Before picking up a boxset of movies by director Russ Meyer in the Christmas sales,Mudhoney was one of two films that bought me to the attention of Meyer,thanks to the title of the film being used decades later as the name for an amazing Grunge band called Mudhoney.With having greatly enjoyed Meyer's previous movie Lorna,I decided to touch Mudhoney,to find out how "sick" it truly is.
The plot:
1933-Spooner,Missori:
Walking round the small dust town of Spooner after having recently been released from jail,Calif McKinney runs into a strange looking woman called Maggie Marie,who to McKinney's surprise offer's him the chance to spend some time with each of her lonely and very eager daughter:Clara Belle and the mute Eula.Politely turning down Marie's offer,Calif ask Maggie if she knows about any jobs that are available in the area.Grungingly accepting McKinney's dismissal of her offer,Marie tells Calif that there is a farm near by,that is desperate to hire a new farm boy.
Knocking on the door of the farm,Calif is met by the old owner of the farm:Lute Wade,who despite being servily ill, still gives Mckinney a warm welcome.As McKinney starts to talk to Lute about what his daily job routine will be,Calif is left monetarily speechless,when Wade's beautiful niece Hannah arrives and gives McKinney a very warm welcome.Feeling pleased about finding a good place to work and also happy,thanks to the easy on the eyes sight of Hannah.
Ripping Calif's moments of joy into shreds,Hannah's husband Sidney Brenshaw stomps into the farm,and openly shows that he rules the farm with an iron fist by telling Lute that he is going to steal the farm from him that moment that Lute dies,and also demanding Hannah that she makes dam sure to stay in her place.Angered that the decision to hire McKinney had not been made by him,Sidney decides to give Calif his own "special welcome",by telling McKinney that he must follow every task that he tells him to do,due to Sidney servily beating up the last farm boy over his faliour to walk Sidney's vicious line.
View on the film:
Working on the first ever movie that he himself has not written or done the cinematography for,co-editor/co-producer/extra/director auteur Russ Meyer shows that even when some other people are allowed to hold on to the main reins,he is still able to set his wonderfully unique vision "bounceing" across the screen.
Setting the mood of the film with Andre Brummer's spike-driven score,Meyer and cinematography Walter Schenk make Calif's arrival into Spooner one that is entering a chilling Horror atmosphere,with Meyer and Schenk using crisp black & White to make all of the town's folk appear as if their eyes have been pushed to the back of their sockets,with Meyer also showing the religious hypocrisy in this deep-fried southern Horror,by showing the local's to break out into a far too tightly knitted mob rule.
Initially appearing unsure about what direction to take things in their adaptation of Raymond Friday Locke's novel Streets Paved with Gold,with the opening bringing back memories of Meyer's disappointing "Nudie- Cutie" era,the screenplay by Locke and W.E. Sprague chooses the scene where Calif meets Maggie's strange family as the moment to slam the film into the deep-frier,with Calif being shown as the strong,silent type who attempts to keep hold of his sanity against the cackling Sidney.
Entering the movie grotesquely wide-eyed,Princess Livingston gives an extremely unsettling,creepy performance as Maggie who welcomes Calif and the viewer into this off-beat Horror World.Taking on Calif McKinney, (played by a very good,stern John Furlong) in Russ Meyer's first film to have a male in the lead role,Hal Hopper makes Sidney a true piece of brilliant villainy,thanks to Hopper curling his lip each time he delivers a snarling verbal slap to the lesser beings of his land,which help to make the taste of this honey one that is perfectly sweet.
The plot:
1933-Spooner,Missori:
Walking round the small dust town of Spooner after having recently been released from jail,Calif McKinney runs into a strange looking woman called Maggie Marie,who to McKinney's surprise offer's him the chance to spend some time with each of her lonely and very eager daughter:Clara Belle and the mute Eula.Politely turning down Marie's offer,Calif ask Maggie if she knows about any jobs that are available in the area.Grungingly accepting McKinney's dismissal of her offer,Marie tells Calif that there is a farm near by,that is desperate to hire a new farm boy.
Knocking on the door of the farm,Calif is met by the old owner of the farm:Lute Wade,who despite being servily ill, still gives Mckinney a warm welcome.As McKinney starts to talk to Lute about what his daily job routine will be,Calif is left monetarily speechless,when Wade's beautiful niece Hannah arrives and gives McKinney a very warm welcome.Feeling pleased about finding a good place to work and also happy,thanks to the easy on the eyes sight of Hannah.
Ripping Calif's moments of joy into shreds,Hannah's husband Sidney Brenshaw stomps into the farm,and openly shows that he rules the farm with an iron fist by telling Lute that he is going to steal the farm from him that moment that Lute dies,and also demanding Hannah that she makes dam sure to stay in her place.Angered that the decision to hire McKinney had not been made by him,Sidney decides to give Calif his own "special welcome",by telling McKinney that he must follow every task that he tells him to do,due to Sidney servily beating up the last farm boy over his faliour to walk Sidney's vicious line.
View on the film:
Working on the first ever movie that he himself has not written or done the cinematography for,co-editor/co-producer/extra/director auteur Russ Meyer shows that even when some other people are allowed to hold on to the main reins,he is still able to set his wonderfully unique vision "bounceing" across the screen.
Setting the mood of the film with Andre Brummer's spike-driven score,Meyer and cinematography Walter Schenk make Calif's arrival into Spooner one that is entering a chilling Horror atmosphere,with Meyer and Schenk using crisp black & White to make all of the town's folk appear as if their eyes have been pushed to the back of their sockets,with Meyer also showing the religious hypocrisy in this deep-fried southern Horror,by showing the local's to break out into a far too tightly knitted mob rule.
Initially appearing unsure about what direction to take things in their adaptation of Raymond Friday Locke's novel Streets Paved with Gold,with the opening bringing back memories of Meyer's disappointing "Nudie- Cutie" era,the screenplay by Locke and W.E. Sprague chooses the scene where Calif meets Maggie's strange family as the moment to slam the film into the deep-frier,with Calif being shown as the strong,silent type who attempts to keep hold of his sanity against the cackling Sidney.
Entering the movie grotesquely wide-eyed,Princess Livingston gives an extremely unsettling,creepy performance as Maggie who welcomes Calif and the viewer into this off-beat Horror World.Taking on Calif McKinney, (played by a very good,stern John Furlong) in Russ Meyer's first film to have a male in the lead role,Hal Hopper makes Sidney a true piece of brilliant villainy,thanks to Hopper curling his lip each time he delivers a snarling verbal slap to the lesser beings of his land,which help to make the taste of this honey one that is perfectly sweet.