Moonshine County Express

First applaudable feature of this movie is the feminist undertones. With no less than three strong leading ladies, accompanied by John Saxon, they are by no means passive character, as often seen in movies from that era; the female protagonists are here portrayed with such dignity and respect. This movie was quite a surprise overall. It has some fairly good acting. It is part comedy, part action, part drama, doing it all quite well. A strangely endearing and charming Roger Corman production.

The three daughters of a Prohibition Bootlegger inherit their father's still and decide to reopen business, creating a moonshine war with fellow bootlegger William Conrad. Susan Howard, Claudia Jennings and Maureen McCormick discover the underground still by accident complete with a secret entrance through a cave) and find out that the booze he left behind is the genuine article, really good stuff. That interferes in the sales of the cheap hooch Conrad is making, and soon it's all out war between the three little ladies and the obnoxiously obese Conrad. Howard finds aide withbooze runner John Saxon who was originally protecting Conrad, and as the violence escalates against them, the three young ladies take matters into their own hands that threatens to bring down the big ole' bad guy. I was remarkably surprised by how much I enjoyed this film, non-stop action and never too tedious with ridiculous Southern stereotypes. Certainly, Conrad's character oh, a big old fat ass, is reminiscent of villains going back to the Capra years (particularly Edward Arnold), and it's fun to watch him being taken down by a woman, along with Sheriff Morgan Woodard who was responsible for the father's death. The only problem is I wanted Conrad to get more than he gets, and the end was a bit of a disappointment. But Howard and Saxon do good jobs in a film that fortunately features a better-than-expected script where the characters having a very nicely fleshed-out.

As soon as the first banjo tunes start playing, which is after mere seconds already, you can tell "Moonshine County Express" will become a jolly good and very entertaining slice of hixploitation cinema! Coming from the great Roger Corman's inexhaustible production shed, this obviously isn't a very artistic or intellectual film, but it more than delivers in terms of excitement, kicks, and pure old-fashioned fun. Modest moonshiner "Pa" Hammer is put out of business - quite brutally, I may add - by his ruthless competitor Jack Starkey and his sadist henchman Sweetwater. Pa left a neat little inheritance for his ravishing three daughters, however, namely a secret stash of authentic and highly qualitative prohibition whiskey. When the girls gradually take over more and more of Starkey's terrain, they need the protection of macho racecar driver JB Johnson. First of all, have you seen the phenomenal cast "Moonshine County Express" brings together?!? Seeing all these names together in one film must be every avid B-movie fanatic's wet dream. Susan Howard, Claudia Jennings, and Maureen McCormick star as the Hammer sisters. With three multi-talented and feistily ravishing actresses like these, director Gus Trikonis naturally needed an extended male cast to keep a proper balance! Mission accomplished, though, with John Saxon, William Conrad, Len Lesser, Albert Salmi, and Dub Taylor. Furthermore, there are exhilarating car chases aplenty, brutal kills, and effective hillbilly-humor (like when Saxon messes with the Sheriff's costume)

Roger Corman and 1970s era New World strike again with this engaging formula hicksploitation action flick. Susan Howard ('Dallas'), Claudia Jennings ("Gator Bait"), and Maureen McCormick ('The Brady Bunch') play the Hammer sisters, whose moonshiner father (Fred Foresman) is killed by goons representing a big time sleazy criminal (William Conrad, 'Jake and the Fatman'). The gals are as tough and sassy as they are sexy, and prove to be formidable adversaries, especially when they team up with J. B. Johnson (John Saxon), a racing enthusiast and ace delivery man. "Moonshine County Express" doesn't set out to reinvent the wheel, and shows that movies of this ilk do deliver the goods by scrupulously following a formula. The vehicular action is first rate, there are mild doses of sex (there's a hilarious "fishing" scene), and the movie is violent without ever getting particularly gory. It's all played with humour and panache, thanks to screenwriters Hugh Smith & Daniel Ansley, and director Gus Trikonis ("Nashville Girl", "The Evil"). What truly brings it to life is the work of a colourful and interesting cast. Saxon is an amiable hero (if maybe a tad too old for his role), Howard a strong and independent minded heroine, and Conrad is an effective bad guy. He's somewhat blustery, but Conrad never makes him a one-dimensional cartoon. Morgan Woodward ("Cool Hand Luke") is also a good villain, playing Conrads' primary thug. If you're a fan of Jennings, be aware that she doesn't get that much to do. McCormick is cute as the youngest of the gals. The cast is rounded out by other familiar faces like Jeff Corey ("In Cold Blood"), Dub Taylor ("The Wild Bunch"), Albert Salmi ("Empire of the Ants"), Len Lesser ('Seinfeld'), the lovely Candice Rialson ("Hollywood Boulevard") as a town floozy, and E. J. Andre ("Magic"). Set to an irresistible bluegrass music score by Fred Werner, and shot by legendary B movie D. P. Gary Graver, this is a fun example of its genre, guaranteed to leave you with a smile on your face. Eight out of 10.

A passable action film about three close sisters: Dot (Susan Howard), Betty (Claudia Jennings), and Sissy (Maureen McCormick). Since Dot is essentially the leader and mouthpiece of the trio, she enlists the help of moonshine hot-rodder J. B. Johnson (John Saxon). They suspect local crime boss Jack Starkey (William Conrad) was responsible for their father's death. They receive little help from Sheriff Larkin (Albert Salmi), and are forced to solve the mystery themselves. Morgan Woodward plays Starkey's henchman and Jeff Corey is the seemingly good-guy preacher who is often seen swilling vodka from a bottle. Some decent car chases are thrown in and the performances are good for a standard story.

