Leofwine_draca Being a big fan of road movies, this rarity instantly appealed to me. It's a British production, a thriller which has enough twists, turns, tricks and red herrings to rival any recent blockbuster. By keeping the plot simple (it's a bit like a low-key, subtle version of THE HITCHER), the director allows us to focus on the characters in the film and get to know them as events unfold through plenty of down-to-earth dialogue. It's a simple way of grabbing the audience's attention, but you'd be surprised how many films can't even grasp this simple concept.Every trick in the book is pulled out here to keep the pace flying along. There's plenty of action, car chases, some weird psychological flashbacks which only reveal their importance at the film's climax, drama, suspense, plus the expected violence and nudity required to make this a sleazy epic. And it's all British, too, which gives it a novelty value unlike any other film I've seen - as I've said before, a little bit of originality goes a long way.Another plus is the high standard of acting on display here from the two leads. Both Simon Ward and Hayley Mills utterly convince us that they are the characters that they play, each with distinctive personalities and their own ways of dealing with situations. Ward is thoroughly charismatic and appealingly innocent as the young man who may or may not be a killer, while Mills bypasses the "screaming girl" factor so apparent in many horror films to become a fully-fleshed, believable person who proves to be resourceful and independent time and time again. American legend Sterling Hayden also pops up for a cameo as a quirky old chap who thinks that his luck's in with Mills - it isn't.This is a film which had me gripped right until the very end. Only in the closing minutes is the killer's identity confirmed, so it has you guessing right up until then. All this and plenty of fun moments too, such as a pair of Hells Angels who get more than they bargained for when one of their bikes is run off the road and explodes! What makes this film work for me is that the film is firmly rooted in reality, making what happens all the more interesting and involving. All the characters come across as real, everyday folk and even the British weather is spot on. DEADLY STRANGERS is a good example of clever, intelligent film-making and of what can be achieved on a low budget. Outstanding.

Theo Robertson A violent psychiatric patient escapes from a mental hospital . Nearby the next day Belle Adams is stuck in a roadside café . Accepting a life from a trucker she finds herself victim from unwanted attention by the trucker . Escapiing his clutches she staggers in to the road and his nearly hit by a car driven by Stephen Slade . Accepting a life from him she quickly becomes aware that he is doing all he can to avoid the police roadblocks searching for the patient !!!!!! MASSIVE SPOILERS!!!!!! Sometimes someone comes up with a great idea that confounds all expectations . Reading the synopsis to this relatively unknown British thriller you'll be asking yourself why anyone wants to go out of their way to watch it because it has predictable written all over it . Innocent young woman accepts a lift from a stranger who is psychotic . The way the story is told is equally predictable . The producers don't have faith in the premise and therefore it gets padded out by having flashback scenes as if there's an agenda of employing as many actors as possible in a minimalist story . The cynicism extends to having Sterling Hayden appear wearing a comedy beard in order to appeal to American distributors and one constantly finds oneself asking why instead of melodrama we couldn't have had film confined to a slow burning tale involving two talking roles where the tension is slowly but surely cranked up until the shocking end This has a relatively high average user rating . It's easy to see why because the ending is totally surprising and one that I didn't see coming . The problem is when you recall the rest of the story proceeding it then it doesn't make the slightest bit of sense whatsoever . When the patient escapes at the beginning they overpower a female nurse in an unpleasant scene that alludes to rape so we jump to the conclusion that Stephen is the escaped patient . When the cops arrive at the final scene they arrest Belle and it's rather obvious that by their reaction it is she who is the escaped patient who the authorities are hunting in a blaze of publicity . This was made in the mid 1970s when we didn't have 24 hour TV news broadcasting but yet every single character in the film knows there's an escaped maniac on the loose but unaware that she's female . The internal logic and continuity of the scenario doesn't hold up the slightest piece of scrutiny when given any thought . There's also another unpleasant scene where Stephen leaves Belle sleeping in the car , goes in to a shop and the young female counter assistant is murdered . We see the murder entirely take place through the murderer's POV then it cuts to Stephen going back to he car . You might think there might be a bit of ambiguity to this scene but it's almost certain Stephen carried out the murder , so we have a story about an escaped psychopath on the run from the police getting a lift from a serial killer . So what's the chances of anything like that remotely happening in real life ?

Ian Pennick Deadly Strangers is quite a basic storyline with twist, the dialogue is a little flat, Chat up lines involving ostrich eggs for example.. The story rumbles along with a watchable quality and being a road movie the pace does pick up in the chase scenes. Though towards the end the chase in the woods tends to drop the action. One thing that is well worth noticing is the use of small mount cameras, quite innovative then. In many respects this film is more a car spotters dream.. If your into 70's British cars you will be pausing the DVD more times than you can imagine!Overall Hayley ,Simon and Sterling carry this script off,but the most surprising performance comes from the Maxi!!

verna55 An effective suspense story with terrific performances by Hayley Mills and Simon Ward. Mills was twenty-seven at the time and was obviously working to completely shed what was left of her POLLYANNA/DISNEY image. Given that the actress appears throughout the film in various stages of undress, and is seen in several other compromising positions, I would say her plight was successful. Though the story may at first seem like a transparent/psycho-on-the-loose chiller, the film has some strikingly effective new twists, and there are enough red herrings for two films! The film has been unavailable on video for some time and rarely appears on TV, but it's most certainly worth the extra effort to find it!!!!!