Hood Latch is a mechanism that holds the hood of a car shut.

 

The hood latch system starts inside the car's compartment usually under the dashboard on the driver's side and is represented by the release handle.

The hood release handle is attached to a cable which goes towards the front of the vehicle through the dashboard and then through the hood of the car where is connected with another latch. So to open the hood you just need to pull the release handle and the latch under the hood will allow it to open.