I hate to spoil it for you, but in Hillbillys in a Haunted House, some hillbillies visit a haunted house. Reprising their role from 1966’s Las Vegas Hillbillys are actual country singer Ferlin Husky and Don Bowman as, respectively, fake country singer Woody Wetherby and Jeepers, his manager. Jeepers is aptly named because he’s a coward. Traveling with them is another singer, Boots, who’s one consonant away from being aptly named, because she’s played by 38.5-23-35 Scopitone siren Joi Lansing.
On their way to Nashville for a jamboree — whatever the hell that is — the three experience car trouble. With a storm coming, a local recommends they take shelter for the night in an empty mansion, but forgets to inform them that it’s haunted. They see a skeleton, a gorilla and bats that Jeepers suspects can’t all be him “imaginatin’,” and he’s right: It’s the work of a spy ring in the basement trying to scare them off.
As padded as Lansing’s front is, the film is padded even more, with musical numbers; the last 15 minutes are literally a concert! Good thing most of the songs are good. See if “The Cat Came Back” doesn’t stick in your noggin. See if Merle Haggard’s two appearances doesn’t make you wish the genre never changed from there. See if Lansing’s ode to gowns while she’s imagining herself decked out in Southern belle regalia doesn’t make you stand at attention.
The sexy, super-stacked Lansing is the main reason to watch cornpone comedy. The second may be the novelty of seeing horror icons John Carradine, Basil Rathbone and Lon Chaney Jr. as members of the baddies in the basement, which is decked out with various torture devices. For some, Hillbillys in a Haunted House is torture on its own, but for me, it’s too good-natured to provide any pain. —Rod Lott