Mudhoney (1965) User Reviews

Surpringsly Sly B/W Coolness!

[shepardjessica-1 · 7/10 · 12 September 2005]

For some reason, I expected more crass (and I've seen Russ Meyer films from the late 60s and early 7s) and exploitive (although they are in docu-creepy realistic funny way) rendition of a story like this. I couldn't have been more mistaken. Perfectly cast - Hal Hopper (the ultimate sleaze-bag in a worn linen suit, babes galore - Lorna Maitland and her beautiful mute sister (can't remember her name) who was mute (and has no lines)...the "crazy" and hilarious mother of the these two "Lil Abner" rejects who makes moonshine ..on the side - whose name is Princess something (in real life)...Anyway, I'm making it sound complicated and it's not and it's not "dirty" (even for then). It's funny, serious (darkly later), kind of sexy, great b/w cinematography and the ending is on the plains.

I never thought this film would be good. Meyer's best film (that I've seen - which is about half his output). Well-done.

Meyer's Most Underrated Film

[BrianN · 6/10 · 13 July 1999]

"Mudhoney" takes the gritty "realism" of "Lorna" one step further. It's downright nasty. Perhaps Meyer's best script and most satisfying narrative. Hopper is a down-on-his-luck alcoholic wife-beater who nearly succeeds at turning a Depression-era small town into hell. He even tries to take a shortcut through heaven. Fits nicely between "Lorna" and "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" as Meyer's mid-60's b&w peak.

Not so trashy

[Artemis-9 · 7/10 · 24 July 2003]

Seen at a Trash Film Retrospective, I do not concur with those who made the selection, or commented on the film before, here in IMDb. Director Russ Meyer may be more famous for the titillation and violence he introduced in his movies, but he is a man with a purpose, and a political message - that any intelligent viewer could see. Now, almost forty years after the film was made, the denunciation of mass hypocrisy, stupidity, alienation in American society seem more blatant, and terrifying. Those who are after crude nudity and sex scenes would better watch national television tonight. Those who are after one and a half hours of entertaining cinema with several points to remember later on, would better give themselves the trouble to watch this in a theater (Meyer's fans are still strong enough to impose him in many theme festivals), or the uncut version that made it to DVD lately. Immediately after Mudhoney, master Russ did what I consider his masterpiece, _Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1966)_. Now I hesitate between the two. Up to you to decide. Oh, yes. 'Lorna Maitland' (qv) is a southern belle Clara Belle, even if she has to contend with 'Rena Horten' (qv) cast as a mute, but whose body and facial talk speak high of her acting ability. The two buxom beauties are the 'titwillows' in this film. 'Prince Livingston' (qv) couldn't be better cast, and played, to contrast the beauty of her two 'daughters'.

Meyer is probably at his best with the themes kept nice and simple.

[christopher-underwood · 5/10 · 10 November 2005]

I know this movie has it's fans, is considered a satire and is preferred to the slightly earlier, Lorna, but I just cannot agree. Certainly this has pretensions to seriousness with it's stance against the simple preacher and the easily manipulated lynch mob, but everything is so overblown all becomes simply crass. As for the bulk of the film preceding the melodramatic ending, tiresome might be the word. There is the crazy family where is Lorna Maitland is reduced to playing a bit part for some reason and the homestead that takes on the new hired hand. There is so much unwarranted screaming and hysteric laughter that I felt like switching off during the first twenty minutes. Sure there are some fine sequences, the rape and murder of the preacher's daughter is very powerful, but I think this loses direction and has a pat 'satirical' theme tagged on for want of something better. The characters are nothing like as rounded as in Lorna and as with the later, Faster Pussycat, Meyer is probably at his best with the themes kept nice and simple.

One of Meyer's best films

[funkyfry · 8/10 · 28 October 2002]

Excellent piece of trash cinema by the maestro. Hal Hooper's performance as the husband who beats and rapes his wife and uses the preacher to get at the drifter is awesome -- one of the most memorably pieces of acting in the history of B movies. Lots of excellent T and A shots, with star Maitland showing. Great photography in black and white.

Serious Russ

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 31 July 2019]

Mudhoney is based on Raymond Friday Locke's novel Streets Paved With Gold and it's probably the most serious of any Russ Meyer film I've ever seen. The auteur said, "That's when I thought I was Erskine Caldwell, John Steinbeck and George Stevens all in one."

The film was a financial failure, Meyer later saying, "I made a gamble with Mudhoney and I failed. The only reason I made Mudhoney was I was in love with a girl named Rena (Rena Horten, who plays Eula) I should have not made the film."

Collaborator Roger Ebert disagreed, calling it Meyer's neglected masterpiece and "his most interesting, most ambitious, most complex and longest independent production."

