Hillbillys in a Haunted House

1967 "They'll scare your pants off!"
2.8| 1h26m| en
Details

Country singers on their way to Nashville have car trouble, forcing them to stop at an old haunted mansion. Soon they realize that the house is not only haunted, but is also the headquarters of a ring of international spies after a top secret formula for rocket fuel.

Director

Producted By

Woolner Brothers Pictures Inc.

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Reviews

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Hitchcoc I too feel sad that some really fine actors had to resort to something like this. Rathbone, Carradine, and Chaney are immersed in one of the most tiresome wastes of time ever. Then we have country stars of the time, Merle Haggard, and the forgettable Ferlin Huskie singing away. There is no order or sense to any of this. Chaney does steal a few scenes, but I can't imagine putting down some change to see this mess in 1967. Of course, there were triple features at drive-in theaters which probably provided a venue.
rwc922 Very little worthwhile in this movie, The 3 big horror icons, Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney Jr and John Carradine, even if they were just collecting a paycheck and Joi showing her assets is about it. The writer should have been made to watch Hillary speeches for eternity since the script is so unrealistic. The primary function of this movie seems to be to allow the viewers plenty of time in the backseat without worrying about missing anything. Almost so bad as to make Ed Wood look like a genius. The songs are all an equal shade of terrible with the comedy relief being so unfunny as to have his union card burned. Not a movie to own but to watch once and never again. I saw it on Turner who gladly has finally given love to the obscure trash films.
bkoganbing A generation earlier country music stars the most prominent of them being Gene Autry got an outlet in films as B western singing cowboys. The B western having gone the way of the dodo bird for country stars to make it on the big screen they would have to find other outlets.Hillbillies In A Haunted House was the second of two films that country singer Ferlin Husky made as the same character, country artist Woody Wetherby, the first being Las Vegas Hillbillies. This time he and girl friend Joi Lansing and brain dead roadie Don Bowman are on the way to Nashville and stop at what they think is a deserted mansion. What it is though is the headquarters of enemy agents after a rocket fuel formula. A woman runs this spy ring played by Linda Ho and her three henchmen are Basil Rathbone, John Carradine, and Lon Chaney, Jr. three players who have acquitted themselves well in the horror film genre.All I can say is that mixing country music with Gothic horror must have stunk up the drive-ins from Saskatchewan to Nashville. I don't recall this film ever making it to New York City, but just as well it didn't. Rathbone, Carradine, and Chaney have the satisfied look of players whose paychecks have just cleared the bank and they're going through the motions. The spies have a pet gorilla around also for what is no discernible reason I can fathom other than to give Joi Lansing something to scream at. Now for country music fans there are a few interludes of some of the top C&W artists of the day like Husky, Molly Bee, Merle Haggard, Sonny James, etc. In fact the last fifteen minutes of the film is just these singers on stage doing numbers with no real attempt to give them background. Fans of the sounds from Nashville did well here, but quite frankly on the whole the film sank like the Titanic.What a comedown for Rathbone, Carradine, and Chaney.
Coventry How can you possibly resist a movie that opens with three yokels in a convertible car – complete with horns on the radiator and driving in front of obviously fake background locations – cheerfully singing stuff like "We're on our way … to Tennessee … to the jamboree"? And if you're a true horror fanatic, I simply know you won't be able to resist the sight of Lon Chaney, John Carradine, Basil Rathbone and a random guy in a hideous gorilla suit! Welcome to "Hillbillys in a Haunted House". Barely ten minutes and four more incredibly campy songs later, however, it's painfully and permanently made clear that this is not a horror movie at all, but merely just a musical intended to kick-start the career of a handful of country singing hicks. The sequences with the aforementioned horror legends are clearly shot in one day and clumsily edited into the story afterwards. After a while, the makers don't even bother anymore to put the songs into a certain context but just place on of the characters in front of a TV as he's watching another guy singing. This goes on for two integral songs in a row, by the way. That's roughly ten minutes of footage showing the picture in picture of a farmer crooning "somebody told my story in a song". Can you imagine they lured young and enthusiast horror buffs to the drive-in theaters with this sort of stuff? The trailers and posters presumably promised monsters & mayhem, but what they got was lame singing! I hope plenty of displeased moviegoers vandalized the cinemas, ha! And yet, the singing might be awful, but when the movie attempts to narrate a story it's even more horrendous. The horror guys, Rathbone and company, are conducting secret gorilla experiments in their secluded country mansion, but they're afraid of spies from the government agency called M.O.T.H.E.R. When the three singing yokels trespass the place to spend the night they're mistaken for spies, especially when all their tricks of scaring them away with carnival attraction gimmicks fail. The film benefices from highly intellectual dialogs ("I never won any bravery contests") and masterful special effects like plastic skeletons and bed sheets ironed in the shape of ghosts. Lead actress Joi Lansing's character is named Boots, but considering the impressive pair of blouse bunnies she sticks forward, they should have named her Boobs instead. In case you fear you will be too petrified by the realism of the special effects, I'll gladly ruin the ending for you: the bad guys are captured into a trap and our heroes at the jamboree in time to win the talent contest. Surprised? Oh, and as a bonus, there are four more integrally shown country concerts at the end for your cultural viewing pleasure.