Moonshine County Express, Feisty Babes and Car Chases

Feisty Babes! Gunfights! Car chases! Moonshine! Today we look at a film highly influenced by Burt Reynolds films of the 1970s. However, here, the action and allure are ramped up a few degrees. 1977's "Moonshine County Express," directed by Gus Trikonis, has no slow moments, and every scene and line of dialog have several exclamation points. "Brady Bunch" fans will revel at Maureen McCormick's (Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!) perky performance. There's more! 1970s B movie queen Claudia Jennings is also in this and so is Burt Reynolds! Wait! No...not Burt Reynolds...but a poor man's Burt Reynolds...John Saxon!

Pap Hammer (Fred Foresman) operates a moonshine operation in the hills. His operation is wiped out by Starkey's (William Conrad) thugs. Pap is murdered, as are most of his employees. Now his three feisty daughters want revenge. Dot (Susan Howard), the real star of this film, is seething. She and her two sisters, Betty (Jennings) and 16 year old Sissy (McCormick) are beset by crime lord Starkey. He wants their land...they won't sell. This may be a moot point as the gals don't have any money...or do they? Eureka! Pap left his darlings vintage prohibition whiskey...cases of it...pure gold. Now the gals have a plan...undercut Starkey and sell better spirits to local establishments. Starkey murders anyone who does business with the gals. Enter JB (Saxon).

JB desires Dot...Dot has other things on her mind...like murdering Starkey. Still, Starkey is always two steps ahead of our three beauties and he keeps bullying them. When the threats materialize into bullets, explosions, and more gunfights, JB decides to join forces with the gals to defeat Starkey. Starkey, who loves deviant role playing sex with barely of age beauties, is a formidable foe. Still Dot is desperate to murder him and avenge her dad's death. The gals grab shotguns, ramp up their aggressiveness, and go to war. Uh oh...Starkey is ruthless and pretty little Sissy is about to find this out.

Will the three gals be able to muster enough violence to answer Starkey's homicidal intentions? Will JB and Dot forget about guns, cars, and whiskey long enough to enjoy some pre-marital sex? Wait...aren't those three things intertwined? Susan Howard and the other actresses are fantastic and in full command of the screen...no subtlety in their performances. John Saxon is terrific as a Burt Reynolds character, and William Conrad is so very dastardly as the local crime-lord. This is a loud and gratuitous one.  Enjoy "Moonshine County Express," as it  will give you your fill of car chases, gunfights, and beautiful babes. Is there really anything else we need?

Silk, Sultry Cop Mows Down Evil Men

Why call her Silk? As she tells us, "Because I'm so f***ing smooth." I figured that. She's a sultry Hawaiian cop who shoots a lot of guys, cars, and airplanes. In typical fashion, when she shoots an airplane or car...it blows up. As for being smooth? Yep...and she'll have a penchant for pre-marital sex. Perhaps the definitive statement on women in law enforcement, 1986's "Silk," directed by Filipino exploitation king, Cirio H. Santiago. Shot in The Philippines and set in Honolulu, let us take a look at what proves to be a homicidal "Charlie's Angels."

Our film begins at a standoff at some sugar factory. The bad guys are holed up inside holding the cops at bay. Then Silk (Cec Verrell) arrives. The sultry femme-cop scales the factory, shoots a bunch of bad guys, chases the ones who escape, boards a freight train and gets in a shootout with the fleeing car beside the tracks...the car blows up. Yes. Okay, a bunch of criminals are getting off thanks to a crime lord, Austin ( Peter Shilton). Austin bribes witnesses...who later are murdered. Austin then uses the dead witnesses identities for Asian criminals fleeing their home countries. No matter...Silk is on the case with police captain Tom (Bill McLaughlin). Tom is a square-jawed hunk and will have a lot pre-marital sex with Silk.