It's the Great Depression, Calef McKinney's (John Furlong, the voice of Meyer if you ever see him in a movie) journey from Michigan to California brings him to small-town Spooner, Missouri. There, Lute Wade (Stuart Lancaster) hires him for odd jobs and he gets involved with Wade's married niece, Hannah Brenshaw (Antoinette Christiani).

She's married to the wife-beating Sidney, who plots against McKinney and Wade, along with a preacher named Brother Hanson. McKinney has a past that's about to catch up to him and a burning love for Hannah. Speaking of burning, before it's all over, Sidney burns down his farm, frames our hero and even assaults Brother Hanson's wife before a lynch mob strings him up.

Imagine if the sideshow brought the sights, sounds and, yes, women of exactly what you expect the backwoods to look and feel like. Cross-eyed men, toothless old women, deaf and mute children, ranting preachers and pulchritude of the blonde variety on all sides. It's pretty amazing that Meyer never tried pure drama again after this, but no one really cared. They just wanted to see if he could fit all those gigantically endowed women into frame, which is a shame really.

One of Russ Meyer's best

[RanchoTuVu · 9/10 · 24 October 2006]

This film is a classic and brilliant Russ Meyer effort which shows talent and creativity, delivering an ultimately jolting and outrageous picture. It has a perfect mix of sex and violence and a great central character who's a complete degenerate who gets his comeuppance in the memorable conclusion. Moonshine liquor, nudity, religion, set in the backwoods of Missouri during the Depression, populated by bizarre somewhat stereotypical characters a seasoned viewer of Meyer's films might expect to see, there isn't a wasted minute, as the film unleashes a variety of assaulting and memorable scenes that follow one after another.

One of Russ Meyer's best

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 24 October 2006]

Drama takes place in Missouri during the Depression (though that adds little to the story). Drifter Calif 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.

Riveting Myers film

[infpaquarian · 8/10 · 25 May 2008]

My friend and I sat down to watch Mudhoney on TCM. The first two minutes or so (before the opening credits roll) convinced us this was going to be a unique and well-paced movie. We were totally drawn in by the interesting camera work and tight editing. This is the way to open a film! We knew we were in for a worthwhile viewing experience, not just an exploitation flick. Hal Hopper's performance transcends the B-genre. Deranged, sadistic, degrading, mocking, taunting, conniving, violent--he commands the screen. (This guy was Jay "Dennis the Menace" North's father?) Lovely, seductive ladies, never shown gratuitously. They behave in a manner consistent with the film world Myer's has created (some label "gritty," which is the least of this small community's issues).

A kin to Harper Lee

[bletcherstonerson · 9/10 · 12 September 2015]

Meyers complex social commentary about the Deep South is layered in a fashion that targets his audience from the first scene. The traveling salesman breaks down, and wanders through a land inhabited by beautifully developed female characters. The women are portrayed in a manner that many males may have perceived them to be, not just in the depression era Deep South, but in many areas across the country. They are beautiful, yet serve no purpose except for sex and entertaining. The southern male is portrayed as weak of character , stupid, and drunk. It is only when a northerner brings in his line of intellect, does life change for the rural people he encounters. While the northern salesman is bland with a mediocre intelligence, he appears to have the answers for the " unfortunates".....if this sounds like governmental policies and a political satire hidden in a T&A flick, then you get it. A sub plot is added about violence against women and lynching. Why I gave this movie a 9. Because it allows me to watch hot scantily clad women engaging in adulterous affairs while at the same time it assuages any feelings of guilt by decreeing that this was a film that mattered and it is important because of the social issues it brings forth....Is it an exploitation film? Or is it much more veiled by the cinematic low hanging fruit of beautiful women.to cover themes that couldn't be expressed in general cinema in that time period. I have to add this because it is a bothersome area of the film, and I can't figure out what Meyers was trying to express ; an ideal, or just shock,,,but the most beautiful actress in the film plays the role of a mute and mentally challenged nymphomaniac. Was this a statement of how men in our culture perceive women and the Jungian principle of the animus? I couldn't tell you, but it made me cringe and squirm, and evoking that response from the audience may be all that Meyer was trying to do with this submission in his repertoire.

Excellent early Meyer flick!

