then you should check this out. This is an entertaining good ol' boy action flick. Hollywood stuntman Jingo (Jesse Vint) returns to his hometown in Oklahoma when his mother takes ill. He immediately suspects something isn't right with his mother's situation (she is nearly catatonic and in a nursing home) so he begins to investigate. He uncovers the scheme involving the sheriff, a local doctor, cheap property and the local land mine. And, naturally, he wins back the girl he left in town. It is strange how this type of film (small town conspiracy) was so predominant in the 70s but rarely gets made today. BOC is a bit slow in the beginning but picks up toward the end with a fun car chase and a couple of really shocking shootings. Sadly, the poster, featuring a bloodied and beaten Vint with a shotgun and overturned cars, depicts stuff that never happens in the movie.
9 Reviews
A fairly run-of-the-mill actioner
rdoyle2911 July 2017
Jesse Vint stars as a guy who moves back to his small home town because his mother has taken ill. He learns that she sold the family farm at some point to a local mining concern, and when he starts asking questions, the sheriff (Albert Salmi) takes a keen interest in discouraging him. Vint co-wrote and produced this flick which is a rather obvious attempt at cashing in on the success of "Walking Tall". This one's an immensely slow burner that doesn't really build up to much of anything. The poster promises a lot more action than the film delivers. Seymour Cassel co-stars as Vint's closest friend. As expected, he's good, but he's hardly convincing as a small town southerner.
An Action-Packed Revenge Story
abbazabakyleman-9883423 May 2021
Jesse Vint (who co-wrote and produced the film) stars as Hollywood stuntman Jingo Johnson, who is summoned back home to the small town of Black Oak, where his mother is deathly-ill in a nursing facility. He also gets caught up in corruption and uncovers a land-developing scheme involving shady locals. There are also some good action set pieces, such as a wild, but lively car chase on mountain roads and plenty of fight scenes, despite the plot being routine to other '70s redneck crime outings, such as Billy Jack and White Lightning. It's also nice to see an El Camino go through all sorts of obstacles, whether being chased or showing off.
Oh wow, civilized and educated rednecks!
Coventry25 August 2021
"Blac Oak Conspiracy" is quite a unique film, or at least in my perception. Judging by the title, the setting, the era of release and the type of characters in the cast list, I was expecting a typically enjoyable slice of Rednecksploitation. And, in fact, it is just that, only more ... sophisticated! Usually in this kind of film, the Southern hicks chase innocent city folks through the woods, they moonshine, or they smuggle booze. The bad rednecks in the film, however, have flawless dental hygiene and occupy themselves with fraudulent real-estate transactions and misleading poor elderly landowners. Even the supportive characters are not your average type of good old-boy yokels, but school teachers and strong independent women instead. The mandatory trademarks of Rednecksploitation are well-represented, though, like the utterly corrupt Sheriff (fantastic role for Albert Salmi), the town's rebel returning home, car chases & crashes, bar fights, bare-knuckle boxing, buxom farmer daughters getting topless, couples rolling around in haystacks, and a catchy country song playing during the opening credits. "Black Oak Conspiracy" is somewhat slow-paced, but never boring and the story builds up towards a terrific climax. During the last twenty minutes, when one of the bad guys goes totally berserk, there is even a bit of nasty gore to enjoy. The great cast includes Jesse Vint (who also co-wrote the script), Robert F. Lyons, Seymour Cassel, and the aforementioned Albert Salmi.
Jesse Vint makes a likable hero and you really grow to love Jingo Johnson.
tarbosh220007 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Ralph "Jingo" Johnson (Vint) is a hard-working stuntman trying to make his way in the tough world of low-budget action movies. When he goes back to his hometown of Black Oak, California (not Arkansas as you might think) to visit his ailing mother, he discovers some mysterious doin's are afoot that can only be described as a BLACK OAK CONSPIRACY.
An unscrupulous father-son team of mining bosses named Bryan and Harrison Hancock (Fowley and Lyons, respectively) are buying up all the land in town, and the corrupt Sheriff Grimes (Salmi) is backing them all the way. When they knock down Jingo's beloved family home, he starts on the trail of unraveling - and putting an end to - the BOC. Not Blue Oyster Cult, but the Black Oak Conspiracy, of course. Jingo gets plenty of help from his buddy Homer Metcalf (Cassel), but he's also trying to win back his lost love Lucy (Carlson), who has been stolen away by the nefarious Harrison. Will Jingo Johnson be the hero that saves Black Oak? Find out today...
We really enjoyed Black Oak Conspiracy. It exudes that wonderful 1977 atmosphere, and you can imagine people pulling into their local drive-in, putting that speaker on their window, and watching it. Clearly it was influenced by previous so-called "good ole boy" movies such as White Lightning (1973), Gator (1976), Walking Tall (1973), and Fighting Mad (1976), among many others. However, it pre-dated The Dukes of Hazzard by a couple years. This sort of plot and style was popular throughout the 70's, and BOC is a prime example.