I have seen a John Saxon Film recently, was not MSCE (Moonshine County Express), but kept thinking about this film that I foundly remember from the 70s when I seen him recently. I came to IMDB to do a search to see if I could find the name of the film(found it here) to see about buying it on DVD, but to no avail, not even on VHS! That is awful :-( Couple fun things about the film, Three pretty sisters, One of them always using dynamite to blow up things, I think it was Maureen McCormick, and Claudia Jennnings being the brains of the three I think. John Saxon drives a muscle car, a cherry red Dodge Challenger, a real sweet car. A buddy of mine used to own one down the street from me at the time I seen this back in the late 70s. Hopefully, this gem will come out on DVD soon. If you like this film, you may also like "Duel", Steven Spielbergs first film.

MOONSHINE COUNTY EXPRESS is a long-forgotten 'hillbilly' adventure full of illicit alcohol and car-chasing mayhem. The plot is simple in the extreme and involves a moonshiner being offed by a dastardly rivals. Said moonshiner's trio of sexy daughters decide to take over daddy's business and soon take the fight to the villain, as played by a moustache-twirling William Conrad. Shoot-outs and surprisingly tame snippets of exploitation follow. One thing I can say is that the cast give enthusiastic performances here, particularly the girls who do a sterling job of portraying drive and determination. John Saxon plays the good ol' boy helping them out although he's a little old for the role. Code Red have done a splendid job of restoring this for DVD release.

The Hammer Sisters are the kind of tough Southern girls that deal with their daddy's murder by taking over his moonshine business, grabbing some weapons and being way tougher than any of the men they battle. Is that enough to get you to watch this movie? What if I told you that it was directed by the same man who brought us The Evil, The Side Hackers and the movie based on the song Take This Job and Shove It? Not yet? How does John Saxon playing a Southern stock car racer and moonshine runner sound? Not yet? How about Susan Howard, former Dallas actress turned 700 Club host and NRA supporter? William Conrad? Jeff Corey? Len "Uncle Leo" Lasser? Maurine "Marcia Brady" McCormick? Still not sold? I get it. John Saxon was enough for me. But then I thought, I bet this movie has Claudia Jennings in it. And I was right. And that's all it took. What was it about American pop culture that took hicksploitation from the drive-in to the mainstream? I remember it myself - everyone had a CB radio, we all turned in to The Dukes of Hazzard and watched Smokey and the Bandit on HBO. Heck, I even had a silver NASCAR jacket that made me look like a 5-year-old pit crew member. From the very first moment that John Saxon appears on screen and does his best version of a Southern accent, I was thoroughly entertained by this silly trifle of a film. It's a Roger Corman 1970's drive-in movie, so you're going to get plenty of cars getting smashed up, scummy bad guys and "100 proof women" like Candice Rialson (Chatterbox, Pets).

The three comely daughters of a backwoods moonshiner are left orphaned after their pappy and his crew are murdered by the goons of their fat cat competitor, who also blow the production still to smithereens in the hopes of running off the girls and taking over the property himself. Unfortunately for him, the ladies discover an underground stash of prime Prohibition-era bootleg whiskey--and they know just the right guy to act as their muscleman, the top-finishing stock car driver at the local speedway who runs "shine" between races. Cheap, barely-competent drive-in entry from Roger Corman and New World Pictures, amateurishly directed by Gus Trikonis. John Saxon (in flannel shirts and jeans) seems curiously misplaced as a good ol' boy, though William Conrad (with muttonchops) is a dandy villain and the ladies, Susan Howard, Claudia Jennings and Maureen McCormick, are spunky and attractive. The picture looks muddy and sounds terrible--and, with a PG rating, seems a little tame for the hillbilly genre--but B-movie completists will probably be satisfied by the energy and fast pace. *1/2 from ****

After their moonshiner "pa" is killed by a rival bootlegging outfit, three sexy sisters (Susan Howard, Claudia Jennings, and Maureen McCormick) band together to continue his business, which quickly brings them into conflict with same group of thugs. So they team up with a local good 'ole boy and stock-car driver/rum-runner (Jon Saxon) to fight back. This is yet another Roger Corman produced "hicksploitation" film from the 1970's, but actually a pretty good one (despite its PG rating). Most people today will probably seek it out to see Maureen "Marcia Brady" McCormick, but I personally find it more interesting in that it features two of my favorite 1970's drive-in queens, Claudia Jennings and Candice Rialson. The PG-rating, of course, precludes both actresses' usual gratuitous * scenes, but Jennings was actually a genuinely talented actress (a veritable Meryl Streep for someone who was once a Playboy Playmate) and she's pretty good here as the feisty, shotgun-totin' middle sister. Rialson has a smaller role as the local tart, but she's just sexy as hell even with her clothes on. The main stars though are Jon Saxon and Susan Howard, both of whom are a little too old for these kind of roles (Saxon especially), but they're both pretty good (again Saxon especially). There's also some very decent character actors in the cast including Dub Taylor as the girls' drunken and treacherous uncle and Les "Uncle Leo" Lesser as a very near-sighted store owner. Which, of course, brings us to Marcia, I mean Maureen McCormick. She's definitely cute and appealing as youngest, animal-loving sister, and the scene were she gets bound to a column and (very mildly) tortured by the bad guys might fulfill some people's more perverted "Brady Bunch"-related fantasies, but others might prefer her later film "Texas Lightning" where she has * scenes (sort of). She does basically hold her here as an actress against thespians a little more talented than Robert Reed, Florence Henderson or Ann B. Davis. This movie certainly has an interesting cast, and I found it to overall be a pretty decent flick.