Les huit diaboliques

A moonshine movie is a moonshine movie. Everybody did one. Robert Mitchum. James Stewart. Richard Widmark. This one is a non-stop action piece of fluff. Really good light entertainment. Ralph Meeker is so relaxed in his role as the pin-up poster boy for moonshiners everywhere you can almost believe it. And Cliff Osmend, great actor and screen writer, plays his usual light comedy big dumb oaf. All the rest of the cast, except for Fabien, were unknown at the time.

Agent George answers his car phone (mark of a really important man back then) and his hot date is interrupted by an urgent call. He has to move now to break up a big moonshine syndicate. He recruits 8 guys doing hard time. Their reward, lots of time off. They set up a military style training camp, become commandos, infiltrate Meeker's gang and locate the down home whiskey world. Instead of a chase scene they invade with firebombs, hand grenades, sub-machine guns and much macho heroism. Many die. Truth, justice and the American way are made safe for the bonded whiskey warehouses. Fun to watch. A six-pack helps. Fun to watch a second time. Like an old western with many saloon me-lees.

This is a film that is destined to have a cult following. That it is a ripoff of The Dirty Dozen will be obvious to one and all.

Christopher George is a Treasury agent who breaks six convicts off a chain gang in the south as these are guys who know the territory and would blend right in. The object is to take down moonshine kingpin Ralph Meeker who has a wired in operation and has killed a few Feds. One of those he frees is Ross Hagen who knows Meeker well and has his own reason for wanting to nail him. Hagen's ex, Leslie Parrish has moved in with Meeker.

The others are about as willing as Lee Marvin's crew was, but soon enough the idea of freedom appeals to them more than the chain gang.

The Devil's 8 is certainly cheaply made with a cast of B list players. But it doesn't take itself seriously at all.

And it does have one catchy musical score. This one will be rumbling around my head for days.

Aptly described by the other reviews here as "Thunder Road" meets "The Dirty Dozen", "The Devil's 8" is just pure fun. The filmmakers have a good time with the premise and deliver an acceptable amount of thrills, spills, and titillation in 99 straightforward minutes. Capably produced and directed by Burt Topper ("The Strangler", "The Hard Ride"), it features some enjoyable location work - it was filmed partly in the Big Bear Lake area - and a peppy music score by Mike Curb and Michael Lloyd. (Trust me, you'll be humming that theme song long after the movie is finished.) The cast is stocked with familiar faces and the story leads to a pretty good action-packed finish.

Christopher George delivers a very engaging performance as Ray Faulkner, a federal agent who busts several prisoners - part of the "Devil's 8" of the title - out of a work camp so that they can be made to work for the government. Their mission will be to make life miserable for various moonshiners led by Burl (Ralph Meeker), and ultimately, to take Burl alive so he can be pumped for information. Along the way the scrappy young bunch take time out to pursue members of the fairer sex and indulge in what is a good old fashioned barroom brawl.

Other members of the cast include singer Fabian as Sonny, Tom Nardini ("Cat Ballou") as Billy Joe, Cliff Osmond ("Invasion of the Bee Girls") as Bubba, biker flick veteran Larry Bishop ("The Savage Seven") as Chandler, Robert DoQui (Sgt. Reed in the "RoboCop" series) as Henry, Kubrick regular Joe Turkel ("The Shining") as Sam, and Ron Rifkin ("L.A. Confidential") as timid federal agent Stewart Martin. Ross Hagen ("The Hellcats") is particularly good as Frank, whose involvement in the mission is personal, and sexy Leslie Parrish ("The Giant Spider Invasion") is delightful eye candy as Franks' lady friend Cissy. Look for Georges' wife Lynda Day George in an uncredited bit as Faulkners' girlfriend.

Overall, this is routine but it still delivers the goods for lovers of this sort of thing.

Screenplay by James Gordon White and future directors John Milius ("Red Dawn") and Willard Huyck ("Messiah of Evil"), based on a story by Larry Gordon.

Seven out of 10.

the feds are after moonshiners, who are very well organized, and recruit some good 'ol boys to fight fire with fire...lots of action, fair amount of humor, and some killing's to give it a dose of reality, keep this flick rolling along most satisfactorily.

terrific cast, especially a sarcastic, mean spirited Ralph Meeker...likable Ross Hagen....charismatic Tom Nardini and very appealing Leslie Parrish....

believe it or not, this film has a wonderful soundtrack, including a very catchy theme, several songs that relate to the ongoing action and one that is sort of a spin off of thunder road, but is much better...i had the album on an LP (33rpm) and really enjoyed listening to it.

This film seems to have disappeared...i haven't seen it anywhere in many years....

A low budget pot boiler made really enjoyable by a highly talented cast. First of all, Ray Faulkner (Christopher George) drafts, not recruits, six lifer convicts to help him destroy a moonshine gang and capture the leader (Ralph Meeker). He (Faulkner) is the seventh and he is joined by another federal agent later to make the eight. Meeker and George are underemployed in these roles and therefore it is easy for them to stand out. The plot is Faulkner will train these men in high speed "demolition derby" driving, hand to hand combat, use of explosives and firearms and then take them to Meeker's territory to disrupt his moonshine operation. Be forewarned, the special effects are really bad. Film editing is sub-standard. But all the character actors turn in solid, convincing roles, including Fabian Forte, who acts better than he ever sang, which is not a high compliment. A lot of well known actors tried to make moonshine movies, among them Richard Widmak and Gergory Peck. The difference is this movie never tries to be serious. Get a six pack, sit back and be entertained. It's lightweight but it never slows down. I watch it at least once a year and I still enjoy it.