Hillybillys In A Haunted Mansion — Hillybillys In A Haunted Mansion ( DVD & Blu Ray)

Hillybillys In A Haunted Mansion is a wacky mash-up of comedy horror, low-grade spy caper, and country ‘n’ western musical from the late '60s. It’s a decidedly corny 'n' kooky ride—high in camp/silliness, and low in sense/logic—but if you’re are after turn-off-your-mind fun, with some light sonic yeeha and lots of cheese, this is a perfect fit. Here from VCI Entertainment is a dual DVD & Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a bright ‘n’ bold scan and a commentary track.

Hillybillys In A Haunted Mansion ( aka Ghost Party) is from the year 1967. It was directed by Marianna, Arkansas-born Jean Yarbrough. He had seventy feature lengths to his name, and a fair few US TV credits/ shorts. His features take in the youth-in-trouble film Rebellious Daughters (1938), onto adventure horror comedy King of the Zombies (1941). Through to Mystery horror She-Wolf  Of London (1946),  crime-drama Sideshow (1950), and comedy-drama Saintly Sinners (1962).

The film opens up with our three leads in a very cheaply back-projected convertible with gun, horseshoes, and horseheads hood/ fin ornaments. We have in the back seat Jeepers(Don Bowman) a cardigan-wearing musician manager- who is rather tied and jumpy. In the front seat, we two country singers he managers- we have quaffed  & greased back ginger Woody Wetherby(Ferlin Husky) and blond ‘n’ busty Boots Malone(Joi Lansing). The trio are on their way to play a jamboree in Nashville- but as Jeepers in so on edge, they decide to head into a nearby small town- stopping off at a grange, they are told there’s no hotel in town with the only place to possible to lay they heads' for a few hours being an old uninhabited house on the edge of town- so the three head there.

And what unfolds is a mix of haunted house comedy shenanigans & corny spy caper- with the film topped and tailed with a fair few unprompted songs- be they from Woody & Boots, singing groups wondering by, or singers on a TV the trio brought with them including Merle Haggard

Wrapped up in the spy side of things we have a group of baddies hauled up in a converted crypt nearby the house with a man in a gorilla suit. These take in Madame Wong(Linda Ho), Dr. Himmil(John Carradine), Gregor(Basil Rathbone) and grizzled/gone-to-seed henchman  Maximillain (Lon Chaney Jr.).

The three leads have good enough chemistry- with Bowman taking on most of the rushing around/scaredy-cat comedy.  The spy side of things is highly camp and pulp, and again we get humour/ silliness from Anatole the Gorilla (George Barrows). The country songs are largely upbeat & buoyant- with one the most memorable played by a passing-by-the-house-group about a cat that keeps coming back.

 Hillybillys In A Haunted Mansion certainly feels like it belongs in either the 40’s or 50’s- with no counter-culture elements, nudity, or edge you might expect from a film from the 60’s- so it’s all very PG.  You’ve got to enjoy corny comedy & country music- which lucky I do, so I found this an entertaining throwback.

 

Moving onto this new dual disc DVD & Blu-Ray set. We get a nicely bright & crisp scan- with some great colours on display. On the extra side, we just get a commentary from genre writer/ podcaster Robert Kelly- this is very good/ entertaining, full of great research & observations. We find out it started filming in September 1966, under the working title of Ghost Party- with a budget of $240,00. It was a sequel to the previous years' Los Vegas Hillybillys- which also featured Bowman and Husky. He talks about how the film is a real mesh-up of genres. He gives interesting bios of the lead actors.  We find out the film's car was designed by someone called Nudie Comb- who started off his career doing costumes for country singers & Elvis, before pimping up cars. We find out George Barrows, who played the gorilla in the film- did so in six other films. He talks about how the title was rather misleading- as there are no hillbillies in the film. Later on, he talks about how the classic horror actors are having a lot of fun here,  we find out there was a third film planned called Hillybilles In Space, and more. A great track. We get a trailer for Los Vegas Hillybillys, and an image gallery.

If you enjoy wacky & corny genre-blending, then Hillybillys In A Haunted Mansion will most certainly appeal. This VCI Entertainment release gives us a great scan, and a wonderfully informative/ entertaining commentary track