With some luck, Silk and Tom figure out what is going on. Their nemesis, Austin, is also smooth...and wants Silk dead. Silk will chase more bad guys...shoot them, sometimes in the back, and have passionate sex with police captain Tom. In 2020 this would be considered harassment by the captain, but in 1986 it was still known as carnal fun making oneself marketable for promotion. Silk will then get in more gunfights and blow up more cars and an airplane. Uh oh...Silk discovers betrayal and peril abound. Thus she'll kill more bad guys and blow up more cars...until she herself is pummeled and taken prisoner.

Will Silk prevail against a smooth nemesis and then murder him? Does Silk ever have pre-marital sex with cops who are lower in rank than her? Does she blow up cars, shoot men, and beat up criminals because police captain Tom doesn't completely satisfy her in bed? Silk never smiles but this is okay because she looks really good...and she is so f***ing smooth. For some great exploitation from The Philippines, see "Silk."

Red Venom Kills, Leather, Lingerie, and Vixens

Fans of Roger Corman's 1990s fetish spectacular "Black Scorpion" (two movies and TV show) have patiently waited for someone else to fill the void. What speaks more to us than a leather lingerie clad babe, sporting red thigh high hooker boots, and being whipped into humiliating submission by a black leather clad evil dominatrix type...okay...I need to stop...this review is getting just a bit too gratuitous. Suffice it to say, Britton Stebbins has filled the aforementioned void in giving us 2017's "Red Venom Kills." Grindhouse all the way, this sexploitation spectatular is a superhero film we actually want to watch.

Scarlet (Alexa Rae) is lounging around in red lingerie reading comic books. She has just been chewed out by her mom for being tossed out of high school for engaging in a cat-fight with 20 other naked women in the locker room shower. Her mom will be murdered and Scarlet becomes Krystal the Hooker. Krystal will be attacked and left for dead by the gang of an evil supervillain, Dark Widow (Deanna Hernandez). The black leather clad bad girl controls the criminal element in this city. Now Krystal is saved by a mystical Amazonian witchdoctor/pervert and given super powers. The hooker is now Red Venom, the aforementioned red leather lingerie vixen.

Red Venom is being sought by the obsessed and love starved detective, Thomas (Stebbins). The two will have pre-marital sex, but Red Venom will seek to destroy her nemesis by herself.  As the red fetish beauty kills many of Dark Widow's thugs, the evil nemesis sets a trap for the red beauty. The inexperienced heroine will be snared, strung up, whipped, pummeled, and toyed with. As Dark Widow moves in for the kill, Red Venom may have a trick or two to resort to. The obligatory BDSM themed cat-fight will thrill everyone.

Will a whipped and humiliated Red Venom be forced to lick Dark Widow's black boots? Will Red Venom be able to avenge the murder of her mother? Will Detective Thomas emerge from pre-marital sex with Red Venom bruised but satisfied? This is the perfect film for those of you who have been tormented by the rash of idiotic superhero films over the past decade. Britton Stebbins gives us a film, and a heroine, which we actually want...and want more of. See "Red Venom Kills" and contact Mr. Stebbins to demand a sequel.

The Panther Squad, Leather Clad Vixen Saves World

Sybil Danning! Yep, the exploitation queen always pleases. NASA and the space program have bored the entire world over the past 40 years...Sybil Danning has only aroused that same world.The space shuttle program only has drawn yawns from schoolchildren waiting to be thrilled...Sybil Danning has brought those same school children through puberty. The United Nations has been the epitome of the word  "impotent." Sybil Danning has cured impotency in many men. Today we look at one of Sybil Danning's best films, from Belgium, 1984's "The Panther Squad."

Okay, a U.N. type organization has taken over the space program. Uh oh, an idiotic environmental group called "Clean Space" is bent on ending the space program. This organization, headed by blonde vixen Barbara (Karin Schubert) kidnaps the only spacebabe able to fly the new "Space Jeep." Jane Danteen is a sultry astronaut and her abduction means the end of the space program. Mega babe, and mercenary, Ilona (Danning) heads The Panther Squad. Ilona dresses in leather pants and a revealing leather top. Her gals on the squad don bikinis, skimpy pink togas, and short leather skirts. They have machine guns and wonderful smiles. They hook up with useless secret agent Frank (Jack Taylor) in search of the abducted spacebabe.

