TOBACCO
ROODY (1970)/SOUTHERN COMFORTS (1971)Director: Pete Perry (as Bethel Buckalew)
Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment
TOBACCO
ROODY (1970)/SOUTHERN COMFORTS (1971)With each mounting hillbilly sex double feature that Something Weird Video has unleashed on the market, the more shocked I am that this sexploitation subgenre was as profitable as it proved to be. Is poking a lass in a smelly old barn really that sexy? You be the judge with the final installment of Harry Novak's Southern-Fried Sex Double Features, TOBACCO ROODY and SOUTHERN COMFORTS.
Resident Novak stud Johnny Rocco (NOTORIOUS CLEOPATRA) is Mose, a lazy hillbilly with two incestuous daughters and one buxom blonde niece, Tootie (Dixie Donovan), who he lusts after. His cutie pie wife Liz (Debbie Osborne) gets tired of him ignoring her, so she bangs the sheriff (John Law) who comes knocking to inquire about illegal moonshine AND the tax collector who comes knocking to inquire about mortgage payments (Jack Richesin...YEEECCCCHH!). The sisters turn lesbo in the mud, Tootie learns about the birds and the bees from Mose, and three dumbass hicks sneak some of Mose's moonshine and have their way with all three young women!! And I forgot to mention that Mose talks a French tourist into some hanky panky in the barn when she stops to ask for directions.
The requisite cast of Novak studs and sluts is here: Dixie Donovan is one of the sexiest blondes Novak ever hired; you may recognize her charms from NOTORIOUS CLEOPATRA or JOYS OF JEZEBEL. Johnny Rocco played Marc Antony in CLEOPATRA and the title character in EXOTIC ADVENTURES OF CASANOVA. John Law was the pigkeeper in PIGKEEPER'S DAUGHTER and a biker in DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN. Debbie Osborne made her debut in the classic MIDNIGHT PLOWBOY. And the repulsive Jack Richesin made a living playing dirty old men who somehow always got laid in these films (double YUUCCKK!). And this is the only hillbilly sex flick Novak produced which doesn't feature scene-stealer John Tull as "Junior". This may be part of the reason why the film isn't that great. Sure, I know these are sex films, but the other entries in Novak's "series" had humurous dialogue, intelligent camerawork, and much more memorable cast members (Rene Bond, Peggy Church, Sharon Kelly). TOBACCO ROODY has some choice dialogue, and the hose scene is sizzling, but for the most part it's passable filler. Let's move on.
Remember SWITCHBLADE SISTERS? Remember "Patch, the smiling cobra"? Did you know she made skin flicks?? Well, here she is, Monica Gayle, the leading lady of SOUTHERN COMFORTS! She plays Carol, one of three lovely hookers whose car breaks down in the country while their pimp is on the run from the cops. Pushing their car to a farm run by the Colonel (OH GOD! JACK RICHESIN AGAIN!) and his idiot son Junior (the hilarious John Tull returns with a vengeance), the girls decide to talk all the local girls into entering a beauty pageant. Other than that, Monica Gayle and Judy Angel (the blonde with a knack for comedy who eventually graduated to hardcore) deflower Junior by the lake, lesbianism abounds, and a square dance turns into a fullblown orgy in the barn. In-between borderline hardcore sex scenes, there's the welcome humor to be expected from Pete Perry's Down South Sex-a-thons and some dialogue that will leave you in stitches.
The transfers for both films are really gorgeous. Novak's films have fared very well on DVD; all three Hillbilly Sex Double Feature discs have featured stunning transfers with lovely color and great detail. The mono audio is expectedly good, with no complaints.
The low point of the disc is the audio commentary by Harry Novak on TOBACCO ROODY. Novak's pulling the dirty old man routine again, discussing the anatomy of the girls on-screen and making up more behind-the-scenes stories that never happened. Johnny Legend is one of the moderators, thank goodness, but for some reason Nathaniel Thompson and R.J. Gallantine are also present. Novak obviously hasn't seen TOBACCO ROODY in years, maybe never, because he doesn't know the storyline and doesn't seem to care. The "old pervert" act gets real old real fast, Harry, and if it's not an act, give me back David F. Friedman, an exploiteer who is professional and courteous regardless of his films' content.
The disc contains the trailers for both TOBACCO ROODY and SOUTHERN COMFORTS. ROODY's preview runs almost 5 minutes long (!) and COMFORTS has some significant outtakes. In the finished film, the black girl Jack Richeson boffs in an orchard (UGH!) is a passive participant and has no lines. In the trailer, she's the aggressor in the sexual encounter and has hateful dialogue, adding a sado-masochistic edge to the sequence. But the Novak ends there! The rest of the trailers are all Southern-themed exploitation classics. BAD GEORGIA ROAD is a Southern car chase movie livened up by the presence of lovely Carol Lynley. Mary Woronov and Buck Flower are in there somewhere. BOOTLEGGERS is a comic adventure about two country boys involved in a moonshine operation. Slim Pickens is in it, and a pre-stardom Jaclyn Smith is in the film (but not the trailer). THE FARMER'S OTHER DAUGHTER is a shotgun wedding flick that looks like a hoot! Something Weird offers it on VHS. HILLBILLY HOOKER is a title that many have heard on its infamous radio spot, but this brief trailer offers footage from the film. Wether the full-length feature exists any longer is a mystery, there is no IMDB entry. NOT SUMMER IN BAREFOOT COUNTY is another sex-n-car chases movie. I'll pass. MAN AND HIS WOMAN is actually FREUDUS SEXUALIS (Something Weird should know better!). There is an interesting POOR WHITE TRASH-like scene of a man having his way with an unwilling woman in a field; nice cinematography through a dew-drop-covered cobweb. MISS JESSICA IS PREGNANT looks like a very serious regional drama that I'd love to see, if it even exists anymore. A young Southern woman gets pregnant by either a complete stranger or her brother, who she is having a secret affair with!! PREACHERMAN looks like a great Southern sex comedy; a conman poses as a preacher and integrates himself into a small town. Looks fantastic! For some reason, the IMDB lists an alternate title as PREACHERMAN MEETS WIDDERWOMAN, which is actually a completely different movie. The trailer's here. See the young woman standing beside Preacherman and laughing? It's Jeramie Rain of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT!! This film looks awesome. THIS STUFF'LL KILL YA! and YEAR OF THE YAHOO! are both H.G. Lewis Southern exploitation films. KILL YA looks amazing, and YAHOO was just found by Something Weird recently. I expect a DVD soon.
The short subjects are interesting, but nothing too special. "Hillbilly Bride" is culled from a feature film (couldn't identify which one) and has a young woman unwilling getting hitched to a rich gent. "Take Me Back to West Virginia" is a performance by Slim McCoy and his Hillbilly Orchestra! A gallery of Harry Novak exploitation art (mostly pressbook covers) with familiar radio spots rounds out the package. Easter Egg hunters will find a trailer for the incredible CHILD BRIDE, another film Something Weird simply must release on DVD someday.
Other than the lewd, crude, and just plain stupid commentary, this disc is a surefire keeper! Both films are funny, sexy, and will have you planning your next vacation for the blue hills of Kentucky to catch you one of them country gals!! Yee-ha! (Casey Scott)