Tuesday, May 23, 2017

The Legend of Hillbilly John (1972)



Jack Harris Enterprises
Directed by John Newland
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(YouTube)

Episodic story about a wandering minstrel in Appalachia whose silver guitar strings have the power to repel evil. He looks for gold on a haunted mountain with a greedy undertaker, who makes a bargain with a witch. Next, the discovery of a body petrified in coal leads to an encounter with a giant "ugly bird". Finally, he appears to travel back in time to a cotton farm where slaves clash with their owner and use voodoo to get even. There is a sort of wraparound narrative involving none other than the Devil himself advising the minstrel. It all sounds well and good, but amateur acting, low budget and hillbilly stereotypes conspire to sink it. Might be good for unintentional laughs, and the giant bird attack isn't bad.

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