Made at a time when
feuding kinfolk, car chases and scantily clad “100 Proof Women” dominated the
box office, Gus Trikonis’ MOONSHINE COUNTY EXPRESS (1977) is yet another
film adhering to the specific template set out by many of its contemporaries,
and as such is a well-made, well-acted “hicksploitation” film – as they are now
more commonly referred to. While it
hasn’t been seen on video since the early days of VHS, Code Red has finally
made this “drive-in classic” available once again via a limited edition
Blu-ray.
When ambitious moonshiner
Pap Hammer (Fred Foresman) is ruthlessly killed by a rival, local outfit led by
Jack Starkey (William Conrad), who is eager to monopolize Pap’s highly illegal
but financially prosperous “shine” business, he didn’t expect Pap’s three
daughter’s Dot (Susan Howard), Betty (Claudia Jennings) and Sissy (Maureen McCormick)
to continue in their father’s footsteps.
Of course, this leads to the inevitable conflict, so they enlist the
help of J.B. Johnson (John Saxon), an aspiring stock car driver and former moonshine
runner.
Although Arthur Ripley’s THUNDER ROAD (1958), with Robert
Mitchum, seemed to set the template for this particular genre of filmmaking, it
was during the ’70s that it gained more momentum, with such early forerunners
as Richard Quine’s The MOONSHINE WAR
(1970), co-starring Patrick McGoohan and Alan Alda; Lamont Johnson’s highly-underrated
The LAST AMERICAN HERO (1973);
Joseph Sargent’s WHITE LIGHTNING (1973) and Gy Waldron’s MOONRUNNERS (1975) – latter of which
served as the basis for The DUKES OF HAZZARD (1979 – 1985) TV show. Financed by Roger Corman’s New World
Pictures, MOONSHINE COUNTY EXPRESS
was filmed concurrently with Hal Needham’s SMOKEY
AND THE BANDIT (1977) and, given Corman’s penchant for taking advantage of
any particular trend, MOONSHINE
premiered a week after BANDIT’s enormous box office success; it too reaped sizable
box office returns. In a rather brazen
bit of marketing, Corman’s poster art also features the very same – and now-iconic
– 1977 black Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am from SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, even though it never actually appears in the
present film!
Taking a cue from Lamont
Johnson’s aforementioned film with Jeff Bridges, writers Hubert Smith (who also
wrote Bob Kelljan’s BLACK OAK CONSPIRACY the same year) and David
Ansley, “borrow” quite a bit from Lamont’s film, and much like Elroy Jackson as
played by Bridges, John Saxon for all intents and purposes plays the same
character right down to driving a Ford Mustang.
Although he doesn’t have a personal vendetta to pursue, Saxon rather
begrudgingly agrees to help out Dot and her sisters (“I knew the minute Dotty
brought me out here, I’d end up in a blaze o’ shit!). The Brooklyn-born Saxon would seem to be rather
cast against type as a “good ol’ boy”, but as the overconfident ex-bootlegger
with bigger aspirations, he pulls off the role quite well while veering between
alliances with Starkey and Dot, who refers to him as a (quote) “smilin’ skunk”. Future DALLAS (1979-1987) star Susan Howard
is also excellent as the tough and equally-resilient Dot (or Dotty), who simply
won’t give-in to the demands of Starkey and his ruthless henchmen, led by the
sadistic Sweetwater (Morgan Woodward).
She rallies her kid sisses Betty and Sissy, who are pretty handy with a
shotgun themselves. While Jennings was already a veteran of such drive-in fare
as Ferd and Beverly Sebastian’s ’GATOR
BAIT (1974) and Mark L. Lester’s TRUCK
STOP WOMEN (1974), she really
gets an opportunity to show off her acting chops here without having to resort
to any of her customary nudity; she went on to star in David Cronenberg’s race
car drama FAST COMPANY (1978) –
again with Saxon – before her untimely death in 1979. Ex-BRADY BUNCH (1969-1974) star McCormick is
also cast against type, but unlike her more revealing role in Gary Graver’s TEXAS LIGHTNING (1981), she does keeps her clothes on for the
duration, but it’s still certainly a long
way from The BRADY BUNCH!
William Conrad, who had
recently wrapped-up a five-year stretch on the popular TV series CANNON (1971-1976),
virtually oozes slime as Starkey, the
hateful and all-controlling boss, who has everyone in his pocket, including the
local deceitful preacher, Hagen (Jeff Corey) and just about anyone else who
crosses his path. When Scoggins (Len
Lesser), a local business owner, endorses Dotty’s new shine, he’s promptly
delivered a message via a well-concealed bomb, which seems rather extreme, but
Starkey rules with an iron hand, which even leaves Sheriff Larkin (Albert
Salmi) at a loss; that is, until he connives a deal with J.B. and the girls.
Gus Trikonis began his
long and varied career as an actor, and is probably best-known for his role as
Indio in Robert Wise’s WEST SIDE STORY
(1961). He would later appear in Wise’s The SAND PEBBLES (1966) before moving
onto lower-budgeted fare, such as Robert F. Slatzer’s The HELLCATS (1968). He
would eventually move into directing, and would helm a number of memorable films
during the ’70s and ’80s, including The
SWINGING BARMAIDS (1975), NASHVILLE
GIRL (1976), The EVIL (1978),
and TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT (1981), one of his most-popular
titles, whose smash success propelled him into the mainstream. Like most directors of the period, he
eventually settled into television work, directing numerous shows, including
episodes of BAYWATCH (1989-2000).
Taken from the “only
surviving vault elements”, Code Red’s All Region Blu-ray sports a “brand new HD
master” in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio, and, while this is never going to
be demo material, it’s a nice sharp transfer nonetheless, and miles better than
that seen on Warner’s muddy old VHS tape.
While some of the colours are a tad muted, it’s all very
naturalistic. The English DTS-HD Master
Audio 2.0 sound comes through loud and clear, accentuating Jeff Werner’s
exciting score (full of typical C&W instruments like banjo, fiddle, dobro
and pedal steel guitar). There are no
real extras to speak of included with the MCE
package other than a few trailers for some of Code Red’s other current and
upcoming titles, including David Winters’ MISSION
KILL (1986), Burt Brinckerhoff’s ACAPULCO
GOLD (1976), Richard Compton’s MANIAC
(a.k.a. ASSAULT ON PARADISE, 1977), Sergio
Martino’s HANDS OF STEEL (1986) and Paul
Glickler’s RUNNING SCARED (1980). Check DiabolikDVD for their current stock of
Code Red titles or for you lucky U.S. based readers, order directly from Code
Red’s Big Cartel site.
