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I've wanted to see HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE for nigh onto half a century, since I first noticed it in Steven Scheuer's (sp?) movie guide and saw that it starred Sherlock Holmes! By which I meant Basil Rathbone. I wanted to see it because.... well, to understand how Basil Rathbone could be in a movie called HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE. To my youthful mind, full of 1960s idealism and similar nonsense, it all seemed as unlikely as.... well, as Basil Rathbone being in a movie called HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE, if not more so. Doubtless, since he was Sherlock Holmes, he would explain and it would be obvious ever after.

Well, decades have passed and I have become wiser -- some would say more cynical, but that's just the attitude I've come to expect from the 'oi polloi. Many other people have played Holmes, although none so entertainingly, and still my interest in seeing HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE has not slackened, until this evening, when I came home from the barber, freshly shorn, to find on my dvr....guess what?

If you guessed HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE, then you've guessed correctly and you must explain how you did it. Once upon a time I would have found it awful beyond words, but time has taught me many words, -- most of which I cannot use here -- the meaning of Ham & Bud and Paulie Shore, and I've seen Buster Keaton in THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI, and Mickey Rooney reduced to a bit part in NIGHT IN THE MUSEUM 2, and Maya Angelou in CALYPSO HEAT WAVE, a Sam Katzman movie. So, after noting that 1960s pop/country is not one of my preferred genres, that the cobbled plot of hillbillies, haunted houses and spies is just as unimportant as all the other movies which serve to string together teenage songs in sub-AIP fare, I will note that Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine and Basil Rathbone perform their scene with a guy in a gorilla costume as well as they can be expected to and it is simply average awful. Even if I think Don Bowman, playing Jeepers is just how I would have imagined a character named Jeepers in 1967.

I love exploitation flicks, but this is the bottom of the barrel. This sequel to LAS VEGAS HILLBILLYS is trash of a new kind. No MUNSTERS or BEVERLY HILLBILLIES episode was ever this lame. Ferlin Husky is terrible and the guy who plays Jeepers is a complete idiot. Joi Lansing, although pretty with a great body, is a poor replacement for Mamie Van Doren in the first film, as Boots Malone.

I gave this a 2 instead of a 1 because of the title and John Carradine maintains his dignity (somehow). Basil Rathbone looks uncomfortable. Lon Chaney, Jr. looks to be in pain. Linda Ho is boring. Terrible music and creepy color. Best performance = Anatole the gorilla. LAS VEGAS HILLBILLYS was bad enough to be fun..but this one - sorry folks.

It is easy to dismiss this movie as something that belongs on the bottom half of a double bill or late night television; but I happen to enjoy it. Lon Chaney, John Carradine and Basil Rathbone together again for the first time since THE BLACK SLEEP (1956) and on far more equal terms than they were in the earlier film. Okay so they leave no cliche untouched, from the Oriental "Dragon Lady" top spy to the gorilla in a cage but there are good moments in the film too. Just watch the scene where Lon Chaney takes the secret plans away from the traitorous government worker. Lon waits for just a heartbeat before turning back into the room, pulling his gun and declaring "If you'd betray your country you'd also betray us." and shoots the man dead. A great dramatic moment and not what you would expect from a musical comedy. Unfortunately the movie is very patronising of Southerners. Woody and Jeepers are your basic "scared of everything" backwoods boys. Boots (Joi Lansing) does not have a Southern drawl and at one point declares "Well I for one do not believe in ghosts." making her the most level headed one in the group. As for the music, there is plenty. All Boots has to do is say "Hey Woody, sing a song." for the plot to stop dead in its tracks so Ferlin Husky can warble another country tune. My biggest argument is that the movie goes on for another 20 minutes AFTER it should end! After the bad guys have been rounded up and the spies are in custody we get one whole REEL of country western singers performing their specialties at what is supposed to be a big Nashville Jamboree but looks like a high school auditorium. Granted this is probably the only chance many viewers will get to see old time singers like Molly Bee and Marcella Wright so just relax and enjoy the music.

