Drive-In Classics Collection is a 4 disc set that collects four Something Weird DVDs into one package. All four had been released as separate DVDs in the past. Three of the discs have two movies each, the Two Thousand Maniacs disc only has the one movie, all discs have a lot of shorts and bits that Something Weird typically packs into all their DVD releases. Each disc has about 3.5 hours worth of material. The quality of all the video is varied and usually tends to lean to the poor side. Streaks, lines, discoloration, you get a plethora of video noise types. Bad sound too. I got mine for 6 bucks from Hamilton Book, they're sold out but the set is still available from Amazon for 15 bucks. I wouldn't want to pay that now that I've seen it, it's barely worth what I paid.
Speed Lovers 1968 Director William F McGaha co-wrote the story and screenplay with Fred Tuch. They set their movie in the world of stock car racing and they made stock car racing as boring as their characters and their drama. At least it's in color. McGaha plays the main character and he's not that interesting. Someone should punch this movie in the nuts!
Thunder In Dixie 1964 George Baxt wrote the story and the screenplay, William T Naud is the director. It's a bit better than the first film on the disc but still below average. It's another racing movie and the stock footage of the race is also the same footage that Speed Lovers uses, but Speed Lovers is in color and this movie is not. At least it's short, only 73 mins.
Swamp Girl 1971 Jack Vaughn and Jay Kulp wrote the story, Jay wrote the screenplay, Donald A Davis directed. Some locals near the Okefenokee swamp meet up with a blonde girl who's lived in the swamp for her whole life. She has limited contact with other humans, she lives with her grandfather in a shack by the water. An escaped convict and her boyfriend force the blonde swamp girl to take them through the swamp. This is after they've killed her grandfather. They don't have a hope in hell of surviving that trip. It's more entertaining than the first two movies in the set, maybe not intentionally but still I had a few laughs as the crooks struggle to stay alive. Reminds me there isn't any thing attractive about the swamp. It's like it has a big sign that says: Stay Out! I Will Kill You Dead! I'm obeying that sign. I might watch the movie again someday. Check out the version on YouTube by clicking the link in the title.
Swamp Country 1966 David DaLie wrote the screenplay and Robert Patrick is the director. Not quite as good as Swamp Girl but entertaining to the end. In a motel a lady guest gets murdered. Some creep peeks in her window while she's stripping for bed, he comes in the room to rape her, she screams and he strangles her. The man in the next room, played by writer David DaLie, rushes over to find the woman dead. He's caught by the motel clerk waving a shotgun around but we know he didn't do it. The police come, they arrest David, he escapes and heads into the swamp. He survives with the help of some locals. More played for laughs and I did get a few. Lyle Waggoner, of The Carol Burnett Show is the Sheriff's deputy. Another one I might want to watch again someday.
This Stuff'll Kill Ya! 1971 Written and directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis. A scumbag sets up as a preacher and moonshine maker in a hick town. He has a drunken mob for a congregation and he condemns the local liquor salesmen. The feds are after him and the local sheriff is a weak ass man. It's got a poorly written script, it's poorly made, bad images, bad sound, nothing much good about it at all. Boring and in need of speeding up to get to the end. Even the poster is shit.
The Year Of The Yahoo! 1972 Allen Kahn wrote the screenplay and Herschell Gordon Lewis directed. A gaudily dressed country singer runs for political office in this boring and uninteresting film. Absolute crap.
Two Thousand Maniacs! 1964 Herschell Gordon Lewis wrote and directed this hillbilly gore filled bit of nonsense. I'm not in the camp that thinks HGL is a brilliant film maker, he just splashed the gore before it was mainstream and got a rep, he's still a below average film maker. At least it's more entertaining than the two previous HGL films in the set.
All in all a pretty piss poor collection from Something Weird. I'd hardly recommend it to anyone really.
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