HELL RAIDERS (1968)

Exploitation director Larry Buchanan was hired by AIP in the late 60's to produce/direct 8 movies for television.  I'd already seen the 7 horror/sci-fi films, but this one lone war movie had escaped my grasp until now (it was thought to be lost at some point, by some sources).  John Agar starred in three of them - Zontar and Curse of the Swamp Creature (both 1966) and this one.  It's a remake of AIP's earlier theatrical film Suicide Battalion (1958).  We start out with a bit of a history lesson and a lot of stock footage.  Agar is a army major in World War II.  He's gruff and leads a small battalion who dismantle mines.  A young soldier gets shot in the head by the "krauts" so the captain (played by Richard Webb) throws a "hot one" (live grenade) into their tank and they don't move so much after that.  There's a woman that loves Agar, but he doesn't show her any affection - at least until they get recruited for a very dangerous mission, then she gets a kiss.  This movie is so cheap that a building has a handwritten sign on it that says "Ristorante".  When a soldier gets kicked in the head, the foot doesn't even appear to make contact.  Not a good movie by even low standards.  With Bill Thurman (who was in 11 other Buchanan movies!)