Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967)

HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE (note the title misspelling, perhaps deliberate to avoid copyright claims from TV's THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES) is a sad and ignoble episode in the careers of three big-time actors from the early era of film: Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney Jr., and John Carradine. They're mired in an extremely old-fashioned, 'old dark house' style plot line in which a trio of country music performers and their associates take refuge in a creepy old mansion, only to fall foul of an evil Chinese woman and her trio of elderly henchmen.This is a poor film indeed that mixes extremely tame thrills with lots of padded out musical set-pieces. If you like country music you might get a kick out of it, but otherwise it's all rather patience-testing, especially when the plotting finishes twenty minutes before the running time and you get endless songs to tread water until the credits roll.Although all three of the old-time actors would go on to appear in other films (with John Carradine, thanks to his incredible longevity, acting for over another twenty years), it really was the end of the line for Rathbone (who made only one more film) and Chaney (who made six more). Carradine is timeless and enthusiastic but barely on screen, although Rathbone manages to retain his dignity amidst the madness. Chaney has more screen time, but is the most bloated and aged of all three. There's also a cheesy guy in a gorilla costume running around, in case the film wasn't old-fashioned enough already.

This is the worst film - maybe the worst ever filmed. It's horrible and I hate to say that about this film because three of great actors are in it: Rathbone, Carradine, and Chaney. I have not a clue as to why such fine actors in such a crappy movie but they are.I'm going to make a guess here as to the reason this film was made to begin with: Hammer films was pumping out some killer horror films and The Beverly Hillbillies TV series was very popular in 1967 as well as The Grand Ole Opry on TV. So, my guess is that the film makers wanted to sort of capitalize on the popularity of both horror and the country-western/bluegrass thus creating this bloody horrible film.Listen, I hate to bash movies but this film was so bad and unfunny that I had to keep fast-forwarding - watching a little bit then fast-forwarding again.The ONLY reason to watch this movie is if you like some of the older country-western-hillbilly type of music. Watch it if you like Merle Haggard or Ferlin Husky - otherwise you should pass on this film.1/10

This is one of those movies that is so bad, it,s good. I believe the movie is considered to be one of the 50 worst movies ever made and I would't argue with that. But seriously if you are a fan of the old universal horror films as I am, you will find the movie interesting if only to see Lon Chaney jr, John Caradine and Basil Rathbone together in their latter years. And really it is a sad tribute to such a talentd and distingushed actor as Basil Rathbone that this horrid movie was his last. I still can't concive of such a wild combination of people together on a screen. Lon Chaney jr., Basil Rathbone, John Caradine along with Merle Haggard, Lefty Frazell and Sony James and a bombshell blonde in Nashville. That's about as crazy as a movie can get!

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.