...Fifties drive-in flick you could hope to see, as pure an example of the early output of that supreme ginch-meister distributor, American International Pictures, as you could hope for. Featuring a risible screenplay with some of the goofiest dialog imaginable ("Don't boil!"), equally laughable and indifferent direction, production values that only The Three Stooges could love, and acting chops straight out of the "I Love Lucy/Donna Reed" playbook, "Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow" manages to fail on every count while still providing mucho unintentional amusement. Thankfully, it's barely an hour long. Currently "free" on Amazon Prime, it's undoubtedly out there equally cheap on platforms like YouTube. Need a sleeping pill? Here ya go! Truly, I should have rated it much lower, but somehow it struck my funny bone in all the right (or wrong) ways.

Ghosts of Dragstrip Hollow (1959) ** (out of 4) A drag-racing club are facing hard times when their hand out is being taken away from them. With no where to go they learn about one spot out on a creepy road but they're warned not to go there because of it being haunted. Of course, they head out there anyways.GHOSTS OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW is a very, very stupid little movie but at the same time it's just so darn addicting because of how stupid it is. The film tries to be both a hotrod picture as well as a horror film and I'm really not sure it does either of them right. The film runs a very quick sixty-five minutes and features enough laughs to make it worth watching.The best thing going for the film is its wannabe "hip" dialogue, which has the teenagers saying all sorts of phrases and of course the dimwitted parents here don't know what they're saying. I'm going to guess that this film did a very good job at capturing how teens spoke at the time and I must admit that I'm very happy I wasn't a part of this crowd or its language.The horror elements really don't start until the final ten minutes and what's cool is that they wink at other AIP monster films from this era. Movies like DAY THE WORLD ENDED, THE SHE-CREATURE and INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN have their monsters show up in this film and that certainly adds to the charm.

I guess my brain removal has finally kicked in, but I enjoyed this slice of teen-age nonsense. The r&r seldom stops along with the twirling teens catching the beat. Add the humorous asides from an array of eccentric characters, including a nerdy duo, a wacky spinster with a winged hat, and a parrot from heck. Sure there's no plot, just a blast in a haunted house with a monster in need of employment. But it's a good chance to catch up with the lingo and styles of the day. Of course, for some of us, it's also a tour down memory lane. The cast may be no-names, still they do well enough, even the killjoy dad (Smith). And, oh yeah, catch how the canny producers loaded the first part with dragsters and road racing. That's a good action hook, but turns out to be different from the rest. Then too, I'll bet Tommy Ivo's dragster he so proudly shows off was really his own since he was a dedicated drag racer and designer (IMDB). Anyhow, give your brain a rest and join the nonsensical fun of drive-in 1959.

A very loose sequel to AIP's 1958 Hot Rod Gang, which was marginally more serious, this movie is just sheer goofiness from start to finish. For a hot rod movie, there's not much in the way of drag racing action, but there are plenty of dance numbers with assorted leggy girls rocking and rolling in a way guaranteed to raise the average male's blood pressure. ( Check out the slumber party sequence with the young ladies dancing in short nighties).A lot of the humor is pretty feeble, but it's an engaging little movie in its own right. Anyone who likes the AIP teen flicks of the Fifties will probably enjoy this.