Moonshine Mountain

In Herschell Gordon Lewis's hicksploitation movie Moonshine Mountain, Charles Glore plays popular folk singer Doug Martin, who travels from New York to the backwoods village of Stuartsville looking for authentic musical inspiration. There, he meets the Carpenters, a family of hillbilly moonshiners who take Doug under their wing after he impresses them with his gittar picking. Meanwhile, Sheriff Potter (Adam Sorg) and his hulking deputy Luther (Harry Hoffman) are up to no good, killing off federal agents who have been poking their noses into Stuartsville's illegal alcohol activity.

There are two main reasons for watching an H. G. Lewis movie: T&A in his nudie cuties or excessive gore in his splatter films. People don't watch his work for great performances, slick direction or brilliant writing. Moonshine Mountain has zero boobs and not much blood, but plenty of amateurish acting, weak dialogue and ham-fisted film-making, making it a real test of one's patience. It is like Two Thousand Maniacs with all of the good stuff taken out and replaced by dreadful music and songs. If that sounds like your jar of moonshine, then quaff away, but I prefer my HGL films with guts (and brains and severed limbs).

2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for the amusing credits.