The squad moves on a yacht which they believe has Jane, held hostage.The bikini babes will get into some gratuitous fights but be overtaken. Ilona, on a dirt-bike, and the rest of her nubile mercenaries will follow the thugs who have abducted their bikini clad squad mates. Now Ilona and the full force of The Panther Squad will war against the vixen Barbara and some Daniel Ortega lunatic who wants to use spacebabe Jane and her ship to use nukes to enslave the world. Leather clad Ilona and her babes will fight heroically and look really good doing it.

Do we have some nice cat-fights brewing between Barbara and Jane, or Ilona and Barbara, or bikini squad members and anyone? If Clean Space knew how useless the shuttle program would prove to be, would they have bothered to kidnap spacebabe Jane? Is this film Europe's dig at the Carter Administration for their failed efforts to rescue the hostages in Iran, a few years earlier? Whether a critical piece denoting the failure of the Carter Administration, or just some gratuitous cheesy fun, "The Panther Squad" is a must see.

Truck Stop Women, A Gratuitous Tragedy

Claudia Jennings! Playboy Playmate and B movie queen! Drive-in audiences of the 1970s owed her so much...alas, they never would be able to repay. Like today's film, her life story is a bitter tragedy leaving all of us to ask, "what might have been?" For more on that, read Eric J. Karell's authorized biography of this beauty in his book (click on this Amazon link Claudia Jennings ). An exploitation Shakespearean tragedy is our film today, 1974's "Truck Stop Women," directed by Mark L. Lester.

Anna (Lieux Dressler) runs a New Mexico truck stop...a nice front for her crime ring. Hijackings and prostitution keep the money flowing. As the film begins, her daughter Rose (Jennings) and Tina (Jennifer Burton) use gratuitous sex to hijack another truck. Uh oh...the New York mob wants the operation and send Smith (John Martino) to the desert to take it over. Smith smooth talks an overly ambitious Rose to help him. Thus, Rose will have to betray her mother and life long friends. Meanwhile, a lot of gratuitous topless action demonstrate the vigorous prostitution efforts at the truck stop. As Anna gets wind of Rose's betrayal a classic scene unfolds involving Rose playing pool in a bikini and Anna walloping her and hauling her out like a sack of potatoes.

Anna's problems are deep as betrayals abound, you'll see. As Smith tries to use Rose to unseat Anna, the mob gets serious. Anna's peeps begin dying and Rose's greedy ambitions are drawn out. Truck chases, more hijackings, gratuitous sex, gun fights, brawls, and Claudia Jennings being sultry are a major part in what ends up being a dark tragedy. Bobby Hart's music keep this film light and frothy...at least on the surface. As Anna's operation is beset on many fronts, including Rose's betrayal, her wisdom and experience...and some loyal whores (all lovely) just may even the odds.

Will the ravishing epitome of seduction and allure, Rose, smarten up and return to Anna? If Claudia Jennings was around in Shakespeare's time would "Romeo and Juliet" been a bigger hit? Did 1970s drive-in audiences flock to this film in order to see a Shakespearean tragedy, or merely a desire to see the Playboy beauty in alluring action? For a relevant exploitation tale from the 1970s that acts as a great companion piece to Ms. Jennings' real life story, see "Truck Stop Women." 

Skyscraper, Anna Nicole Smith Dies Hard

When Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2007) died, no one said, "She died so young, we'll miss her." I think most of the world was pretty done with her. Today, most of the world is pretty done with the Jenners' and Kardashians'...though a pre-mature demise doesn't appear in the cards for them. With the obnoxious and nauseating existences of the Kardashians' and Jenners', well maybe, just maybe, we now realize that we weren't fair on Ms. Smith and her tiresome fame. Let us not forget she did give us the best "Die Hard" rip-off out there! Not even the Italians made a good "Die Hard" rip-off. Today we look at 1996's, straight-to-video, "Skyscraper."

