That’s the idea behind the two-fer DVDs issued by Something Weird Video. One example is the twin-bill reviewed below, featuring films by the legendary Harry Novak.

Hitch Hike to Hell (1968) / Kidnapped Co-ed (1976)

Hitch Hike to Hell introduces Howard, an adult loser who lives with his mom and does pick-up/delivery for a small-town dry cleaner. Howard’s major issue is that his sister ran away from home and left poor mom devastated. Howard is a good-natured doofus who will give anyone a ride in his red delivery van...unless he finds out that the rider is running away from home. Then he zones out and turns into a vicious killer, recalling nothing about his murders until he experiences flashbacks later.

The first rider/victim (that we know of) speaks critically of the mother she is trying to escape, and that gives Howard a colossal headache. He pulls his van over to the side of a deserted road, yanks the girl out of the truck and throws her to the ground. Then he rips open her blouse to reveal her breasts (thanks, Howard) and chokes her to death. He arrives back at work late, gives his boss a lame excuse, and goes home to his mom.

Next he picks up a free-spirited, nomadic gal who’s been hitching her way across the USA for a few months. Howard gets upset that she never bothered to call home to let her mom know she was okay. When he pulls into an abandoned area and tells her to get in the back of the van, she willingly complies, figuring it’s “time to pay for the ride.” What she didn't figure on was Howard jumping on top of her. Now what happens next may have been edited, because all we see is a view of both of them from the shoulders up, the girl is reacting fearfully and painfully to whatever Howard is doing to her, but the camera never shows what’s going on with the bottom halves of their bodies. Geez. Anyway, Howard finishes her off with a wire coat hanger, kicks her body out the door of the van, and dumps it over a hillside. He arrives back at work late, gives his boss a lame excuse, and goes home to his mom.

The cops (led by Russell Johnson of Gilligan’s Island) are still puzzling over the wire hanger connection (duh!...dry cleaner!). Meanwhile, Howard is parked in his van eating his lunch when a gay fellow asks him for a ride. In the course of the conversation, the fellow proudly says, “I'm different.” Clueless Howard looks up and asks, “Different from what?” That was my favorite line in the movie.

Fortunately, we don't get to see what Howard does to the next victim, a girl of about 10 who is running away from her bickering parents, lugging a suitcase almost as big as she is. This girl did the best acting job in the whole movie. I don't even want to mention how the cops found her. But even in death, she provides a clue to the killer’s identity.

Movie plusses: Howard rips blouses open before he kills the girls. The actresses are willing to have this happen to them.

Movie minuses: The biggest problem is the villain. He is not a nasty person, he’s just nuts. The rape/murder scenes are not well-staged, which, I'm sorry, detracted from my enjoyment of them. And the actresses portraying the victims...well, let’s just say they don't look anything like the ones on the box cover (no surprise there). Evidently, the movie was tampered with in the transfer from VHS to DVD.

The original might have been a little better, but this one gets a C-.

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Kidnapped Co-ed concerns geeky-looking college girl Sandra (Leslie Rivers), who is the daughter of wealthy parents, lives in a fancy hotel, and drives a big, black luxury car to school. That is, until one day when she encounters a back seat driver who puts a gun to her head. Eddie, a small-time crook, ties Sandra up in the back seat (hands in front...ack!) and commandeers the car. He’s hoping her rich daddy will pay a king’s ransom to get her back safely. In that respect, Eddie is both a threat and a protector.

When the two hole up in a seedy, small town hotel, two armed thugs burst through the door of their room. Sandra thinks she’s being rescued, but soon learns otherwise. As she goes to embrace one of the armed men, he whacks her across the face with his pistol, leaving an ugly gash that stays with her for the rest of the movie. When she pleads with the goon to ransom her, he abruptly and forcefully shoves his gun upward between her legs. She doubles over and sinks to the floor.

Incapacitated, Sandra is tied spreadeagle to the bed with strips of bedsheets, while Eddie is tied to a chair. One of the assailants holds a gun to Eddie’s head, forcing him to watch while the other climbs on top of Sandra and humps her as she screams. Unfortunately, Sandra remains clothed during this scene, and her nether region is covered up by her assaulter’s naked butt. But her reactions are pretty nice.

As Eddie watches he goes into a simmering boil but works at the ropes securing his wrists. When he finally loosens his bonds, his revenge against the two men is so swift and brutal (as well as fatal) that it leaves Sandra aghast.

Now the two are on the run, but they're slowly forming a bond. Well, you can tell where this is going. When their car breaks down and they seek shelter at a farmer’s house, they get to share a bed. And when she pleads, “Make love to me...please?” he complies, which takes the movie in a completely different and GIMPless direction.

Movie plusses: The acting and production values in this movie are way above the average B-movie standards. The two leads give convincing performances, as do those in minor roles. The movie is well-paced, and the hotel rape scene is gripping. Even nerdy Sandra grows on you, especially after she loses those big round glasses.

Movie minuses: The hotel rape scene is also the only worthwhile GIMPage in the movie. Even that scene suffers from the lack of female nudity and the bloody injury that mars Sandra’s face.

As a movie, this was better than I expected. But there was very little GIMPage in it. Still, the fine performances and the intensity of the non-nude rape scene lifts this one to the level of a C.