Highway to Hell
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Synopsis
When Charlie (Chad Lowe, Apprentice to Murder) and Rachel (Kristy Swanson, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) decide to elope to Las Vegas, their decision to take a desert shortcut via an abandoned Nevada backroad proves to be a fateful one: they are ambushed by the Hellcop (C. J. Graham, Friday the 13th), who abducts Rachel on behalf of Satan, snatching her through a portal to hell with the intention of making her the bride of the Satan himself. In hot pursuit via a supernatural car from a local gas station attendant (Richard Farnsworth, The Straight Story), Charlie must dodge demons while keeping Rachel and the Hellcop in his sights in order to rescue his kidnapped fiance and battle his way out of Hell!
A wild and witty fusion of Highway ‘66 iconography, pop-culture Satanism and the Odyssey, Highway to Hell was written by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) and directed by Ate De Jong (Drop Dead Fred). With fantastically creative uses of claymation and visual effects from supervisor Steve Johnson (Species) and Randall William Cook (Lord of the Rings), and a stacked supporting cast (including cameos from Ben Stiller, Jerry Stiller, rocker Lita Ford and Gilbert Gottfried as Hitler), Highway to Hell is a deliriously entertaining, nitro-boosted slice of pure 90s excess. Long languishing in cult obscurity, Transmission presents this film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.
Picture 8/10
Transmission brings Ate De Jong’s cult film Highway to Hell to Blu-ray in the UK, presenting the film in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on a dual-layer disc. The 1080p/24hz high-definition presentation is sourced from a supplied high-definition master. The disc is locked to Region B, meaning North American viewers will require players that can handle Region B content.
The film had languished in a sort of purgatory for a couple of decades after its original home video debut on VHS, never receiving any sort of DVD release anywhere, before finally making its way to Blu-ray (and DVD finally) through Kino in 2016. It sounds as though this was at least partially due to rights issues, with MGM eventually sorting everything out. Around that time the film also received a newer master, which is what Kino—and now, by the looks of it, Transmission—appear to be using.
If I had to guess, the presentation looks to be sourced from a 2K restoration, more than likely taken from an interpositive, though I admit I'm not entirely sure. That said, it holds up reasonably well even if it may be open to improvement. Though some moments can look a little hazy, clarity is generally strong, with high levels of detail present in close-ups. The etchings on the Hellcop's prosthetics (one of the more interesting horror character designs to emerge from the late-'80s/early-'90s period of horror films) look particularly impressive. Grain reproduction is generally good, though it can appear a little clumpy at times in darker areas, something I assume is inherent to the supplied master. The encode otherwise handles everything impeccably, making sure not to enhance any of the source's underlying issues.
Colors occasionally lean a little towards pink, evident in skin tones, but overall they look quite good, with the blue skies (of Hell, mind you) popping nicely. Black levels are also generally strong, offering decent shadow detail in darker locations, such as the donut shop, though they can occasionally appear a little flat or mushy during other low-lit sequences.
The restoration work itself is solid, with only a few minor marks appearing throughout. In short, the presentation is open to improvement and would likely benefit from a newer scan, but for what it is, it holds up reasonably well.
Highway to Hell - Screen Captures
Audio 8/10
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA stereo soundtrack us also pretty good. I can’t say I was a big fan of the score, but it does sound very sharp with ample range. Dialogue is clear while explosions have a nice punch to them. No heavy damage or severe distortion as well. In general, it sounds good.
Extras 8/10
The disc comes packed with a decent selection of features, including two audio commentaries: one by director Ate de Jong (recorded in 2016 for Kino’s now out-of-print Blu-ray) and a newly recorded one featuring Kim Newman and Sean Hogan. For releases like this, I’ve always found tracks from Newman and Hogan enlightening because they tend to bring an infectious enthusiasm to the films they cover, often getting me to appreciate movies I would otherwise be fairly (or outright) dismissive of. As a result, I was looking forward to digging into this one.
