Deep In The Heart Of Texas

 

 (imdb)

PRELUDE TO HAPPINESS-1975-Nurse Susan (Rose Petra) and her fiancée are changing a flat when she is struck by a speeding car. She survives but her leg is mangle and has to be amputated. Just like that her hubby calls off the wedding and leaves her. She becomes depressed but with encouragement from Doctor Hartman (Gary Lee Davis), she breaks out of it and practices on crutches. Eventually, she comes out of her funk and works as a nurse in the hospital. She freezes when she sees an accident victim with bloodied legs but snaps out of it after a doctor slaps her! Later, Hartman helps her find a new apartment but his fiancée' gets jealous and gives him an ultimatum. Her or Susan. He and Susan admit they are in love but Susan turns down his proposal. Later he attends a swanky engagement party and tragedy follows but everything works out in the end. 

This filmed in Texas obscurity is the kind of movie I hate to review. Its message is sincere but it's done in by bad production values and bad acting. Lead actress Rose Petra was really missing her leg. This is the only film directed by Gidney Talley Jr., a theater owner from San Antonio.

Thanks for reading!

All Bullshit

  (WIKIPEDIA)

THE MASTER GUNFIGHTER-1975-In this strange brain-dead movie, a guy named Finley (Tom Laughlin) confronts American cattle owners and Mexican ranchers and fights them with a gun and a sword, after he leaves his wife (Barbara Carrera in her second movie role) and kids. His brother-in-law Paulo (SUPERFLY's Ron O'Neal) slaughters a village looking for gold. The plot reasons that Mexicans can kill American Indians and take their gold as a tax from “evil US cattlemen” or they will lose their land. 

This nonsense proclaims, "Based on a never substantiated legend” and “Part fact. Part fiction. Mostly interpretation”. 

Burgess Meredith provides narration and Angel Rossitto has a role. Star Laughlin (star and creator of BILLY JACK) wrote it using the name Harold Lapland and directed it under the name Frank Laughlin. It's a loose remake of the Japanese samurai drama GOYOKIN and was a theatrical and financial bomb.

Thanks for reading!

Texas Witch

NAKED WITCH-1961-This movie is just under an hour yet the introduction (some sources credit Gary Owens as narrator) on witches is nearly 9 minutes. And then we get the credits! A graduate student (Robert Short) doing his thesis on superstition and witchcraft stops in a very German town called Luckenbach in Texas. He learns of the Luckenbach witch but people are afraid to talk about it. He meets Kriska (Jo Maryman), the innkeeper’s daughter. She gives him a book where he reads (flashback) about the witch widow who was burned at the stake after being accused of witchcraft by her lover, a married idiot with a sick wife. 

Somehow “The Student” (he doesn't have a name) finds the witch's grave and pulls a stake out of her “petrified” body. She transforms into the woman of the title (Libby Hall) who literally steals Kriska’s nightgown off her. Back for revenge she kills with the stake. The student doesn't bother telling anyone it's his fault the witch came back (one of her victims is Kriska’s father) but at night he goes hunting and finds her bathing topless. She casts a spell on him and they have a goofy swim together. Later she does a useless dance and makes him fall asleep. She goes out to kill Kriska. Fortunately he wakes up in time to stab the witch and bury her now decomposed body. Kriska is now free to live the rest of her life with the man responsible for her father's death. 

The music sounds like some radio soap opera. Larry Buchanan shares directing credit with the producer of the film Texas theater owner Claude Alexander. Buchanan made FREE, WHITE AND 21 next.

Thanks for reading!

Read about the real Luckenbach Texas here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luckenbach,_Texas

The Lone Star State of Horror

PSYCHO FROM TEXAS-1975-A nutty redneck named Wheeler (John King lll) has flashbacks of his mom having sex. Meanwhile a local rich retired businessman  named Phillips (Herschal Mays), who fishes with an African American kid, plans the wedding of his daughter Connie (Candy Dee). Turns out Wheeler was hired to kidnap and rob Phillips. He and a local fool kidnap Phillips and after tying him up at a remote cabin, Wheeler goes to score some weed. Now he may be psycho but he's not very smart leaving the shit for brains local to watch over their captive. Sure enough while Wheeler is out making a pest of himself Phillips escapes. The local gives chase. They keep referring to Phillips as an “old man" but he takes off and their chase scene seems to go on forever!  Meanwhile Wheeler visits Connie and a neighbor informs her that her daddy is missing. (The kid he goes fishing with found his abandoned car) It seems Connie's fiance Steve (Reed Johnson) is behind the plot. The long long chase finally ends with Phillips stabbing the local ass in the neck. He eventually makes it to police headquarters.  After Wheeler kills Connie's friend, he gets some KFC and visits a bar. Steve is arrested but when he sees Phillips is alive he grabs a cop’s gun and bolts. Yes! Another chase scene! The chase is inter-cut with Wheeler's antics at the very darkly lit bar where he kills the only other customer and makes the bartender (Linnea Quigley) dance naked and pours beer on her (she looks like she's laughing on one point). A cop shoots Steve in the head, father and daughter are reunited and the sheriff (who’s daughter Wheeler killed) shoots Wheeler whose last words are “Don't hurt me, mama!”.  

This fairly boring slasher film began life as the never released WHEELER. It went through several changes and titles before it became PSYCHO FROM TEXAS. The bar scenes with  Linnea Quigley (this could be her first film role depending on when the scenes were shot) were added to this version providing the only actual highlight of the whole film. Seems like they put it toward the end to give at least some kind of payoff. Two directors are credited: Jack Collins (who plays the sheriff) and Jim Feazell.

Thanks for reading!