92 Dodge Caravan, need to open hood.

This may have something to do with the reason the cable broke in the first place. If you can hold it in the release position while someone else pounds the front edge of the hood with the heel of their hand, not hard enough to dent the hood, just a "Fonzi" type strike, it may pop open.

The cable didn't actually break, the plastic lever inside that the cable connects to broke. The cable is still right where it should be inside. I'll certainly give this a shot in the morning when I can get another pair of hands around to help me out. The suggestion is much appreciated.

With HT on that. Seen plenty of older cars roll into the shop where the owners clamped on a small cheap vise grip and never bothered to replace the broken plastic. But if it ends up breaking under the hood later, its easy to take out the screws that hold the grill and grab it manually.

Alright, so I had a pair of hands to help me out this morning and had the wife grab the hood lip and kinda shake while I tried the cable inside. First time, the metal tab on the end of the cable came off with no hood release. Second try with vise grips, a small section of cable tore off the end with no hood release.

So now it looks like my option is to remove the front grill to get in there and manually release it.

First question. The screws holding the grill in place have a non standard head. It is basically a 6 pointed star, just like a phillips head but with 6 points. What is this called, so I know what to ask for when I stop by a parts store to grab a driver to take them out.

Second question. Where is the release going to be located? The latch to finish opening the hood is roughly in the center, but from the outside I cannot tell if the first stage release is behind/under that or elsewhere along the front of the hood. If anyone has any ideas of where I should be checking that would be great.

Thanks for all the help thus far, much appreciated.

That's called a "Torx" head screw.
Follow the cable to the end and you should see the release lever but it should have released from the other end so there may be a more serious issue with the latch itself.

maybe I don't entirely understand what you're suggesting here. The cable is inside the the vehicle, but I can't open the hood so how can I follow the cable to the end? There's no way to see the cable from the outside with the hood closed. Thanks for letting me know that it's a Torx, will pick one up in an hour or so when I run out. Much appreciated.