignorable drone. What's remarkable is how society in this picture is portrayed as uncaring and ugly: an old man sits on a bench looking on as blood curdling shrieks emit from the window of the hotel where Leslie River's character is being raped. Other incidents of violence occure while passers-by either go about their own business or wish not to be disturbed. At one point, while running from her abductor, Rivers pleads with a wandering man for help but he can't do anything as he is blind. The surroundings being filled with useless or evil people creates a feeling of helplessness. Finally, the picture ends as it does (I wont spoil) and mercifully so as it tends to go on a bit too long and instead of "THE END" we see "FOR ADOLPH". What the hell does that mean? Hitler? Probably not, but still, one of those mysteries that makes a movie that much more special.

You would never guess that "The Kidnapped Coed" clocks in at a mere 76 minutes. At times, it seemed like an eternity.I would like to state that I am definitely not someone who needs violent action or gratuitous nudity every few minutes in a movie. However, I do enjoy some dialogue every once in a while. The dramatic pauses in "Kidnapped Coed" are long enough that you could take a solid nap during one. It gets awfully boring sitting around for a full two minutes looking at the main characters and waiting for one of them to actually say something. With tighter editing, this film could have been cut down to about half an hour and none of the plot would have been lost."Kidnapped Coed" is about the following: Man kidnaps young woman. He holds her for ransom. Woman falls in love with kidnapper. They spend a lot of time doing absolutely nothing.The only positive thing I can really say about this little flick is that it has surprisingly good cinematography. A couple of the shots were very nicely set up. Too bad the rest of the film lacked that quality. 2/10