#35: "Villages in the House with Ghosts" (Jamboree Time!!!) There's nothing here... Only a werewolf.
This is far from the strongest picture you can guess by looking at its grades, but there are several reasons to look at it. First, the film starred at once three first-class Hollywood actors - Lon Cheney Jr., Basil Rathbone and John Carradine. Secondly, we are dealing with a unique mixture of genres: horror, country musical, comedy and even (who would have thought) spy film. Thirdly, the film is terrible, but it is positively terrible: it captures the mood of the era and transmits it to the modern viewer. Personally, I did not raise my hand to give him a low rating, mainly because of Lon and Basil, as well as because of the pretty main actress Joey Lansing, who died 5 years after filming this film.
Villages in the House with Ghosts is the sequel to another film featuring the country duo Ferlin Husky and Don Bowman. The original film featured such iconic figures of her time as Jane Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Joey Lansing is an alternative to these two popular blondes. There is a lot of country music in the film, which, however, (according to the authors of the film) does not happen much. She plays in the beginning (when the characters are driving along the track), she plays in the middle, but most of all this country music - in the end. When the viewer thinks that at the mark of ten hours the film should by all the laws of common sense end - the creators extend it for another 15 minutes with a concert in Nashville. This is a serious test for those who do not feel tremors in the body at the word Nashville. Or the word "country." But this is great reminiscent of the endings of episodes in the third season of the TV series Twin Peaks.
There are a couple of good humorous scenes in the film. For example, the scene with the abduction of Boots (Lansing) by a gorilla and the missing reaction of the main characters ('It's the sound of a branch knocking on the wall!'t). The most appropriate scene for a parody. And in general, the film is made so clumsy (but with fantasy) that to perceive it as a horror is extremely problematic. The espionage component is much more developed here: a secret organization engaged in "espionage and counter-espionage" (c) is trying to find out the formula for creating either weapons or rocket fuel. They are hiding in the basement of the “House with ghosts”, led by a Chinese team (Linda Ho), the chief of staff is also a Chinese doctor Fu (Allen Jung). They are opposed by the M.O.T.H.E.R. Here is a clear hint of the famous spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The film most resembles a medley of popular themes and genres in the 60s (primarily lived on television), but made in the old-fashioned vein of the Universal of the 30s. At the same time, flavored with not the best acting, “alien” (let’s call it beautifully) directing and references to the American South. In one scene, the ghost of a colonel, the owner of the house, appears. As a guide, you can also take the animated series Scooby-Doo: "Villages" look as if Scooby tried to make a real thrash low-budget film ... From the songs I would single out a couple: "Jamboree Time" is a real anthem to treshaku, no other. "The Minute You're Gone" - a good love song. The Bridge I've Never Crossed proves that Ferlin is the king of this style.
5 out of 10
ps. The film is part of the well-known documentary "50 Worst Movies".