Pick Up/Review

From The Grindhouse Cinema Database

< Pick Up
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As was the case often in the days of exploitation cinema, the poster art for Pick Up is pretty misleading. You would expect it to be a 70s CIP crime movie with pretty girls and hot rods. Well, thats not exactly the deal. Its a bit stranger than that....

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On a sunny Florida day, two beautiful young girls named Carol (Jill Senter) and Maureen (Gini Eastwood) sit in a field while a bus driver named Chuck (Alan Long) unbuttons his pants and takes a leak on the side of the road. He sees the girls and asks if they want a lift. They accept his offer and they get on the bus. Roll opening credits. Chuck is on the job, but he has different plans: like hanging out with Carol, who quickly begins huddling up with Chuck like they've known each other for years. Chuck asks if she wants to smoke a joint and they blaze up. Some kids in a truck honk their horn at the bus and pull out in front, yelling and cheering. Carol, being the free spirit she is, begins doing a little striptease for the fellas. Meanwhile Maureen is in the back of the bus by herself playing the clairvoyant (using tarot cards) and generally acting like a witch. Chuck has been slacking off, and his boss calls him to find out where he is. Chuck explains he thinks he's "somewhere around Naples" and his boss gets pissed telling him he needs to get the bus to Talahassee asap! This guy is trying his best to get Chuck back on track, but Chuck just ignores him. After a torrential downpour, Chuck has to take a detour due to road work and he gets stuck in the everglades. Thats pretty much the plotline. For the rest of the film Chuck, Carol and Maureen all go off into trippy land. Theres almost no dialogue, just visuals as Carol and Chuck run naked in the woods, adopt a baby raccoon and make love on a swing. Maureen gets naked and has a sexual experience by herself on an alter and later on she watches a clown let balloons go into the sky for no reason. Okayyyy!! Pick Up is definitely a film that would be best experienced with controlled substances otherwise you might not make it through.


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Peter Roberts is the co-founder/editor-in-chief of the Grindhouse Cinema Database (GCDb) and contributor to the GCDb's sister site Furious Cinema. A Massachusetts native, he is an avid film fan that has been immersed in the world of entertainment and pop culture his entire life. He is a professional digital media designer and educator.

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