Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

dbborroughs This is a 90 minute documentary about the Highway Safety Institutes Driver's Ed shock films. Its a graphic trip down memory lane to a time and place that many of us never experienced and only heard about.Hell's Highway is the story of the company that produced educational films for schools and institutions from the late 1950's until the 1980's. The Highway Safety Institute was borne of the idea that if people saw the horrors of traffic accidents they would drive more carefully. The film makers went out and filmed the aftermath of terrible accidents where the broke bodies were removed from the wreck cars for years. The film they shot ended up in dozens of films that grossed out generations of school kids.This documentary is an interesting look at the people who went out and filmed the carnage. We get interviews with the film makers, police, and people who saw the films in addition to clips from the films themselves. Its a visceral experience that leaves you feeling a bit uneasy. Several clips are more shocking in the documentary than they probably are in the source films because you get the stories behind the footage which makes them more heartbreaking and gruesome.The film however suffers from over length. Running some 90 minutes the film begins to feel pointless about half way in, as the film makers seem intent of telling you everything about the company that made these films (including rumors of porn films). Its not bad, its simply that after a while the interest begins to wane as the film goes into all of the other films that the company made. While not fatal I did find that I was stopping the film to do other things simply because I was losing interest.If you are interested in seeing a rapidly disappearing slice of Americana I recommend you take the time and see this film. Its an informative (if gory) look into the past. Also if you saw any of these films as a teenager this is the perfect way of re-seeing the movies that probably haunted your nightmares for weeks afterward.(And if you're really interested get your hands on the DVD which comes with a second disc with four or five complete films and clips from probably two dozen more)

Pepper Anne "Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films" is more like a historical recollection of the famed Highway Safety Productions, which is largely responsible for setting in motion a particular type of educational film. With interviews primarily from Earl Deems, John Domer, and John Butler, this movie traces the beginnings of the highway safety films to Mansfield, a small town in Ohio. As the legend goes, at least according to those in this documentary, it started with a man who came to town photographing fatal car accidents. Eventually, this man joins with others doing the same, and they team up with the Mansfield, Ohio Police Department, gathering this footage of real car crashes, which eventually served the setting for at least three decades worth of educational films emphasizing auto safety.These movies have become a kind of unverified myth for the modern day high school driver's education student. The tales of Red Asphalt and such which have never been seen, but only rumored about. The films of Highway Safety Productions were a hybrid of educational films in their day, at least according to this documentary, because they were basically using footage from real-life auto crashes, mixed with some poorly produced, generic storyboarding to provide some structure and linear storytelling, as a scare tactic for safe driving. The filmmakers assure that these films were most successful, but I would be interested to see that, given the academic theorists positions on the problems of using scare tactic campaigns, whether these films were actually successful in reducing auto accident rates (overall or among a particular age group) in Mansfield, Ohio or other small towns where these films were shown (I suggest small towns because it would be easier to do that kind of statistical, historical analysis). I do disagree with the filmmakers that teenagers today are too desensitized to violence these days to appreciate the kind of reaction (and presumably, caution), these films were intended to elicit. I have seen my share of violent films and played my share of violent video games (especially, Grand Theft Auto), but I could not seem to get through the three full-length driver's ed films provided in the DVD package without getting choked up over the horrible sights of mangled bodies and such.This movie does tend to run quite long, and is introduced by a series of somewhat disorganized anecdotes which lay the historical foundation. Again, it is largely a story of the Highway Safety Production company rather than simply, highway safety films in general. As such, we learn a great deal more about the company's additional ventures into other forms of educational productions such as police and trucker training videos, which were initiated after the success of their driver's education films. There are also some moments of attempted scandal and sensationalism inserted there at what seemed like an unusual break in the film, which was unusual and probably, unnecessary as it is told in a way that makes you question the source.Nonetheless, viewers interested in scare tactics campaigns (it does not do much analysis about the success of these films on driver accident rates and such), or just looking for information on a rather novel documentary subject, are advised to give it a try. Again, the DVD package gives the viewer an opportunity to see the old films for himself as it includes three full-length versions plus additional excerpts.

Paul-308 A great idea,but a rather shaky production.Great interviews with members of the Foundation,and video archivists.They missed the chance to possibly interview those who appeared in the films (as victims) and those who recreated scenes in their films (like Wheels of Tragedy).But overall,thank goodness this genre has been given a new voice.Kids today laugh at death and blood.Society has felt it better to shield kids from the reality of death and agony rather than shock them/damage them,with the truth.Death isn't pretty,but its reality.Many thousands die every year,and millions are injured....what better subject to showcase than the fact that car crashes kill and maim American lives.For those who feel that sacraficing even one soldier in Iraq or Afganistan is wrong,just stop and think....how many Americans die in just ONE day on our roads? And nothing our "mighty" SUVs,pickups,semis,muscle cars or exotic imports can prevent.People die in EVERY vehicle,in every state and in every town.And over time,in every street.Think about that next time you tool around town talking on the cell phone or adjusting your radio knob.Take the advice these films were meant to give...think,use your head,and fear for your life.You will be a much safer driver as a result.

shaffreytm I was shown one of these scare films in the mid-80s and believe they are enormously effective. This documentary is about a fascinating topic, but it's point of view promotes the idea that the films don't work. I could not disagree more. After seeing the real result of speeding, or going through a stop sign in one of these films in a high school driver's ed class I drove MUCH more carefully as a teenager. Those bloody corpses smashed into the windshield are so disgusting I believe I'm still the cautious driver I am today because of them. THE TACTIC WORKS. We live in an era when corporate media and the government believe the public is too queasy to see our war dead from Iraq. And those are just coffins! The more informed we are about the real consequences of our actions the better off we are.