I used to have this “anti-masterpiece” on VHS, but somehow one of the internal mechanisms in the cassette’s housing broke and caused the tape to eject every time I put it in. Never did find it on DVD to buy (I don’t shop online).
What I remember most about this movie was asking myself: who the hell is Joi Lansing? Does she think she can sing? If they dubbed her singing voice, couldn’t they have found a better singer?
So you have Ferlin Huskey and the funny Don Bowman as our stars. Ferlin had just had a hit with “Wings of A Dove” and Don had not yet recorded his deadpan version of “Alice’s Restaurant” when HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE hit matinees everywhere. John “Any Movie For a Paycheck” Carradine plays yet another of his sinister characters here. I was (an am) a HUGE Lon Chaney fan and was sorry to see him wasting his talents here.
BUT….if you like Country Music, REAL Country Music, you can catch some of it here. That might be your saving grace. Otherwise, don’t bother.
Someone once wrote of this movie (and I don’t recall who it was or where I read it) that presumably this was not of the “better roles” that Basil Rathbone sought after leaving the Sherlock Holmes films. I must say I have to agree. Basil really never did get it all together after the Holmes era.
A previous edition of this movie, also released on VHS, was issued under the “Le Bad Cinema” aegis. I once had a “Le Bad Cinema” print of “The Terror of Tiny Town”. A lone “Le Bad” print of “They Saved Hitler’s Brain” still does exist in my personal library, so I guess I’m not a total loser. Well, maybe I am…
See also: LAS VEGAS HILLBILLYS
