Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker

***Petite Charlene Tilton stars in her first (television) movie at the age of 20*** She rose to fame with her role in Dallas the year before and executives jumped on the opportunity to take advantage of her popularity. It’s a riff on the ‘B’ flick “Hitch Hike to Hell” from two years prior, which was loosely based on the crimes of Edmund Kemper, The Co-ed Killer, whose victims in 1972-1973 were six female students hitchhiking in the vicinity of Santa Cruz County, which is an hour's drive south of San Francisco. Of course, he was only one of such psychos in California, or anywhere in America & Canada, who preyed on female hitchhikers, an activity that had been in vogue since the hippie era a decade earlier. The movie effectively shows that there’s more than just one type of antagonist in these situations and young women were basically playing Russian Roulette by jumping into vehicles with perfect strangers. You have the type of guy who’s simply wants sex and offers to pay for it, as well as the kind who’s interested in control, abuse & rape, not to mention murderous whack jobs, like Kemper. Yet that element only concerns the periphery of the story as the writers wisely focus on four friends in their late teens who are coming-of-age near the scenic coast of SoCal with Charlene as the protagonist. Blonde Katy Kurtzman plays her younger sister with her character ultimately making a statement about how younger siblings are influenced by older ones. Another thing I liked about this unassuming flick is how it explores the authority-reach of parents as their children become adults. For instance, how much private information do they have a right to know? And when does that ‘right’ end? With excessively prying adults, you’ll sooner-or-later have to set boundaries as you enter into adulthood. Besides Dick Van Patten as the father, look for Mona Robinson, Peter Brady, Coach and Les Nessman. James Carroll Jordan also has a key role as Julie’s potential new beau. It runs 1h 36m and was shot in early 1979 near the coast of greater Los Angeles for release on Sep 21st the same year.  GRADE: B