Hillbilly Horror Show (Vol 1) (DVD review).

An offering from the USA, we have here the ‘Hillbilly Horror Show Volume 1’. You probably know what hillbilly horror constitutes but if you don’t, it’s all about crazed people with blood and guts in ample supply. Years ago, the hillbillies were notorious for crazy action during the war of independence and, thereafter being a bit isolated and inbred, they got even crazier over time. Well, that’s what they want us to believe! The truth is probably quite a bit different.

This disc is a one-hour show which promotes various little pieces of horror action. Maybe you think it’s not worth it for 60 minutes of action but the price is reasonable at about $7.50. The show is hosted by hillbilly characters, namely Bo, Cephus and their cousin, Lulu. I’d never heard of them but apparently they are very popular. Lulu is a model who has appeared in men’s magazines and, as you would guess, is provocatively sexy. The two guys are riotous beer drinkers, prone to laughing and crudity. In other words, they are normal hillbillies. This is volume 1, which signifies that more will be coming in the future. Next year, two more volumes are planned for release and they will be hoping this one is a great success. I also believe it’s a TV show as well but viewers in the USA will know more about this than me.

There are four pieces of horror on view, all quite varied in action and intensity. It starts with ‘Franky And The Ant’ which is about a crazy guy who has been betrayed by everyone. Does he want vengeance? Certainly he does, with extras I believe!

That’s got you into the swing of things. It’s followed by ‘Amused’ which is focused on a mother trying to save her daughter from a terrible horror. Then there is ‘Doppelgänger’ which is a really good animation featuring a skeleton. Finally, we’ve got a scary piece about bees, giant killer bees called ‘The Nest’, it’s about a restaurant owner with carnivorous bees. She likes honey and so do the customers but the bees like eating flesh. Fair exchange you would say.

Well, the guys that host the show certainly make it an out of the ordinary experience. It’s over the top, exciting and crazy. It’s what you would expect from hillbillies promoting horror. My only complaint was it was too short but that’s not really a fault because the quality was good. The horror action pieces were rather unusual, weird, yes definitely weird and out of the ordinary. I don’t think you would see them anywhere else on run-of-the-mill media, certainly not on TV in the UK and the people who made them will probably go on to do much more in the future.

Not really knowing what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised and ended up thinking it was a DVD definitely worth watching. I liked it and would recommend it to anybody else.

Rod MacDonald

October 2014

(region 1 DVD: pub: Visual/MVD Entertainment Group. 1 DVD 60 minutes. UPC: 760137647799. Price: $ 9.95 (US))

cast: Bo Keister, Scott Geiter and Rachel Faulkner

check out website: http://mvdb2b.com/s/HillbillyHorrorShowVol1/MVD6477D