Carrie (Smith) is a commercial helicopter pilot bringing rich guys from skyscraper to skyscraper in L.A. and Long Beach. So, of course, as the film begins, Carrie is partaking in a very gratuitous and extra long shower scene. She'll be joined in the shower by her hunk detective husband, Gordon (Richard Steinmetz). They'll then partake in a very gratuitous sex scene...then Carrie will prance around in some skimpy white undies. Okay, some suave terrorist, Fairfax (Charles Huber) hires her. Eventually Fairfax has her bring him to a certain skyscraper. Carrie doesn't know that he and his merry band of terrorists plan to take over the tower. Well, the terrorists kill a lot of people, cops, security guards, office workers, etc and Carrie is now on the run in the tower.

Carrie will do what Bruce Willis did in "Die Hard," and many scenes were lifted right out of "Die Hard." Oh yeah, unlike Bruce Willis, Carrie will be raped by a terrorist. Fear not, she'll send her rapist out a skyscraper window to his death. She'll be chased, bloodied, slapped, and agitated. She'll respond by killing terrorists. When her husband responds to the carnage in the tower, the two of them will fight the terrorists. There will be a couple more gratuitous love scenes, in which Carrie and husband will roll around completely nude.

What exactly do the terrorists want? I don't remember, and who cares? Is there any truth to the accounts that Bonnie Bedelia had similar gratuitous love and nude scenes but they were cut from the final version of "Die Hard"? If Anna Nicole Smith had made more gratuitous exploitation films instead of marrying some old rich guy, would we now be celebrating her life? "Skyscraper" is sleazy trash, but the kind of sleazy trash we like. For those looking for a  guilty pleasure, see "Skyscraper."

Captive Factory Girls 2: The Revolt," Sweaty Babes in Much Trouble

Japanese sexploitation! We don't admit we enjoy these films...but we do. Given the choice of a Cate Blanchett or Meryl Streep film, we'll pass and instead choose one with sweaty and half naked Asian damsels being tortured and humiliated. Why? Are we perverts or misogynists? Or are we just honest in confessing our preference? Does it matter? Hence we take a look at 2007's "Captive Factory Girls 2: The Revolt" (aka "Kankin Kojo: Hangyako no Amazones-tachi").

Azusa (Ai Sayama) is radiant in her job as an...eh...escort...at a...eh...gentlemen's club. She is given to 'gentlemen' to make them feel good. One night she breaks up the rape of her friend...mistake. Azusa now must be punished. She is sent to be a slave laborer in a gun factory that caters to underworld organizations. She'll sweat a lot and most of the sweat will drip down her cleavage. She'll be gang raped by guards and pummeled in bath-tub cat-fights. Perhaps a metaphor of Harvey Weinstein's Hollywood or Bill Clinton's internship program.

Naomi (Nitsuki Asada) is the head slave laborer. She takes a liking to Azusa. This riles Yuri (Rino Konno). Yuri sees Asuza as the cause of all of them getting punished. Yuri will attack Asuza a lot and rip her clothes off. Asuza will be strung up for torture and rape after Naomi escapes. The factory bosses believe Asuza knows of the escape. Now Naomi, another slave babe Yoko (Nana Otone) unite to plan an escape. Uh oh...the factory bosses aren't stupid. Betrayal, more gang rape, and more sweaty cleavage awaits.

Will any of the sweaty damsels escape from their slave labor? Is the depiction of brutal and misogynistic slave labor atrocities a prescient foretelling of what Amazon has become under Jeff Bezos? Although you will love this movie, are you going to tell anyone about it? For a film that will tickle your prurient interests, see "Captive Factory Girls 2: The Revolt."