Of the 13 feature films in which John Carradine and Lon Chaney both appeared, 1967's "Hillbillys in a Haunted House" was not only the last, it was one of the few where they actually shared any scenes (shot under the working title "Ghost Party"). Joined in villainy by a game, 74 year old Basil Rathbone, the three actors offer the only real novelty to this tired rehash of old dark house clichés, dragged down by its abundance of country music. A sequel to the successful "Las Vegas Hillbillys" (note the spelling!), retaining stars Ferlin Husky and Don Bowman, but replacing the absent Jayne Mansfield with the equally photogenic Joi Lansing. En route to Nashville for a good old fashioned jamboree, the trio break down and have to spend the night in a house that's not really haunted; its actually the home base for spies trying to steal a top secret formula from a local rocket base. John Carradine alternately scowls and grimaces as Dr. Himmil, when he's not mercilessly teasing the gorilla Anatole belonging to Lon Chaney's Maximillian, who goes undercover by getting past an unsuspecting janitor (all he gets for his trouble is a formula combining nitroglycerin and antihistamine!). As Gregor, Basil Rathbone shares most of his scenes with Carradine, using phony ghosts and noises to try to scare off their dimwitted intruders, whom they mistake for agents from M.O.T.H.E.R. (Master Organization to Halt Enemy Resistance). A genuine ghost closes out the spy stuff at 67 minutes, leaving the final two reels open for yet more musical numbers. Chaney is clearly having a grand time, and Rathbone too, while poor Carradine has to remain sullen for the most part, fewer opportunities to be funny (he did enjoy stealing Anatole's banana!). As bad as the film's reputation is, consider how much worse it would have been without its heavyweight cast of screen villains.

I recently learned about this movie when I saw a documentary entitled "The Fifty Worst Movies" and since I am a glutton for punishment, it sounded like it would be so bad it was funny. Well, after seeing this film, it is so bad that it's just plain awful. Seeing the movie to make fun of it isn't really possible--it just stinks so badly! Towards the end of their careers, Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney and John Carradine would star in just about anything--and this film is the proof. It's a combination horror movie, Country Music marathon and spy movie!! Yep, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you! Talk about awful! The film begins with old-time Country singer Ferlin Husky and his friends driving to Nashville for a concert. You know it's going to be a long ride when one of the friends is named "Jeepers" and they start the film with one of the worst songs I can remember. The problem was that it was very obvious that they were just moving their lips and the song literally sounded like it was recorded in a tunnel. In fact, all the songs in the film (and there were MANY) sounded this way. Throughout the film, they'd break into song in the darnedest places and most ridiculously inappropriate moments. And, at the end, when there was no more plot, they just had about 6 songs in a row by a variety of long-forgotten Country stars. The net effect was a lot like watching an extended episode of "Hee-Haw" without all the corny jokes.

As far as the aging actors go, they were spies (naturally) who lived in a haunted house and had a killer gorilla (obviously a guy in a costume). None of it made a bit of sense and the film made BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA look like Shakespeare in comparison!! Dumb, pointless and absolutely painful if you hate old-time Country music. This is a chore to watch!

What can I say that hasn't already been said - they couldn't possibly make a movie that is worse than this.

For myself, it is nice to be able to see the stunning beauty Joi Lansing, and near the end of her life. Joi Lansing was one of those uncommonly beautiful women who was mainly hired for her looks. She deserved much better. She died too young - just over forty years old - and she didn't have the kind of career that will make her very memorable. Most of her movies were laden with cheesiness. Her appearances in legitimate works seem to have been to exploit her appearance.

I know this will skew the stats for this film, but I have to give it a 10 just because of the pleasure of seeing Joi.

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!

I can't rate this less than 4 stars for a few reasons: Joi Lansing, Lon Chaney Jr. , John Carradine, Basil Rathbone. I'll throw in Linda Ho as well. Yes it's dopey, it's corny and it's horrible but that's not the point. It's a great chance for fans to see these performers and anything they're in makes it fun. Joi is especially lovely. For her fans this is a must see, she even does some mild bondage at one point. And her silver jump suit scenes alone are worth the price of admission. I'm not a big fan of Firlen Husky our any of these performers per se but that's just me. Annoyingly every song he sings has the echo chamber dialed to 9. Oh well, everyone keeps a straight face throughout. It's like a Scooby Doo episode with lots of county songs.

Frankenstein met the Wolfman, and they both met Abbott and Costello, so why shouldn't country music greats Ferlin Husky and Merle Haggard meet Basil Rathbone and Lon Chaney, Jr? No reason a'tall. I was hoping for a real hoedown here, even though I'm not sure what a hoedown is. Well, actually, a hoedown seems to be a "square dance." At least that's what the Merriam Webster link on my toolbar came up with, in which case a hoedown isn't what I was hoping for, after all. A Ferlin Husky-Lon Chaney, Jr. duet on a country classic, perhaps "Your Cheatin' Heart," or something else from the pen of Hank Williams, would have been nice, but, alas, it was not to be. As a result, "Hillbillies in a Haunted House" fails to live up to its considerable potential. I suppose that for Basil Rathbone, who would die in the year of this film's release, appearing in this movie is no worse than doing an infomercial for a Helsinki baldness cure, which is what aged, down on their luck actors seem to do these days, although it would have been nice to see the screen's greatest Sherlock Holmes go out with more style than is evident here.

