“Two-Lane Blacktop” (1971)
“Two-Lane Blacktop” is one of the definitive American road movies: a gorgeously minimal deconstruction of all the myriad options that the open road presents to us and the sense of both hope and imminent threat that also lurks at every roadside diner and forgotten filling station. One gets the sense, watching “Two-Lane Blacktop,” that Hellman never actually set out to make a generational statement: he was simply chronicling, with grit and engrossingly lived-in detail, the American vagabond life he was observing at the time. Hellman credited the success of “Easy Rider” with opening the door for him to make what many consider to be his greatest film. However, it’s hard not to argue that the director’s stark, evocative approach is worlds away from the druggy indulgences of Dennis Hopper’s more untethered document of youth counterculture. “Two-Lane Blacktop” is also held together by a pair of subtle, hypnotic performances from musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson; both are ultimately cast for their personas rather than their chops, with Taylor exuding soulful drifter brooding and Wilson trafficking in the California-boy mischief he brought to the Beach Boys records. Hop in that ‘55 Chevy two-door and take a ride with “Two-Lane Blacktop,” still one of the more unforgettable movies of its time.
Where To Stream: This one, regrettably, is not streaming anywhere, but is too good not to mention in this piece. We recommend securing a copy of the Criterion Blu-Ray, which looks great and is stacked with awesome extras.
“Cockfighter” (1974)
There is a sinuous, serpentine assurance to Warren Oates’ largely mute Frank Mansfield, the self-possessed protagonist of the singularly severe “Cockfighter,” Monte Hellman’s ugliest movie, that is actively disquieting to watch. Watching Oates strut and prowl and grimace throughout this movie, where he plays a man whose entire life is defined by violence, you get the sense that Frank could lash out at anyone at any moment. When he finally does, it sends waves of shock through your body. “Cockfighter” is a fearlessly disturbing portrait of the American low road: the story of a coolly determined cock sparrer who rambles and roams across a blighted American heartland comprised largely of trailers and fighting rings, destroying everyone and anything he touches. The film is certainly not comfort food – unless your preferred comfort food is bleak character-focused cinema from the 70’s – but like the underseen Rip Torn classic “Payday,” another country-fried tragedy about a broken man who only knows how to inflict harm, “Cockfighter” is an experience that lodges itself in your memory and stays there. Oates brings the same glowering charisma he brought to “Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia” to this demanding role, and he’s assisted in no small capacity by Hellman familiar Harry Dean Stanton (who also shows up in “Ride In The Whirlwind” and “Two-Lane Blacktop,”) Patricia Pearcy and a baby-faced Ed Begley Jr.
Where To Stream: Prime Video, Tubi, and Pluto TV.
Honorable Mention:
Hellman’s filmography isn’t exactly what you would call expansive. Still, there are a few other projects we wanted to briefly shoot out here: we’ll start with the rip-roaring “Flight To Fury,” an early effort from “The Godfather” producer Fred Roos that features another screenplay penned by Jack Nicholson. There is also “China 9, Liberty 37,” a colorful spaghetti Western that stars the director’s favorite, Warren Oates, and features a gorgeously rhapsodic Pino Donaggio score.
“Iguana” might just be Hellman’s strangest movie: the story of a terribly disfigured sailor who is cruelly referred to as “iguana” by his fellow seamen before going off the grid and essentially declaring himself a god among men, it remains a bonafide curio in the director’s already-weird filmography. Hellman is also, as we mentioned, the guy behind “Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out” – which, believe it or not, has arguably one of the more passionate cult followings in his entire body of work.
Another under-seen Hellman film that some folks go to bat for happens to be his final directorial credit: that would be “Road To Nowhere,” a 2010 indie about the world of filmmaking that marked Hellman’s return to the director’s chair after a twenty year-plus hiatus. That film, while imperfect, is still worth watching… as are all of the works on this list, some of which can be revisited again and again and again.
Rest in peace to the great Monte Hellman. You may be gone, but you, and your films, will never be forgotten. (1929 – 2021)