The Girls from Thunder Strip

When I randomly chose to watch this on a Tubi, I had no idea what I'd found. It took me all of 10 minutes to discover that this 1970 flick could easily be the inspiration for the "Dukes of Hazard," a 70s Good 'Ol Boyz moonshine-based series.

There's a few adjustments, but the basic idea is the same. "Dukes" was centered on 2 brothers whose family has been running moonshine for generations. "The Girls" are sisters who run a still, in an area littered with stills, apparently.

Both have inept sheriffs and goofball deputies. But "The Girls" sheriff is more laid back than dumb, as in "Dukes."

Both have bloviating politicians. Boss Hogg was the County Commissioner of Hazard County, and Casey Kasem is something connected to Washington, cuz he keeps threatening to "tell them back in Washington!"

While, both have lots of fast cars, hillbilly jokes and peppy banjo music, "Dukes" was on network T. V. "The Girls" has rape, plenty of senseless violence as well as the fast cars.

I don't have much more to say about it, other than if you remember the Duke Brothers' car, the General Lee, fondly you might just like this flick.

This film begins with three motorcyclists driving down a rural highway when one of the men named "Teach" (Gary Kent) stops to pick up a woman walking alongside the road. After driving a short distance he then pulls off into some woods where he rapes her and drives off afterward. A little while later he rejoins his comrades at a gas station where they get into a confrontation and are subsequently jailed by the local sheriff (played by Jack Starrett). Not long afterward they are freed by a young woman named "Red" (Maray Ayres) who came to the jail to rescue her sister "Jessie" (Megan Timothy) after she was recently arrested for bootlegging. But rather than being grateful the men soon turn on Red and everybody associated with her in the worst way possible. Now rather than reveal any more I will just that this low-budget "biker film" had a good overall plot but was greatly hampered by the poor script, weak acting and bad camera work. Likewise, some of the action scenes at the end could have used significant improvement as well. That being the case I have rated this film accordingly.

Three, tough talkin', barefooted, moonshiner sisters go on the run from the law after springing one of their number from the local jail, and unwisely allow three murderous bikers to escape with them... in a film that has its eye on the biker genre and its hand up the skirt of hickploitation. Despite director David L Hewitt, having form in the biker genre, helming The Tormentors and Hells Chosen Few, the greater allegiance here is towards all things country, y'all. The Girls from Thunder Strip might well be Hewitt's most enjoyable film, although given that we're talking about the man who brought The Mighty Gorga, The Lucifer Complex and Gallery of Horror into this world, the competition isn't exactly what you'd call stiff. A more tonally uneven movie you're never likely to meet. Good time humour, cartoonish sight gags and cheery banjo music go hand in hand with offscreen rape and onscreen, cold blooded murder as the film can't seem to decide if it wants to be another Satan's Sadists or a prototype for The Dukes of Hazzard. The cast is equally schizophrenic, featuring the sons of famous people (Jody McCrea, Lindsay Crosby) exploitation vets (Gary Kent, Bruce Kimball, William Bonner) and Casey 'voice of Shaggy' Kasem as an uptight out of towner who gets his pants blown off....Zoinks!!!

THE GIRLS FROM THUNDER STRIP was / is the perfect drive-in movie! It opens with bikers, known as Hell's Chosen Few, causing mayhem. The mistreatment and degradation of women seems to be their favorite pastime. They soon meet up with the local sheriff and some good old fashioned police brutality! Next stop, the county slammer!

There's also a moonshining operation in the nearby woods, run by Red (Maray Ayres), Jessie (Megan Timothy), and Lil (Melinda Mecharg).

These two worlds will intersect with catastrophic results!

THE BOTTOM LINE: Hillbilly moonshiners are not to be trifled with, not even by demonic, psycho bikers!

THIS MOVIE HAS: #1- A chase and a shootout, accompanied by banjos! #2- A crazed, killer biker named Animal (William Bonner)! #3- Casey Kasem himself as a government agent! #4- A stuffed mountain lion that attacks and kills!

Goodnight, and don't forget to visit the snack bar on your way out...

One of the lesser biker movies from the golden age. Fairly rough sledding. Big problems with tone here. One minute Casey Kasem is "blown up" by a stick of dynamite ala Wile E. Coyote, to cartoonish effect with tattered outfit and blackened face, the next minute the bikers (really just serial killers, nothing more) are just killing civilians at random with a gunshot to the middle of the forehead, hardcore. Focus, people!

I really doubt the supposed release date of this film: clearly this trash epic could have been neither made nor released in 1966. The fashions, hairstyles and attitudes are just wrong. 1969 might be more like it, but I could also imagine 1970 or 1968. The sideburns are too long, the bell-bottoms are too wide, the hair is too big and unsettled, and the hippies too smelly to be 1966. Having said that, enjoy one of the more mindlessly violent motorcycle dramas out there.

Casey Kasem has a couple of scenes in the film, sporting sharp suits and big sideburns. Old Casey got a lot of acting work in the late 60's and early 70's. Be sure to check him out in THE INCREDIBLE TWO HEADED TRANSPLANT. And check out some of David L. Hewitt's other epics, including the bizarrely indescribable MIGHTY GORGA, available on DVD.

Also enjoy Bruce Kimball aka Kemp, in one of his earlier outings as Deputy Orville. A dependable presence on the drive-in film circuit during this time frame, he usually appeared as doltish deputies or sheriffs. He also appears in such other Hewitt films as THE MIGHTY GORGA, and several Al Adamson shlock fests like Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN, as well as Lee Frost's LOVE CAMP 7 and CHAIN GANG WOMEN, and one of my favorite mistakes, THE TORMENTORS.