After viewing the DVD the 50 worst movies of all time i was split on some of the selections and after seeing the clips for hillbilly's in a haunted house i wanted to see for myself,don't get me wrong i love b movies and trashy cinema but this one is really awful.a great cast misused in a horrible movie.lets see John Carridine,Lon Chaney JR,Basil Rathbone,the sexy Joi Lansing,Ferlin Husky,and even Merle Haggard.it looked good from seeing the clips but as a whole its a total bummer.with really awful songs and a well worn plot about 3 country singers on their way to a swinging jamboree in Nashville Tennessee,their car breaks down and have to stay at a seemingly abandoned mansion,that happens to be haunted.well its occupied by Rathbone,Chaney Jr,and Carridine and their boss played by Linda Ho.they are sort of espionage agents trying to steal plans for a top secret weapon.the three country singers(Ferlin Husky,Joi Lansing,and Don Bowman)get caught up in the silliness.remember the aip movie ghost in the invisible bikini?well that movie is gone with the wind compared to this.thats about an hour and a half ill never get back,what could've been a great idea falls apart in the first 3 minutes.but I'm glad i saw it for myself.

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.

Imagine the excitement if the Grand Ole Opry tour bus broke down at the Shady Rest Hotel in Hooterville. Yep, country music song after song with nothing happening in between. It's not much of a movie, but rather a parade of singers across a one-set soundstage in Nashville. Even as a songfest its a sad project, sporting marginal camerawork and no imagination.

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.

This is a late 60s country western music ad, dressed up as a feature length sci-fi movie. The storyline could easily been written for the 3 Stooges. It is not only low budget, but awkwardly composed. The "stars" of the show must have made this a BIG DRAW at the theater, while nailing the coffins of their careers. The saddest part, is that these were fine actors, going out with a dud,,, not a bang

OMG, this is awful, just awful. You want it to be campy awful, but that's too much work. It's just plain awful. Bad sets, bad acting, bad directing, bad script.

The saddest part of this dreck is the complete waste of the beautiful Joi Lansing, who never ever appears in a swimsuit or a negligee or even the clingy tattered dress they paint on her on the movie poster. C'mon, movie gorillas are grabby and horny bodice-rippers going back to King Kong. But this ape is too impotent to monkey around - matching everything else in this mess. Lansing should have been one of the screen's great sex symbols, but this snore was no help.

The rest of the show is just unwatchable Z-movie hack work. Basil Rathbone and John Carradine stand around jawing in the suits they were probably buried in. That's about as scary as it gets. Scooby Doo and Shaggy would have turned down the story as too far-fetched.

Merle Haggard sings a great song, Sonny James does an okay one. The other singers, popping up mostly on the tacked-on end, had minor recording careers, but you'll need to Google them to find out why.

If you've watched a whole plethora of episodes of the cult TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000, you may have heard of a certain film company that goes by the name of Woolner Pictures. They are the idiots responsible for those godawful Hercules movies that have popped up time and time again. Well, there was one other film that they were infamously known for, and that's the one I'm reviewing in this installment of Cinephile Confessions.

I originally heard of this movie from a video entitled The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made, which counted down...well...the worst movies ever made. Jean Yarbrough's 1967 *ahem* "horror comedy" Hillbillys in a Haunted House (P.S., it's spelled HILLBILLIES) was one of those movies, making the #35 spot. One day, I saw that this was coming on, of all places, my favorite movie channel, Turner Classic Movies, a channel that is often known for showing some of the best the silver screen had to offer. So being the glutton for punishment that I am, I proceeded to sit on my couch and watch the entire thing from start to finish.

So where do I begin with this more-than-worthy entry to Dumpsterpiece Theatre? Well, for starters, the movie is basically an episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? stretched out to feature length and including pointless country music numbers, only instead of a large, cowardly great dane and his human companions, we have two musicians and their manager (with the personality of both Scooby and Shaggy combined) on their way to a Nashville Country Jamboree. Their car breaks down, and with a thunderstorm on the rise, their only shelter is a haunted mansion, which also happens to be occupied by a group of international spies, including Basil Rathbone, John Carradine, and Lon Chaney Jr., of all people. Oh, and well-known Country singers Sonny James and Merle Haggard are somewhere in this movie, too.