Unfortunately, I can’t say I found much of that here. Though the two have plenty to say and keep the track free of lengthy dead spots, there isn’t the usual sense of passion, and they come across as somewhat detached from the material. They admit to having only a passing familiarity with the film, which, to be fair, likely stems from its limited release history due to Hemdale's collapse and the film sitting on a shelf for several years. However, they also don't seem particularly familiar with de Jong's work, only briefly mentioning a couple of his other films. The track becomes more engaging when they branch out into discussions of similar films from the period and the effects work and artists involved, but beyond that I didn't get much out of it. I generally look forward to contributions from Newman and Hogan, but this one left me a little disappointed.
On the other hand, to my surprise, I was rather taken with de Jong’s commentary. Unsurprisingly, it focuses almost entirely on the production, effects work, technical difficulties, and conflicts with the studio and one of its producers, yet it remains consistently entertaining. De Jong talks a little about his background and move from the Netherlands to the United States, eventually leading to his involvement with Brian Helgeland’s script, a writer who, as he fondly points out, would go on to much bigger things. From there, he walks through just about every aspect of the production, from casting and filming to the film’s eventual release, detailing budgetary limitations, unexpected challenges, and the various surprises encountered along the way. He also spends a good amount of time closer to the end explaining how the film was ultimately taken away from him and altered against his wishes, while also addressing the financial troubles the film's original distributor, Hemdale, was facing, resulting in the film being shelved for several years.
Despite those difficulties, de Jong never comes across as bitter, and he seems genuinely happy that the film was returning to circulation through Kino’s 2016 Blu-ray release. That attitude even carries on into the new 24-minute interview produced for this edition, which expands on many of the subjects covered in the commentary. Maybe he mentioned it in the track and I missed it (I never made a note of it, at any rate), but he reveals that he was so frustrated by the changes made to the film that he actually began the process of having his name removed and replaced with—you guessed it—Alan Smithee. It apparently never reached that point (I'm guessing due to it being shelved), and with the benefit of time he seems to have made peace with the film, even acknowledging that they, including producer John Byers, were probably right about some of the changes made. He shares further thoughts on the film and what he thinks of it now, all with the same warmth and enthusiasm found in the commentary recorded nearly a decade earlier. I wasn't expecting this at all since I was fairly indifferent toward the film itself, but I ended up loving de Jong's two contributions.
Transmission also ports over two interviews from previous editions, including a 2016 piece with make-up artist Steve Johnson (from the Kino Blu-ray) and a 2020 interview with Hellcop himself, C.J. Graham (from the German Wicked-Vision Blu-ray). Johnson—who apparently isn't much of a Ben Stiller fan based on a comment he goes out of his way to make—discusses the design and construction of the film's practical effects, from its various creatures to those literal hand-cuffs. He also gets into the inspirations behind Hellcop's look and, given the final design, it's probably not all that surprising Clive Barker's writings played a role in it. Graham, for his contribution, discusses his casting, explaining that he landed the role over Kane Hodder only because the prosthetics, originally created for another performer who later dropped out, didn't fit Hodder. He also talks about filming in the intense desert heat while buried under all of that gear, and points out that he even performed his own car stunts despite having no prior experience. Both interviews prove to be quite a bit of fun.
The disc closes with the film’s trailer and a short gallery featuring poster and video artwork, production photos, and (interestingly) the headshots submitted by cast members during the film’s casting process, including Ben Stiller. The limited edition also includes a 31-page booklet featuring an essay by Sean McGeady covering the film's origins, themes, screenwriter, director, and long period of unavailability, followed by copies of the notes de Jong sent to Chad Lowe and Kristy Swanson. Various images are also scattered throughout the booklet, including a copy of the letter from the Directors Guild approving de Jong's request to use a pseudonym.
Other than the new commentary track, everything included here (including the excellent booklet) proved highly entertaining to go through. A nicely assembled set of material.
Closing
The film could certainly benefit from a new scan and restoration, but the presentation still holds up reasonably well, and the selection of supplements is mostly quite entertaining. All-in-all, a nicely assembled edition from Transmission.
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