Originally known as Honey Britches, Donn Davidson’s Shantytown Honeymoon is best known under the name Troma slapped on it in the VHS heyday: Demented Death Farm Massacre. Even with Troma’s appended John Carradine prologue, the retitling is misleading for what more or less plays as a feature-length version of a dirty joke. After a high-profile … Continue reading Shantytown Honeymoon (1971)
Country singers Del Reeves and Hugh X. Lewis don’t play themselves in Cottonpickin’ Chickenpickers, but considering their obscurity, who would know the difference? As the respective Darby (the one in a red cap) and Jerry (the one not in a red cap), Reeves and Lewis are the most well-dressed hobos ever to grace the picture … Continue reading Cottonpickin’ Chickenpickers (1967)
Of the many Smokey and the [Insert Noun Here] movies that followed Burt Reynolds’ Bandit box-office bonanza, Smokey & the Judge is arguably the most obscure. Oddly, it’s the only one that stars a music group with a Billboard hit: Hot, the R&B trio of Gwen Owens, Cathy Carson and Juanita Curiel. Yeah, I hadn’t … Continue reading Smokey & the Judge (1980)
Having worked on both sides of the camera for H.B. Halicki’s pioneering hicksploitation indie, 1974’s Gone in 60 Seconds, perhaps Jack Vacek thought he could do that, too. And he did, editing, producing, writing, directing, stunting and starring as Smokey in Double Nickels (as in 55, which some can’t drive, but you got that). Smokey … Continue reading Double Nickels (1977)
A Filipino version of the Cannonball Run, the Manila 1000 is a three-day, off-road race involving everything from jeeps and dune buggies to stock cars and stocky Joe Don Baker (The Living Daylights) as driver Walkaway Madden. It also features motorcycles — or “motor-sickles,” if you wish to pronounce it as does race promoter Bo … Continue reading Checkered Flag or Crash (1977)