Jesse Vint makes a likable hero and you really grow to love Jingo Johnson. Vint is also credited here with story and production, and the working title of the film was Jingo, so clearly this was Vint's moment and he created a memorable, relatable hero. He's not the sort of unkillable superman that appeared in movies later on, he's just a down-home dude the audience warms to. Seymour Cassel is perfectly mellow and understated as his sidekick, and Salmi and Lyons as the baddies are the perfect 70's small-town villains. The whole cast should be commended for a fine job all around.
Perhaps one of the most noteworthy and attractive things about Black Oak Conspiracy is the pure Americana on display. Local waitress Melba Barnes (Blythe) works at a small café called the Midget Kitchen (which I don't think is a restaurant name that would exist today) and is going out with lovable lunkhead Billie Bob (Foster).
The whole town attends the dance at the community center, and it's not just a country band that plays, but it's more like a talent show. The movie takes the time to show some of the talent on display, including a group of girls in an all-kazoo band buzzing through patriotic songs and, of course, the showstopper: a full - and we mean full - rendition of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" by a lady who sucks in a bag of helium first. To see this nostalgic look at a time gone past not only sets BOC apart from its competitors, it also gives greater weight to some of the violence we see later on.
What's needed in today's times of overblown, trillion-dollar blockbusters are more unpretentious outings like this. Featuring some standout cinematography (especially during the climax in the mine pit), have a good ole time with Black Oak Conspiracy. You'll be glad you did.
An unscrupulous father-son team of mining bosses named Bryan and Harrison Hancock (Fowley and Lyons, respectively) are buying up all the land in town, and the corrupt Sheriff Grimes (Salmi) is backing them all the way. When they knock down Jingo's beloved family home, he starts on the trail of unraveling - and putting an end to - the BOC. Not Blue Oyster Cult, but the Black Oak Conspiracy, of course. Jingo gets plenty of help from his buddy Homer Metcalf (Cassel), but he's also trying to win back his lost love Lucy (Carlson), who has been stolen away by the nefarious Harrison. Will Jingo Johnson be the hero that saves Black Oak? Find out today...
We really enjoyed Black Oak Conspiracy. It exudes that wonderful 1977 atmosphere, and you can imagine people pulling into their local drive-in, putting that speaker on their window, and watching it. Clearly it was influenced by previous so-called "good ole boy" movies such as White Lightning (1973), Gator (1976), Walking Tall (1973), and Fighting Mad (1976), among many others. However, it pre-dated The Dukes of Hazzard by a couple years. This sort of plot and style was popular throughout the 70's, and BOC is a prime example.
Jesse Vint makes a likable hero and you really grow to love Jingo Johnson. Vint is also credited here with story and production, and the working title of the film was Jingo, so clearly this was Vint's moment and he created a memorable, relatable hero. He's not the sort of unkillable superman that appeared in movies later on, he's just a down-home dude the audience warms to. Seymour Cassel is perfectly mellow and understated as his sidekick, and Salmi and Lyons as the baddies are the perfect 70's small-town villains. The whole cast should be commended for a fine job all around.
Perhaps one of the most noteworthy and attractive things about Black Oak Conspiracy is the pure Americana on display. Local waitress Melba Barnes (Blythe) works at a small café called the Midget Kitchen (which I don't think is a restaurant name that would exist today) and is going out with lovable lunkhead Billie Bob (Foster).
The whole town attends the dance at the community center, and it's not just a country band that plays, but it's more like a talent show. The movie takes the time to show some of the talent on display, including a group of girls in an all-kazoo band buzzing through patriotic songs and, of course, the showstopper: a full - and we mean full - rendition of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" by a lady who sucks in a bag of helium first. To see this nostalgic look at a time gone past not only sets BOC apart from its competitors, it also gives greater weight to some of the violence we see later on.
What's needed in today's times of overblown, trillion-dollar blockbusters are more unpretentious outings like this. Featuring some standout cinematography (especially during the climax in the mine pit), have a good ole time with Black Oak Conspiracy. You'll be glad you did.
Little-seen good-old-boy movie
lightninboy16 May 2005
I caught only the last part of this on television once. I'm going to have to wing it. Jesse Vint is the star playing the hero, Jingo. Jesse Vint has had a lot of roles, including a starring one in Macon County Line. Well, it seems old Jingo left his hometown of Black Oak and became a stuntman, a good occupation for a good old boy. Then it seems that for some reason old Jingo comes back to his hometown of Black Oak. Then it seems that naturally his old friends and family treat him as a hometown boy who went out into the world and done good. Jingo drives a black El Camino with sidepipes (This was the '70s!). But it seems that things are not quite right in Black Oak. It seems that people are dying suspiciously, etc., etc. Well, naturally the locals are helpless to do anything about whatever is going on. Well, naturally it takes a world-wise outsider like Jingo to investigate and see that there is a conspiracy in Black Oak. And just what is the Black Oak conspiracy? Why, it's a money-making racket designed to get money from the Black Oak residents from the cradle to the grave! It's worse than just death and taxes! As I recall, Jingo had an old friend who was a cop, and Jingo put a potato in his exhaust pipe so Jingo could go somewhere and the cop couldn't. And then there was this strip mine with big Terex trucks in it, and naturally Jingo has to have a showdown there like Arnold Schwartzenegger in Raw Deal. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Jingo plumb wipes out this Black Oak conspiracy. I wouldn't be surprised if his friend the cop had a couple potatoes to stick in a certain place for fun, either.
