Pick-up (1975)

Rating: ***1/2

IMDB Entry

Plot:
Two girls, one of whom is involved in all kinds of wacky occult stuff, hitch a ride with a young man out on the road in his RV. Before they know it, they’re stuck in a swamp after taking a bad detour. What follows is the most enjoyable movie I’ve seen in a long time.

Review:
Can you say “cult film?” I can! I love, love, LOVED this movie. It is a classic, plain and simple. The entire thing is just a series of totally oddball and creepy events, one after another.

And is it ever bizarre! The clown/balloon sequence is extremely creepy—the kind of stuff that would have given me nightmares when I was little. The rape stuff and Christ images are totally weird and uncomfortable. The comic relief (a wannabe politician) is baffling, utterly strange, and yes, funny in a very odd way. The love-triangle that develops is inexplicable. The occult stuff is genuinely creepy and, again, like something out of a crazy dream. The flashbacks thrown in will have you shaking your head: they don’t seem relevant, but for some reason you can’t take your eyes off of them.

I don’t want to make this review that much longer, because I don’t want to give too much away. But I’ll say this: the film is just one giant “trip,” and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. I was very pleasantly surprised, and am now glad that I own this on DVD.

Add one dash of David Lynch and one dash of Russ Meyer (for whatever reason, some scenes reminded me of Up!), and you have Pick-up.