[The_Void · 8/10 · 18 February 2008]

Mudhoney is an early Russ Meyer film and doesn't feature the same over the top style as his later efforts; but it's surprisingly professional, features an interesting story and has all the sex and sleaze you would expect from the master Russ Meyer. The film is somewhere between a serious drama and a piece of trash and it actually works very well. The film is not as boisterous as Meyer's other 1965 release, Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! but it has a style of it's own that still works well. The central plot focuses on Calif McKinney, a drifter travelling to California from Michigan. He stumbles into Missouri and soon gets himself on a job on a farm working for the old landlord, Lute. Calif takes a fancy to Lute's daughter Hannah, but there's a problem because Hannah is married to Sidney; a drunken, adulterous, womanising good for nothing excuse for a man. Sidney has his eye on a share of the farm when Lute kicks the bucket, and colludes with the town preacher to smear Calif's name and protect the inheritance he has no right to...

Russ Meyer has a habit of pulling memorable performances out of his actors, and he certainly does that here. The film is lead by a great performance courtesy of Hal Hopper as the drunken husband. Hopper leads every scene he's in and it's a really great role for him. The rest of the cast is understated in comparison, but John Furlong looks upstanding next to Hopper and naturally the female talent is something to write home about and Meyer doesn't disappoint with his trademark here. The film is not all that explicit compared to later Meyer films, but there's still plenty of female skin on show which is nice. There's not a lot of violence in the film, though Meyer does provide a few fistfights. The story is always interesting and plenty happens in the film too. Meyer provides some good scenes of suspense and tension too which helps to keep things interesting. If there's a point to this film, it's not put across very well; but that isn't important as this film does what it was clearly intended to do and Mudhoney certainly comes recommended to my fellow Meyer fans!

Russ Meyer actually made a good movie?

[sgcim · 9/10 · 9 December 2006]

I didn't know Meyer could actually make an excellent drama, but I was surprised by this one. After seeing Faster Pussycat, Beyond the Valium of the Dolls, and Seven(?)Minutes, I expected the same retarded writing, acting and editing, but Mudhoney is well written, acted and doesn't have that ridiculously fast editing his other movies have.

I think the fact that Mudhoney was taken from a novel, with the novelist doing the screenplay, accounted for the quality of this flick.

Towards the end, one scene flowed into the next with some incredible performances from the actors playing the husband and the preacher.

I haven't seen Lorna yet, but I guess it's similar to this one.

One of Russ Meyer's best

[apres_vague · 9/10 · 20 February 2019]

Calif (John Furlong) is released from prison and on his way to California (the place he was named after), but his way leads him to a small town called Spooner; where he starts to work on a farm and falls for the lady of the house, Hannah Brenshaw. Hannah is married to a brute named Sidney (Hal Hopper). Sidney constantly cheats on her, beats her and even rapes his wife when she denies him, yet she seams to forgive him or at least tolerate his actions. The film features many bizarre and wonderful Russ Meyer characters, including a beautiful deaf girl with her kitten, A crazy priest (played by Meyer regular Frank Bolger) and last but not least the unforgettably and ever so nutty Princess Livingston (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls) as Maggie Marie; I love that crazy old lady. A truly funny and sexy slice of cinema and essential Russ Meyer film.

Touch me,I'm sick.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 21 March 2013]

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.

Good Movie

[Michael_Elliott · 29 February 2008]

Mudhoney (1965)

*** (out of 4)

Russ Meyer drama (yes, drama) about a stranger who goes to work on a farm and soon falls in love with the woman who owns the place. This doesn't sit too well with her drunk and abusive husband nor the hypocrite preacher running around. Once again we've got a pretty well made little film that's certainly Meyer's way of bashing religion and hypocrites. The "drama" works well but there are still a few laughs as well as a limited amount of nudity. Many of the cast members from the above film also appear here.

Powerful. Leaves a taste of evil.

[jlomax28 · 10/10 · 30 March 2014]

Russ Meyer is a great forerunner of independent cinema and free speech. This is a very bold story. Although the camera transfixes on beautiful female forms, the movie as a whole isn't very pretty. But who said that art had to be pretty or in good taste? There is no question in my mind that Mudhoney is a work of art. I like that one of the film's main focus is the hypocrisy of religion. The insane preacher (who screams the Lord's prayer)played by Frank Bolger hides behind religion to cloak a deeper malevolence. By the end of the film this said preacher turns the whole town into a crazed blood thirsty mob. Fans of RM will see many familiar faces like Lorna Maitland, John Furlong and Stuart Lancaster. There is one of the most insane, inappropriate funerals ever depicted on film. This film is artistic and sleazy and dramatic. The final shots of Rena Horten running through the town in a panic were very tense. The looks of guilt of the townspeople after the lynching was very effective and dramatic. Mudhoney AKA Rope of Flesh is a unique entry in the world of Russ Meyer. I loved it.

Interesting Movie

[par404 · 8/10 · 6 June 2019]

Movie has good twist on the depression era. Has to be one of the better stories for a Russ Meyer movie.