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Movies / On DVD / Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films
Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films

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Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films (2003)

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Reviews Counted: 12

Fresh: 9

Rotten:3

Average Rating: 6.3/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Theatrical Release:Jun 27, 2003 Limited

Synopsis: In 1960, accountant Richard Wayman and photographer Phyllis Vaughn started the Cleveland-based Highway Safety Foundation after amassing a sizeable collection of photos taken at auto crash sites and... In 1960, accountant Richard Wayman and photographer Phyllis Vaughn started the Cleveland-based Highway Safety Foundation after amassing a sizeable collection of photos taken at auto crash sites and shooting an educational film, SIGNAL 30, which incorporated crash site footage. The Foundation's film production wing, Safety Enterprises, went on to produce a number of now-legendary auto safety films (including WHEELS OF TRAGEDY and MECHANIZED DEATH) incorporating extremely grisly real-life imagery, which were shown to unsuspecting high school students across the United States in the 1960s and 70s. Bret Miller's documentary takes a probing look into the strange story of the people who made these bizarre and haunting films. He includes interviews with genre experts such as educational film archivist Richard Prelinger and Something Weird Video's Mike Vraney, as well as Earle Deems and John Domer--two of the men who worked on these compelling curiosities. While the subject matter is sensationalistic by nature, Miller's approach is reverent, and, though the films have passed on into the land of pop cultural legend, one is never doubtful that those who made the films did so out of a well-intentioned sense of duty and purpose. [More]

Director: Bret Wood

Director: Bret Wood
Studio: Kino International

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Release:

Oct 28, 2003

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Reviews for Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety...

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N/R

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Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/01/05
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Winds up functioning no differently than the disgraceful, despicable films it scrutinizes.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
05/04/05
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

The interviews with Prelinger are especially smart, discussing the ideological agendas frequently lurking in 'educational' materials.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
08/05/04
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

Wood delights in exposing the rubbernecking roots of these lurid films...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
11/11/03
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

The real highlights in Hell's Highway are the driver's ed scare films themselves, and [director] Wood has presented a generous sampling of often flabbergasting clips.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
10/17/03
Jake Euker
PopMatters

Maybe the next best thing to putting 'Deadman's Curve' on the turntable and cranking up the volume.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
09/12/03
Janice Page
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR's Fresh Air | comment Comment
08/06/03
David Edelstein
NPR's Fresh Air

How effective were the highway safety films in stopping accidents? Opinions differ. How effective is Hell's Highway in curing you of ever wanting to see another one? Completely.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
08/06/03
Rod Granger
Film Journal International
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
08/05/03
David Edelstein
Slate

Ephemeral films expert Rick Prelinger is on hand to situate the films in a larger cultural context but the clips speak louder than any interview, evoking a pre-seatbelt era of highway carnage and celluloid tough love.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/28/03
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Someday, perhaps, someone will make a documentary of Volvo commercials and Consumers Union test-drive videos, but I doubt it will be as unnerving -- or as much fun -- as Hell's Highway.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
06/28/03
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This not-for-the -squeamish documentary will definitely make you think twice about not buckling up.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
06/28/03
E! Online

Oddly nostalgic.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/28/03
Jordan Reed
Boxoffice Magazine

Director Bret Wood -- no relation to Ed -- sketches the fascinating history of Wayman's highway safety films.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
06/26/03
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An unfunny comedy and somewhat murky exposé.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
06/24/03
J. Hoberman
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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