Hex

When it really comes down to it, this is not a sophisticated movie. There's this soundtrack, see, and it's pretty goofy with lots of jaw harp boing boing and fiddle-de-doo tunes and that certain barnyard pig chase type music that often accompanies country/co boys falling in the dirt with that "aww, shucks" look upon their faces. But, like with all sorts of movies, there's just something about this (the copy I have of it is called "The Shrieking") movie that I adore. I'm not sure if it's the audacity of the movie for being as weird and unruly as it is yet still holding together, not sure if it's the way the actors all bounce off each other in a nice way or what...I think mostly it's just the unexpectedness of the script, truly one of the strangest stories I've ever seen on film and by the end we can look back at all the oddities and know that whoever wrote it must have had a very healthy supply of something that was probably illegal in the early seventies, because this is a drug movie. I GUESS it could be called "horror" but it isn't that exactly, and it is a "teen movie" more or less, but not like any other "teen horror movie" I've ever seen, and it does have a serious propensity for the incredibly goofy, but that goofiness makes the horror (when it actually does happen) quite horrific (the scene with the frog comes to mind)...I notice that this film has a very low rating on IMDb, and that's a shame because it's funny and kinda scary at times, and altogether interesting and entertaining, not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but worth watching. Anyone else notice this one "feels" very similar to "Dead Birds"?

Marauding early 20th century motorcycle gang takes lodging in a rustic prairie farmhouse owned by two weird young sisters. We come to learn that the girls' parents are both deceased, and that "Ma" was a white woman, and "Pa" was some sort of Native-American spiritualist. Following a foiled rape attempt, the biker gang begins to rapidly lose its members under very mysterious circumstances. This creepiness transpires to the accompaniment of a rather harsh washboard/jaw-harp/kazoo music score which will have many folks ripping their hair out at the root within minutes.

Things get off to a decent enough start in this rummy little "rara avis", which introduces some colorful characters and offers enticing whiffs of what's to come. The upshot to these tantalizing prospects is an awkward and admittedly atmospheric juggling of genres which is proficiently executed on a technical level, but rather weak in exposition of its story. It's consistently watchable for the most part, chiefly by virtue of its idiosyncratic stylistic trappings, and a few solid performances from players at the budding-stage of prolific careers.

Though categorically a horror film, it probably has a stronger foothold in the revisionist/acid western subgenre, and might appeal to enthusiasts of pictures like THE SHOOTING(1966), EL TOPO(1970), and THE HIRED HAND(1971). In any case, I don't strongly recommend it.

4/10.

This film begins in 1919 with two sisters named "Oriole" (Cristina Raines) and "Acacia" (Hilarie Thompson) working alone on their farm several miles from the small town of Bingo, Nebraska. Although they don't go into town very often, when they finally decide to do so, they are surprised to see a small group of World War I veterans riding motorcycles and causing all kinds of pandemonium. So much of a ruckus in fact, that not long afterward these same veterans are subsequently chased out of town by an armed posse. Since none of this affects Oriole, she simply continues on with her business and afterward the two of them head back to their farm. When they get there, however, they are surprised to find the motorcyclists hiding in their barn in order to elude the posse. So, unable to convince them to leave or forcibly evict them, the two sisters decide to show them some hospitality by allowing them to sleep in the barn for the night and hoping that they will leave the next day. Unfortunately, when one of the veterans named "Giblets" (Gary Busey) tries to rape Acacia, Oriole takes matters into her own hands and conjures an evil curse upon him which kills him in a ghastly manner. Not realizing that Oriole has such mystical powers, the veterans decide to stay there a little longer-with horrible consequences for them all. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this could have been an excellent film if the director (Leo Garen) knew what he was doing. But apparently, that wasn't the case as each time he arrived at an important crossroads--he chose the wrong direction and let the moment slip. So rather than creating something special all we're left with is an incoherent mess. What a shame.

This is a very bad and very confusing film that apparently never saw a theatrical release, and with good reason. In the early 1900s, a dirty outcast motorcycle gang (?!) on vintage WWI cycles, blows through a prairie town and riles everyone up, including two sisters who live alone on an isolated farm. The pretty "half-breed" sisters (children of a Native American mystic, or some such bs) are young, blond, dumber-than-a-box-of-sticks Acacia, and sultry, dark haired Oriole, whose facial expressions and tone of voice NEVER change, no matter what the situation; she always looks stoned, or maybe she just doesn't care. I know I didn't. At first, Oriole tries to scare the bikers off her land, then realizes there are no bullets in her rifle, shrugs and invites them to dinner. Yeah, right. Then they all smoke pot and have a good time. No, seriously, they do! It's pretty silly. Then, Gary Busey (playing Gary Busey, like he always does) tries to rape Acacia and is found dead the next morning. Do the remaining bikers leave? Gosh, that would make too much sense, now wouldn't it?

This painfully stupid film finally manages to come to an end and takes its twangy, annoying soundtrack with it. There is no plot, the acting is atrocious and the sisters spend way too much time spouting ridiculous, trying-too-hard-to-be- ominous statements in inbred-hillbilly-ese that'll either make you laugh or groan with pain. It's sooooo bad. I wouldn't wish a viewing of this film on my worst enemy.

Hex is a whacked out blend of Western, stoner biker movie and supernatural horror that gives the impression that the makers of the film might've partaken of the same recreational substances smoked by its two main female characters.

Cristina Raines and Hilarie Thompson play siblings Oriole and Acacia, 'half-breed honeys' living on a small farm in rural Nebraska shortly after the First World War. The sisters' peaceful existence comes to an end when a group of motorcyclists seek refuge at their homestead, having been run out of the nearby town of Bingo. After one of the bikers, Giblets (Gary Busey), tries to rape Acacia, Oriole uses native Indian magic (taught to her by her father) to exact revenge.

Nothing about this film feels right - the performances, the direction, and the editing are all executed in an incredibly awkward and offbeat manner that makes it no surprise that this was the first and last film to be directed by Leo Garen. Not even TV wanted him after this mess. The whole thing is rendered even more ludicrous by the lively Jew's harp/harmonica/banjo score that accompanies almost every scene, which is more suited to a madcap 'good ol' boys' Southern comedy (starring Burt Reynolds) than a horror.

Still, with a film as downright bizarre as this one, there is fun to be had if cult cinema is your thing: we get an angry mob in a hot-rod (the group including a shotgun-toting ten year old), Oriole and female biker China (Doria Cook-Nelson) have a cat-fight (with Keith Carradine joining in the fun!), there's a trippy hallucinatory scene featuring a fat toad and savage mice, Gary Busey is killed by an owl, and, just when you think it can't get any more strange, the ending features four jet planes flying over the farm. WTF?

Also the costume coordinator for the film was Dick Butz, whose name is always good for a laugh.