Bayou

I remember this film being shown in local theatres as "For Adults Only." I was 7 years old at the time. Thirty years later I found this film in the video store under the title, "Poor White Trash," as it was billed in the theatres along with "Shanty Tramp." There is no "adult" shock value to this piece of crap whatsoever.

What you have is a poor, grainy, mostly dark celluloid that contains scenes of what would be considered "PG" today: a scene of Lita Milan's character running through the woods naked (the camera shot the scene from so far away all you really see is a ghostlike figure running, pursued by a man in a white shirt (Tim Carey). The subsequent rape scene shows Lita Milan's screaming head going back and forth (you can imagine what's happening); the "sex" scene in the cabin involves a shot of Peter Graves' hand on Lita Milan's back between shots of pounding waves; the "violence" involves a quickie shot of an axe protuding from Tim Carey's back after the climactic fight with Peter Graves (no wonder Peter Graves would rather be remembered for "Mission: Impossible."). Tim Carey is at his slimy best, but the movie really sucks. Oh, and Jonathan Haze looking like he's on some drug...pass on this one.

Just to show you how good IMDb really is, they have covered even this movie? It has been 42 years since I saw this much hyped, black and white joke. A group of us went to a drive-in thinking that we were going to see some nudity. After suffering through a movie that was shot almost entirely in the dark and in a swamp, nothing happened. What a loser! Has been the standard for 42 years for a bad movie.

This picture is terrible. I don't get all the hype about Timothy Carey with his lousy Cajun accent. He overacted in every film I ever saw him in. This one is no exception. The rest of the cast is okay but most of the Cajun accents sound phony. Slow pace, boring direction and an inane script all serve to make this film a total waste of time. One interesting footnote though: no one seems to have noticed that veteran character actor Douglas Fowley (Singin in the Rain) is playing two roles. Not only does he play the ingenues' toothless father but also Jim (with his teeth and dark hair), the guy cajoling Peter Graves to fight for his architect design. He is the best actor in this otherwise dismal film.

"Bayou" is a not particularly distinguished film that is, at times, slow-paced and is filled with questionable acting. Nevertheless, it became a notorious film a few years later when someone bought the movie rights and spliced in a few nude scenes...and made $10,000,000 in theaters! My review is for the original, non-nudie film. It's too bad...as the original picture is pretty slow.

Martin Davis (Peter Graves) has come to the Cajun country in Louisiana in search of a big project, as he's a young and enterprising architect. However, when he meets young Marie (Lita Milan), he forgets about the project and focuses all his attention on her. However, the Disney movie "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Quiet Man", there's a boorish jerk- face, Ulysses (Timothy Carey) who insists Marie is his...and he'll kick the butt of any man who tries to take her. While this all sounds interesting, most of the stuff in between is amazingly dull...and the film is filled with actors who seemed like amateurs...that is beside Graves and Carey. Overall, it's a very silly and only occasionally interesting movie.

Classic cult drama. A young Peter Graves post-Stalag 17 pre-Mission:Impossible made a good naive hero. This film absolutely reeks of 1950's country living. (Or should that be livin')

It's your basic city boy comes to the boonies and wins over Miss young and pretty despite the reluctant father and jealous bloodthirsty boyfriend story.

Timothy Carey as Ulysses (said boyfriend) did an excellent job. Extremely polite to the older folks while giving Graves the laser beam eyes. He had a habit of playing intensity like it was pure gold. If you can find it...find it.