Moonshine County Express (1977)

Simply Perfect

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

MOONSHINE COUNTY EXPRESS is a long-forgotten 'hillbilly' adventure full of illicit alcohol and car-chasing mayhem. The plot is simple in the extreme and involves a moonshiner being offed by a dastardly rivals. Said moonshiner's trio of sexy daughters decide to take over daddy's business and soon take the fight to the villain, as played by a moustache-twirling William Conrad. Shoot-outs and surprisingly tame snippets of exploitation follow. One thing I can say is that the cast give enthusiastic performances here, particularly the girls who do a sterling job of portraying drive and determination. John Saxon plays the good ol' boy helping them out although he's a little old for the role. Code Red have done a splendid job of restoring this for DVD release.

Moonshiner Pap Hammer gets bumped off by vicious rival Jack Starkey (robustly played to the slimy hateful hilt by William Conrad). Hammer's three spitfire daughters -- headstrong Dot (a fine'n'feisty performance by Susan Howard), sassy Betty (luminous 70's drive-in goddess Claudia Jennings), and perky Sissy (adorable Maureen McCormick, Marcia on "The Brady Bunch") -- join forces with ace stock car driver J.B. Johnson (a lively and likable portrayal by the always reliable John Saxon) to get revenge on Starkey.Director Gus Trikonis, working from a compact and eventful script by Hugh Smith and Daniel Ansley, keeps the entertaining story hurtling along at a snappy pace, presents a flavorsome downhome Southern-fried atmosphere, and stages the exciting vehicular action with rip-roaring gusto. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an excellent cast of familiar faces: Morgan Woodard as no-count flunky Sweetwater, Jeff Corey as drunken priest Hagen, Dub Taylor as the raucous Uncle Bill, Albert Salmi as bumbling Sheriff Larkin, Len Lesser as sleazy store owner Scoggins, and Candice Rialson as brash tart Mayella. Gary Graver's typically proficient cinematography provides an impressive polished look. Fred Werner's twangy score hits the sprightly harmonic spot. A really fun flick.

Take some gorgeous gals, good 'ol boys, creepy villains, fast car chases, and throw in some gratuitous sex scenes. Put it all together, and you have another classic Roger Corman 70s B movie. Corman churned-out these low-budget films like mad, back then. And Moonshine County Express is a fast-and furious tale, of moonshiners in the backwoods of the south. The plot revolves around the three luscious Hammer sisters (played by Susan Howard, Claudia Jennings, and Mareen McCormick). Their father was a legendary moonshiner. And he gets brutally murdered by the local thugs, in a moonshine war.After their father is murdered by Starkey, the local crime kingpin, the Hammer sisters are determined to beat Starkey at his own game. The sisters discover a huge stash of pure bootleg liquor, stored away in a secret hiding place. They've inherited it from their father. And they plan on selling it right under Starkey's nose, and making a fortune. But Starkey proves to be a formidable foe, who'll stop at nothing to shut-down the Hammer sister's liquor business.This film boasts a talented cast of actors. Especially William Conrad, as the cigar-chomping, nefarious Starkey. John Saxon co-stars as the wily, ace moonshine runner, JB. Saxon has a tumultuous, eclectic chemistry with co-star, Susan Howard. Susan plays the eldest sister, Dot Hammer. Most of the time, Dot can't decide whether to kiss JB, or strangle him.Claudia Jennings, was known as the queen of 70s drive-in movies. Claudia plays the stalwart Betty Hammer, who defends her family with gusto, from Starkey and his thugs. Claudia's only in a supporting role though. So she never gets to become the center of attention, like she does in her films where she's the main character. Maureen McCormick, known to most as Marcia from the Brady Bunch, is Sissy Hammer, the youngest sister. Maureen doesn't shine as brightly as the rest of the cast. That's mainly because her role as Sissy, isn't very well-developed. This move was part of a sub-genre of 70s B movies, that featured good 'ol boys and gals in the sticks, as the main protagonists. These films always seemed to have the hero(s) running from either the law, the bad guys, or both, in souped-up muscle cars on dirt roads. Other 70s movies of this ilk, included Moonrunners (which spawned the TV show, the Dukes Of Hazzard), Smokey and The Bandit, Gator, etc. Moonshine County Express, is a top-tier film of this genre. So you'll enjoy it, if these kinds of films are your cup of corn-squeezins.

After their moonshiner "pa" is killed by a rival bootlegging outfit, three sexy sisters (Susan Howard, Claudia Jennings, and Maureen McCormick) band together to continue his business, which quickly brings them into conflict with same group of thugs. So they team up with a local good 'ole boy and stock-car driver/rum-runner (Jon Saxon) to fight back.This is yet another Roger Corman produced "hicksploitation" film from the 1970's, but actually a pretty good one (despite its PG rating). Most people today will probably seek it out to see Maureen "Marcia Brady" McCormick, but I personally find it more interesting in that it features two of my favorite 1970's drive-in queens, Claudia Jennings and Candice Rialson. The PG-rating, of course, precludes both actresses' usual gratuitous nude scenes, but Jennings was actually a genuinely talented actress (a veritable Meryl Streep for someone who was once a Playboy Playmate) and she's pretty good here as the feisty, shotgun-totin' middle sister. Rialson has a smaller role as the local tart, but she's just sexy as hell even with her clothes on. The main stars though are Jon Saxon and Susan Howard, both of whom are a little too old for these kind of roles (Saxon especially), but they're both pretty good (again Saxon especially). There's also some very decent character actors in the cast including Dub Taylor as the girls' drunken and treacherous uncle and Les "Uncle Leo" Lesser as a very near-sighted store owner. Which, of course, brings us to Marcia, I mean Maureen McCormick. She's definitely cute and appealing as youngest, animal-loving sister, and the scene were she gets bound to a column and (very mildly) tortured by the bad guys might fulfill some people's more perverted "Brady Bunch"-related fantasies, but others might prefer her later film "Texas Lightning" where she has nude scenes (sort of). She does basically hold her here as an actress against thespians a little more talented than Robert Reed, Florence Henderson or Ann B. Davis.This movie certainly has an interesting cast, and I found it to overall be a pretty decent flick.