Whiskey

 

 (imdb)

WHISKEY MOUNTAIN-1977-Motorcycle racer Bill (Christopher George) and his wife Jamie (Linda Borgeson) go looking for grandpa's Civil War treasure on the title mountain. They bring along Dan (Preston Pierce) and Diana (Roberta Collins). Not much happens but they are obviously being watched. After they lose one of their motorcycles, they meet a weird cackling hermit (who stole Diana's underwear) and have dinner with him (Robert Leslie). After about 50 minutes of nothing, the quartet stumble into some pot growing Hillbillies (led by John David Chandler as Rudy). They're a bunch of perverted redneck assholes who tie up the men and abuse the women. With the help of the hermit, the men escape. They get no help in town but get some guns and go back to rescue the girls. Dan is killed and Bill kills all the redneck scum but…

William Kerwin and Pat Patterson are also in it. Director/co-writer William Grefe (DEATH CURSE OF TARTU (1966), STANLEY (1972)) made this in Florida. Theme song by The Charlie Daniels Band.

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Demme's Third

 

 (imdb)

FIGHTING MAD-1976-Tom (Peter Fonda), a divorced dad returns to his rural Arkansas horse farm with his young son Dylan (Gino Franco) to help run the place with his dad (John Douchette) and brother Charlie (Scott Glenn). Meanwhile a contractor Pierre Crabtree (Phillip Carey) and a senator (Noble Willingham) plot to take over the town and close down the farm to make way for a strip-mining factory and stuff. Tom almost immediately hooks up with former flame Lorene (Lynn Lowry). Corporate thugs beat up Charlie and his wife (Kathleen Miller), then kill them in a car crash and make it look like they were drunk. 

When workers try to come in and bulldoze the farm, Tom stops them. He even drives several trucks off the road while riding a motorcycle with Dylan. When some company goons beat him up, Loraine attacks them with a hammer. After Tom blows up some equipment, the storm trooper like police throw everyone in jail. Then a judge, who might have ruled in favor of the farmers, is killed. This allows the corporation to really take over and burn down Tom's farm and causing the death of his father. Tom invades Crabtree's citadel and blows everyone away. He gets shot up but the stupid sheriff (Harry Northup) finally comes through and covers up Tom's involvement. 

This low budget action revenge drama was future Academy Award winning director Jonathan Demme's third feature after CAGED HEAT (1974) and CRAZY MAMA (1975).

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Carradine The Younger

 

DEATHSPORT-1978-In the war torn Earth of 3000, the countryside is occupied by cannibals and barbarian like Range Guides. Two guides Kaz Oshay (David Carradine) and Deneer (Claudia Jennings in her last film) are captured by the mad Lord Zirpola (David McLean) and his evil henchman Ankar Moor (Richard Lynch) to compete in the title battle. After an escape plan fails, Kaz and Deneer are put in the battle which involves motorcycles and a fight to the death. The duo escape and Moor and his minions follow. A doctor (William Smithers) and his son (Will Walker) accompany them on a trek to find a missing child. Lots of people are disintegrated. After the child is rescued from some mutants, Kaz and Moor have a show-down. After decapitating Moor, Kaz and Deneer leave together. 

This entertaining little movie has cheap sfx and weird dialogue. Jesse Vint, HB Haggerty and Linnea Quigley have roles too. Jerry Garcia plays guitar on the soundtrack. Director Allan Arkush made this in between HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD and ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL. Co-director Henry Suso is the pseudonym of screenwriter Nicolas Niciphor.

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Ghost Rider

GHOST RIDER-2007-This adaptation of the Marvel comic isn't very good. It takes forever to get started and when it finally does it's pretty incoherent. 

Nicolas Cage (who I've been told took his last name from comic book hero Luke Cage) is Johnny Blaze, a daredevil motorcycle stuntman who sells his soul to the devil (Peter Fonda, sounding a lot like David Carradine) to save his father who dies anyway. Eventually his head turns into flaming skull and he fights crime and three evil riders. Not learning from the mistakes of Ang Lee's THE HULK, some genius thought it would be good to bring in Sam Elliot to growl out the legend. Eva Mendes is equally unfortunate as Blaze's reporter/long lost love. 

This was not director/screenwriter Mark Steven Johnson's first encounter with a Marvel superhero. He'd previously messed up...I mean made DAREDEVIL with Ben Affleck. Still the movie did well enough to spawn a sequel in 2011, GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE.

The real deal!

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