Watching this movie, I could instantly tell that this picture was made specifically for a drive-in theatre. Not to say that every film shown at one of those is this caliber of bad, but let me ask you this: would an indoor movie theatre show this alongside films like Bonnie and Clyde or The Graduate, which were also released in '67? Nah, I wouldn't think so either. Not only is the movie not funny or scary within the slightest, and with songs that would make Billy Ray Cyrus sound like Garth Brooks, but even though this movie is only 88 minutes long, it felt like two hours. But wait, here's the kicker: when the main story ends and the spies are caught, the movie isn't even close to being done yet. You get to sit through the jamboree the main characters have been singing about when the film began, with about five or six songs sung back to back as if this was really a concert flick. By the time I got to this point, I was like Tom Servo at the end of the Wild World of Batwoman episode of MST3K, shouting "END! EEEEEENNNNNDDD!!!" at the top of my lungs before they gave out.

To conclude, no one was lying. This was bad. Probably the worst movie I've seen thus far. It's worse than Reptilicus, worse than Manos: The Hands of Fate, and almost as irritating as The Castle of Fu Manchu. If you REALLY want to see this poor excuse of a movie, it can be seen on many a bargain bin DVD that's most likely worth a pittance. Otherwise, avoid it as if it was radioactive waste, sign and all.

It is a sad sight indeed watching three veteran stars of the silver screen, and in particular the horror genre, be reduced to nothing more than scenery in an otherwise drab, dreary, dull film about a trio of country western singers holed up in a haunted house for the night. Ferlin Husky and Joi Lansing(as Boots Malone) and Don Hall inadvertantly stumble upon a haunted house being used by agents against an organization(MOTHER). When they are not running from being scared, each one 'entertains' us with a good ole country classic. All in all I counted no fewer than 14...yes count 'em....14 songs sung by the trio, a band of passers-by that just happen to sing as a group, two people on television sing for the Country Western Hour, and at the end of the film, when the story about the agents and the house has all been cleared up...at least six songs that go one after the other and the picture abruptly ends. This is not a horror picture. It is not even a picture with a real story. It is just an excuse to showcase what little talent the singers have. Now to be fair, Merle Haggard does a couple numbers, and a few of the songs aren't too terrible. But why make a movie like this....why star three of the genre greats and then give them little to do? Basil Rathbone certainly deserved better than this for his last(or next to last film). He is good in his small role and his scenes with John Carradine are fun to watch as they wade through the atrocious dialogue given to them. And what about poor Lon? It looks like he just woke up from a weekend bender. Again a shame for such a good actor! Despite these many...many shortcomings(and as I stated earlier there were at least 14)...Hillbillys in a Haunted House should be required viewing for serious genre fans just to have a few good real hearty laughs and to see those great men..even though not at their best...one last time. Other than that, the only other saving grace is easily Ms. Lansing and her stiffening blouse...a real treat for the eyes!

Criticizing "Hillbillys in a Haunted House" (yes, that's really the way "Hillbillys" is spelled) might seem like shooting fish in a barrel, but even by 1960s grind-house standards, this picture is dreadful. In fact, I think Ed Wood can breathe a little easier wherever he is, knowing that THIS is really the worst movie ever made. Only one scene involving Lon Chaney, Jr., and a murder has any kind of impact, but it doesn't really belong in the picture, since that it is played straight, and the rest of this mess is farcical. Much has been made about the star trio of fading horror stars, but actually seeing them here is truly sad. Chaney tries to inject some life, but it's pretty hopeless (this same year Chaney was featured in a good big-budget Western, "Welcome to Hard Times," and was a semi-regular on TV's "Pistols and Petticoats," so did he REALLY need the money that bad?). John Carradine phones it in, apparently not having bothered to read the script beforehand (in once scene he calls Basil Rathbone "George" when the character's name is really "Gregor"). It is poor Rathbone, however, who elicits the highest cringe rating. Clearly ailing, his speech is slightly slurred as he struggles to get the maimed dialogue out. The Country Western leads are inept, with someone named Don Bowman, ostensibly the comic relief, taking the Unfunniest Man Alive award away from Fidel Castro, and Ferlin Husky grimacing so mightily as he goes for the high notes that it looks like a tribute to Chaney transforming into a werewolf. Joi Lansing is awful, but an eyeful, and Linda Ho is so amateurish that she should have had her SAG card revoked. The plot involves spies, a "haunted" house, a gorilla in the basement, really dumb comedy, even dumber characters, and far too many musical numbers, which means it could have been made in the mid 1940s (with largely the same cast!), and they might have gotten away with it. But coming a year before "Rosemary's Baby," it's just pathetic. If you want to see the nadir, knowing that you'll probably never see anything worse, then watch it.