Mudhoney (1965)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Russ Meyer

Writers:

Raymond Friday Locke (novel) and
W.E. Sprague (writer)

Release Date:

July 1965 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

...leaves a taste of evil!

Plot:

It's 1933, in the midst of the Depression and Prohibition. Calif, a stranger with a past walks into Spooner...

Plot Keywords:

Preacher | Poverty | Skinny Dipping | Lynch Mob | Fundamentalist Religion

Cast

Hal Hopper	...	Sidney Brenshaw
Antoinette Christiani	...	Hannah Brenshaw
John Furlong	...	Calif McKinney
Rena Horten	...	Eula
Princess Livingston	...	Maggie Marie
Lorna Maitland	...	Clara Belle
Sam Hanna	...	Injoys
Stuart Lancaster	...	Lute Wade
Nick Wolcuff	...	Sheriff Able
Frank Bolger	...	Brother Hanson
Lee Ballard	...	Sister Hanson
Michael Finn	...	Thurmond Pate (as Mickey Foxx)
F. Rufus Owens	...	Milton
Wilfred Kues	...	Lynch mob (as W. Kues)
Charles Felix

Also Known As:

Mud Honey
Rope
Rope of Flesh
Rope of Love (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

UK:92 min | USA:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Finland:(Banned) (1966) | UK:18 | Finland:K-18 (2004)

Company:

Delta Films

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Village of the Giants (#6.23)" (1994)

One of Russ Meyer's best

Drama takes place in Missouri during the Depression (though that adds little to the story). Drifter Claif McKinney (John Furlong) comes by a small town looking for working. He finds it at the Wade farm run by Luke Ward and his niece Hannah (Antoinette Christiani) and her alcoholic abusive husband Sidney (Hal Hopper). Calif starts to fall for Hannah--Sidney sees that and doesn't like it. He gets the town and the local preacher (Frank Bolger) to rally against Calif. Also there are the two beautiful, huge-chested sisters (Lorna Maitland and Rena Horten) who are in the local cat house...It all leads to two near rapes, violence, murder and tragedy. But it does (in a way) have a happy ending.

Sleazy (in a good way) and enjoyable Russ Meyer drama. He ignores the campy dialogue he had in his previous features and gives us a straight forward drama. The script is good and it's well-directed with some beautiful black and white cinematography. The acting was (surprisingly) pretty good--especially when you consider all the women were hired for their bodies not acting ability. Furlong and Christiani give good performances but Hopper screams all his lines and Bolger is hopeless.

There is nudity on a few occasions but it's pretty tasteful. No great shakes but right up there with "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" as one of the best Russ Meyers film.