"Trip with the Teacher" (3.5/5)

Four Los Angeles school girls take a chartered short bus road trip to the desert to be taught about the history of the Navajo ruins.  The girls, who are only on this trip to appease their parents', are accompanied by their teacher, Miss Tenny, and a lumbering oxen of a bus driver named Marvin.  When their transportation breaks down in the middle of nowhere, three bikers ride in to be hopeful saviors to their troubles, but the brothers Al and Pete are drifters, delinquents by trade, and create unwarranted friction by harassing the girls.  When they finally offer some assistance after a bit of playful push back, the bikers tow the broken down bus to a rundown shack that sits on a remote stretch of land way off the road, breaking their promise to provide aid.  A scuffle ensues shortly after the unhinged Al hints at his true and malevolent intentions with the girls.  The next steps taken involve kidnapping, rape, and murder that push the limits of civil character to take drastic, desperate measures.

"Trip with the Teacher" is a 1974 exploitation class trip from hell from writer, director, and producer Earl Barton.  The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native's one and only directorial and screenwriting credit takes a stab at getting gritty with nasty ruffians and their plaything victims.  Barton's film is a far cry from the likes of Wes Craven's 1972 classic "Last House on the Left," but "Trip with the Teacher" maintains the tightly knit intensity of the fiery, unpredictable wrath from a deranged person keen on unraveling the layers of humility one piece of school girl clothing at a time.  Barton, whose prior work consisted of various comedies and musicals, ensembles a diverse and talented cast that culminates a film into being a cult classic and enjoyed by genre and overall film collectors.

Zalman King, practically the very literal king creator of softcore porn with his extensive involve with the "Red Shoe Diaries" franchise, stars as the unglued Al.  King's performance could contend with the likes of David Hess.  The phenomenally gifted playing of Al highlights King's cold, detached stare, maniacal fierceness, and his ability to implement the quirks and ticks to the character, the short bursts of laughter or the slight jerky head movements, really add value to Al's character, judgment, and disposition.  Next to King is Robert Porter, as Al's more sensible brother Pete, and Pete goes along with his brother, despite the lunacy.  Porter performs well enough to pull off a conflicted individual with one side being to protect his brother while the other side of him, deep down inside of him, really doesn't want to hurt anyone.  Opposing the brothers is the unflinching school teacher Miss Tenny, graced by the red-headed, blue-eyed Brenda Fogarty who, along with fellow actresses Dina Ousley and Jill Voigt, took their clothes off for the common good of the story that warrants it.  Cathy Worthington, Susan Russell, Robert Gribbin ("Hitch Hike to Hell"), and Jack Driscoll round out the cast.

What's firmly fascinating about Barton's film is the cast conducting their own stunt work.  From streaking motorcycle chases to fisticuff fight sequences, "Trip with the Teacher" has heart stopping Tom Cruise style action that doesn't cut to a stunt double.  One scene involves an obvious dummy over a motorcycle falling off a cliff, but that's expected.  You can't have actors falling from cliffs, crashing down to the rocks below.  Now that we've established what's outstanding, here's what's not so great about "Trip with the Teacher."  The characters are extremely weak  With the exception of Zalman King's Al, the other characters are spellbound by Al's sociopathic personality.  His brother, Pete, does only what Al desires, the four girls are in lay and wait mode for help even when numerous opportunities for escape present themselves, and even the third biker, a good Samaritan named Jay, doesn't at first stand up to Al who just committed murder with his motorcycle and whose intentions were to have his way with the young school girls.  Everyone just stands around, waiting to see what kind of malicious intent Al has next up his drunken rampaging sleeves.

Audio/Video (4/5)

Vinegar Syndrome presents the DVD and Blu-ray combo release of "Trip with the Teacher" in a widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio from the original 16mm negative transfer that's newly scanned and restored in 2k.  The restoration is brilliantly clean and vividly detailed under a tinged yellow hue that's usually associated with western horror where the landscape is usually brown and yellow to begin with.  The final scenes downgrade slightly with unfocused and blotchy quality. 

The English DTS-HD Master Audio mono track is quite strapping and lively in all regards that mostly highlights the clear dialogue to the Earl Barton uptempo score.  Some of Zalman King's lossy dialogue loses range and depth and falls flat that's isolated from the rest of the character's, but this pans out once the group reaches the shack.  The release also has English SDH subtitles. 

Extras (3/5)

Extras include a commentary audio track with director Earl Barton and actresses Cathy Worthington and Dina Ousley, an interview with actress Brenda Fogarty in a piece entitled "Taking the Trip," original theatrical trailer, TV spots, still gallery, and reversible cover art.  Brenda Fogarty's interview is the actress's recollection of her costars, which she states they're all nice and wonderful actors, and how she became the lead actress in the film by chance. 

Overall

Trip with the Teacher" is a relatively tame exploitation that does more implying than pushing the virtuous limits, but filmmaker Earl Barton still manages to inflict eye-popping and unscrupulous thrilling moments with an unforgettable performance by Zalman King.  Vinegar Syndrome's combo format release can be a nice edition to any cult or exploitation collection.  Recommended.