The Shrieking (a.k.a. Hex)

Year releasted: 1973

by Keith Phipps
December 6th, 2000

Recorded history has a way of smoothing and simplifying, of concentrating on the major conflicts while ignoring the minor ones, an oversight film can sometimes correct. Of the West and early parts of the 20th century, for example, much has been written about the tension between ranchers and farmers, labor and industry. But what of the conflicts between car lovers and motorcycle enthusiasts? Or between WWI veterans and witches? The Shrieking snaps these lost conflicts into sharp focus by following a group of Woodrow Wilson-era bikers as they journey through Nebraska on their way to the promised land of California. The group's admission requirements seem limited to the adoption of a colorful nickname; members include Jimbang (Scott Glenn), Giblets (Gary Busey), Whizzer (Keith Carradine, the thinking man's Mark Hamill), the mute Chupo (Robert Walker Jr.), Golly (Mike Combs), and token tough girl China (Doria Cook). After showing up Model-T owner Dan Haggerty in a bike vs. car race set to an innovative kazoo-and-jew's-harp score, Carradine and company flee to a farm owned by two half-breed sisters, one an ebullient blonde (Hilary Thompson), the other a monotone-prone brunette (Cristina Raines). But they soon find themselves in a classic out-of-the-frying-pan situation. After a pleasant evening getting acquainted with "loco weed," the easy riders' journey takes a turn for the worse after Busey attempts to rape Thompson. A few mumbled incantations later, an aggressive owl delivers some bird-on-Busey violence with tragic results. One by one, the bikers run afoul of Thompson and her magic-using ways: After failing to best Raines in an old-fashioned slap-fight, Cook even falls victim to a gruesome spell involving a frog with a sewn-shut mouth and inverted, double-exposed film stock. Eventually, only Carradine and Combs are left standing, but the two discover that sometimes love can overpower the murder of one's closest friends: Undeterred by an explosive climax involving a bearskin suit, they partner up with the murderous duo. All of which does little to explain why Carradine and Raines spy a group of presumably metaphorical modern-day fighter planes as they ride off into an Edward Hopper-esque sunset.