Review of Hell Drivers

Introduction

Let`s see if we can concoct the perfect cult movie with some basic ingredients shall we? Right, first, let`s set it in the heyday of British gritty realism - the latter end of the `50`s. Then let`s shoot it all in high contrast black and white so that every frame would make a magnificent and frameable still. Now let`s build up a dream cast … maybe Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner) as a crazed Irish psychopath, and then let`s add the brooding Stanley Baker in as our hero. Then let`s throw in some Sean Connery (007 - as if you needed the prompt!). Maybe the first and finest `Doctor Who as a callous, cold and calculating Director would be good (William Hartnell) and maybe Gordon Jackson too (The Professionals). Then to cap it off, let`s get David Macallum in to give us a full house (Man from Uncle, Sapphire and Steel). Heck, we`re fantasising here, we can do what the hell we like - let`s get Sid James in too to give us the odd classic cackle too, and maybe a young and beautiful Peggy Cummins for romantic interest. Now we`ve got the cast - let`s get a story. How about a tale about a crooked haulage company who encourage their drivers to risk life and limb every second of every day to meet bonus targets that could never be achieved in any other way. Let`s build up the drama with violence, jealousy, and heartache. And let`s conclude the movie literally on a cliff-hanger.

What`s that? Already been done? And it`s called `Hell Drivers` - an absolute gem of a movie.

Baker (playing a cool but earnest ex-con trying to make good) hears about a job going at a Ballast plant as a short-run driver. He seeks an interview with a positively sinister William Hartnell and takes a test drive where he`s encouraged to put his foot down and be damned with the consequences. As he touches the brake on his trial drive, his `Manager` advises, "Don`t lighten up …`. `What if we meet something?` asks Baker. "What if we don`t? Look on the bright side…" is the chilling retort.

The film is full of brooding tensions and shares some of the gritty realism of `This Sporting Life` or `A Taste of Honey` for example. But it`s also a chase movie, a race movie - and despite some slightly dated dialogue, a drama that grips from start to finish.

Tom, as our hero is known, takes a room in a tough boarding house full of fellow drivers - including the maniacal `Red`, a psychopathic foreman obsessed with retaining his record of 18 runs in a day. The obsession becomes two-sided as Tom sets out to beat Red at his own game in order to win the prize of a solid silver cigarette case worth a staggering £250 - a small fortune in 1957. `Imagine what you could buy with that!" dreams a boyish Sean Connery!

Tom refuses to fight in a village brawl along side his other drivers. As an ex-con this could have dire consequences and he`s quickly shunned by all his fellow workers except one - a charming Italian, Gino, who is devoted to a girl, who in turn is devoted to Tom. Well…you get the picture!

For McGoohan fans, there is some additional and prophetic magic in the closing scenes where Baker commandeers McGoohan`s truck, swapping his number 13 for a number 1. "I am Number 1` he tells a bewildered McGoohan. (So that`s who it was!).

The movie ends on an apocalyptic high where (without giving too much away) murder and mayhem are just some of the many ingredients on offer. Magnificent!

Video

This is an almost flawless print and Carlton have done a magnificent job of re-mastering this to DVD. I say almost as there is a segment of the film where clearly this print has suffered some wear and tear but it`s marginal and won`t get in the way of your enjoyment. It`s also a pleasure to see a film of this type and age offered up in wide-screen which really helps in the race and chase scenes. The film was made in that particularly high contrast style that you would associate with lower budget British movies of this era - and it looks great!

Audio

This has a fine soundtrack, predictably mastered here in Dolby Digital Mono. It features some very evocative music that helps add to the brooding tension of the movie. The dialogue errs on the trebly end of the spectrum, but this is absolutely typical of low budget Rank movies of this vintage where post audio-dubbing was reserved for the absolutely essential only.

Features

Apart from a very compelling trailer (which you should use to convince partners / visitors or relatives that this is a movie that`s worth watching) there are a couple of delightful and unexpected treats. The finest of these is a `Making of` documentary commissioned by Rank at the time as part of the publicity when launching the film. It`s unclear where this might have been shown but, entitled `Look in on Hell Drivers` it features a very `Chumley-Warner` style interviewer talking to real lorry driving chappies in a transport café near London! It also has several sequences shot on set and a brief interview with the American Director (Endfield later of `Zulu` fame) of this very British movie. Despite truly awful audio, it`s a real time-capsule and well-worth including here. There`s also an interview with a moody, smoking Stanley Baker that includes questions so off-pat that they now sound almost like a parody - but all the more charming for that. There are also english subtitles for the hard of hearing.

Conclusion

This gritty, moody, hard-boiled action movie is period gem. It has an irresistible cast - and the race and chase scenes will have you clutching the edges of your armchair.
It has a great mix of solid and passionate character acting, a decent screen play and some of the toughest truck action ever to hit the silver-screen!
This finely mastered wide-screen edition retails for under a tenner and no self-respecting movie fan should be without one.