An inspiration of a past experience
GOWBTW1 December 2019
Prior to "Walking Tall", and other hixploitations films, this film is no different. After coming home from Hollywood, Jingo(Jesse Vint) comes to Black Oak, Arkansas where he sees something is not right in his town. His mother is put in a nursing home, and her home is torn down by unscrupulous people near the mine. Even the sheriff is in on it. The sheriff and the schemers are desperate to get the property and run Jingo out of town. He on the other hand has his professor brother help him out on what is going on while he was doing films. Not only is his mother is the victim, other people are involved as well.
This movie is common. Kinda like a avengers movie. Good plot and storyline. Nothing was left out. Like it very much.
2 out of 5 stars.
Black Oak
BandSAboutMovies25 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Hollywood stuntman Jingo Johnson (Jesse Vint, Pigs) has come back home to see his mother before she dies. The family farm has been taken over by a mining company, his old girl Lucy (Karen Carlson, The Student Nurses) is dating one of the mining crew (Robert F. Lyons) and Sheriff Otis Grimes (Albert Salmi) has it in for him.
He learns from Nurse Beulah Barnes (Mary Charlotte Wilcox, Beast of the Yellow Night and, strangely, two seasons of SCTV) that the mining company also owns the hospital that his mother is in, amongst other farmers, and has been keeping them asleep with a concoction of narcotics. Even worse, the pills they gave her caused the disease that soon takes her life.
It turns out that the law is behind all of this - the title makes sense! - and they want Jingo to take the fall for several murders. Oh man, the 70s, a time when redneck - I say this in the kindest of ways as taught by Joe Bob - movies played with conspiracy film!
This was directed by Bob Kelljan, who made Count Yorga, Vampire; The Return of Count Yorga; Scream Blacula Scream and Flesh of my Flesh. It was written by Hugh Smith (Moonshine County Express, The Glove, Night Creature) and Vint, who clashed with Kelljan and felt he was the wrong director for this movie.
He learns from Nurse Beulah Barnes (Mary Charlotte Wilcox, Beast of the Yellow Night and, strangely, two seasons of SCTV) that the mining company also owns the hospital that his mother is in, amongst other farmers, and has been keeping them asleep with a concoction of narcotics. Even worse, the pills they gave her caused the disease that soon takes her life.
It turns out that the law is behind all of this - the title makes sense! - and they want Jingo to take the fall for several murders. Oh man, the 70s, a time when redneck - I say this in the kindest of ways as taught by Joe Bob - movies played with conspiracy film!
This was directed by Bob Kelljan, who made Count Yorga, Vampire; The Return of Count Yorga; Scream Blacula Scream and Flesh of my Flesh. It was written by Hugh Smith (Moonshine County Express, The Glove, Night Creature) and Vint, who clashed with Kelljan and felt he was the wrong director for this movie.
Pleasant Programmer
boblipton10 March 2020
Hollywood stuntman Jesse Vint heads back to the Oklahoma home where he was born. His mother is in a coma in the hospital, her farm has been sold, and the town is divided against him. Half are glad to see him back, and the sheriff and developers want him gone.
This movie screams it was made in the 1970s, from the haircuts to the soundtrack to the loose-jointed way it's plotted Vimt's old girlfriend, Karen Carlson, has moved on, looking for someone who can get her out into the wider world, and Bimt's modest life won't do it; not that he's been writing.
Despite the title, there appears to be no deep-rooted conspiracy, just people looking to make a buck and willing to get nasty about it. Cint's script is not particularly deep, but it gets its undemanding job done. Some longtime movie people show up in sizable roles, including Albert Salmi, Seymour Castellani, and Douglas Fowley in his antepenultimate big-screen role.
This movie screams it was made in the 1970s, from the haircuts to the soundtrack to the loose-jointed way it's plotted Vimt's old girlfriend, Karen Carlson, has moved on, looking for someone who can get her out into the wider world, and Bimt's modest life won't do it; not that he's been writing.
Despite the title, there appears to be no deep-rooted conspiracy, just people looking to make a buck and willing to get nasty about it. Cint's script is not particularly deep, but it gets its undemanding job done. Some longtime movie people show up in sizable roles, including Albert Salmi, Seymour Castellani, and Douglas Fowley in his antepenultimate big-screen role.
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