Customer Reviews

Hillbillies in a Haunted House [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Hackneyed plot, poor acting, dodgy songs, TERRIBLE miming to those songs and flat direction are all present in HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE, yet I just can't bring myself to hate this film. Everything is just so sweet and niave, without a hint of malice about it. Seeing Basil Rathbone slumming it made me gasp in horror, but he still tips the film over into 'acceptable' by his mere appearance.
A Country and Western duet and their nervous manager are on the way to the "Nashville Jamboree" when a storm (which we never see) forces them to hole up in the titular haunted mansion. Bag of nerves "Jeepers" needs a rest anyway, so this is the ideal place for a cosy quiet night and a sing-song. Needless to say, the house is occupied by spies who (in typical 'Scooby Doo' manner) use electronic trickery to scare away unwanted visitors. When the spies' pet gorilla (don't ask) kidnaps the female singer "Boots Malone", our two heroes begin the hunt for her. Things wrap up nicely with the trio ending up in Nashville and the last 20 minutes consists of music numbers from people I've never heard of accompanied by stock footage of an appreciative audience from 10 years before!
I mean, just read the audacity of that plot and you'll see what I mean. Joi Lansing as 'Boots' is a pretty & shapely platinum blonde that cheers up the film no end (I didn't think she would fit into that iron maiden in which the villains imprison her as she's, ahem, a little big in front!) and actually offers a nice performance. The comedy is pretty basic, but there are a couple of funny lines lines from nervous wreck "Jeepers" (not many, though!)
Best of all, this film is a reminder of better times that probably never existed and is ideal when you're feeling fed up and need something to watch with a friend, if only to mercilessly pull apart. Even then, you'll have had a good time...

"Hillbillies in a Haunted House" is a sequel to "Las Vegas Hillbillies" and is one of the most entertaining Country and Western monster musicals ever made. Ferlin Husky, Don Bowman, and Joi Lansing are an act on their way to the Nashville Jamboree who decide to spend the night in a haunted house, where they meet up with, among others, Linda Ho, Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney, a Gorilla, and best of all, the always cheery John Carradine. Along the way there are many country songs (including one truly dreadful number by Joi all about the history of gowns...) some of which are good, and some of which aren't. I loved "The Cat Came Back", and was amused by the extremely youthful Merle Haggard cameos.

There is a conspiracy involving an agency named M.O.T.H.E.R. and a villain named Dr. Fu. There is a guy in a gorilla suit (George Barrows, perhaps?) Best of all is the television broadcast that Jeepers watches to help him go to sleep in which the hilariously scowling faces of the villains haunt poor Jeepers while a bad C&W song is being performed. Needless to say, John Carradine wins the contest for chewing the scenery. His scowls and eyebrow twitches never fail to make me laugh. There are silly subplots about spies and the like, and homage is paid to Ed Wood in the 'timeless' day/night location shots (and continuity gaffes of positively Woodsian proportions.)

Finally arriving in Nashville, the last fifteen or so minutes of the film are good old C&W stage acts like Merle Haggard, Sonny James, Molly Bee, and Marcella Wright.

If you like Country music, particularly the vintage stuff, or you just like goofy, nonsensical movies that make you laugh, though sometimes you aren't sure why, this film is for you.

Mix horror-greats Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine with the lovely Lansing and some good country music and you have a fun movie. Thanks to miserably poor acting by Ferlin Huskey's sidekick (Huskey is no actor either), a man in a gorilla suit and continuity errors worse than "Plan Nine from Outer Space" and the unintentional humor makes this much more fun. Watch midnight turn instantly to noon and back again. The slender and loopy haunted house/spy plot is all part of the fun. Buy this one for repeat viewings.

At first, i thought i was just buying another run-of-the-mill B movie. But, having the lovely Joi Lansing on the cast list convinced me to buy it! Boy am i glad i did! Not only did i enjoy the many visible and personal charms of the voluptuous Joi Lansing, but, also the great sounds of traditional country music from superstars such as Sonny James, Ferlin Husky, Merle Haggard, and others! Since buying this tape, i have watched it atleast 10 times!! And i plan on watching it a lot more often too! While the storyline is only fair to average, the cast featuring the beauty of Miss Lansing, the great country music stars, and the veteran horror film stars save this movie and its plot! This sequel to "Las Vegas Hillbillys" is far superior than what that flick was.

The song and dance number "Gowns" is priceless

Okay, I've discovered the Worst Director Ever, bar none. I've watched three of Hollywood b-movie veteran director Jean Yarbrough recently (THE BRUTE MAN, THE OVER-THE-HILL GANG, and now HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE) and this is one bad-nasty awful director. OTHG was a criminal waste of a veteran cast of character actors heading rapidly towards the sunset. BRUTE MAN was exploitation unleavened with insight or humanity. HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE is hick humor for those who find Don Knotts' movies too difficult to follow. These films are monuments to blown opportunities, stagnant and unimaginative direction, comedy that makes us groan and horror that makes us laugh.
Avoid the scenes with Basil Rathbone if at all possible. It's apparent he'd suffered a stroke prior to this movie and his distinct enunciation is noticeably slurred, making it difficult for a fan to watch. About the only highlights here are when the country music stars (Ferlin Husky and Merle Haggard, especially) strap on the guitars and sing.

Everybody has their own personal choice for the worst movie ever made, and "Hillbillys in a Haunted House" is mine. So why 2 stars? Because like so many other totally wretched films it has a strange sort of fascination...and because I believe you have to experience the worst before you can appreciate the good stuff. Ferlin Husky, Joi Lansing (who's awful by an eyefull) and someone named Don Bowman play traveling country musicians who stumble upon a house so creepy looking that it might as well have "HAUNTED" in neon letters above it, and are forced to spend the night. Inside are John Carradine (who breezes through this mess so casually that he calls other characters by the wrong names), Basil Rathbone, who is clearly having the worst day of his life, and Lon Chaney (who manages one good, incongruously chilling murder scene) as some sort of spies. There is also a really terrible actress named Linda Ho as a Dragon Lady and a guy in a gorilla suit, since everyone knows that all haunted houses come complete with their own gorillas. It might have been possible to pull off this sort of rubbish at Universal in the 1940s (with largely the same cast!), but for 1967 -- the year before "Rosemary's Baby" and "Night of the Living Dead" -- it's pretty pathetic. And for film buffs, the spectacle of watching the obviously ailing Rathbone struggling through his last film role is downright painful --almost as painful as the performance of Ferlin Husky, who in an apparent tribute to Chaney, seems to turn into a howling werewolf whenever he goes for the high notes. This film played mostly in the south upon release: maybe it was intended as punishment for that seccession business a century earlier.

Joi Lansing stars as "Boots" Malome, a
country-western singer who gets mixed up with spies, ghosts, and
gorillas in a haunted house while taking shelter from a storm on
her way to Nashville with her partner Ferlin Husky. `Nuff said
about the plot of this strange concoction of horror, music, and
comedy, which is just a contrivance to present the musical
numbers anyway. The rest of the cast features such stalwart
horror-film stars as Basil Rathbone, John Carradine, and Lon
Chaney Jr. There are cameo appearances by Molly Bee, Merle
Haggard, Sonny James and others.

This DVD is bereft of special features. There's just the chapter
index and some prevues of other, more notable, films. But the
price is right, the image and sound quality are good, and Joi
Lansing really stands out, if you know what I mean, and I think
you do! Don't miss this one!

This goofy little movie has everything. A bands car breaks down in the rain at a suppose to be HAUNTED HOUSE. The manager is a little nervous man, not bold at. There are horror movie great actors in this.
And if you like Country & Western music, there is plenty of that. ( I love Disco myself). They should of made
Hillbillies in Disco Land. Oh well, this is a very fun movie to watch. If you get this one, you have
to get "LAS VEGAS HILLBILLIES" to go with it.

This product arrived as advertized and is a good print. It is fair as far as the music goes but as a movie it is below Boris Karloff's usual standard. Delivery of this product was
good.