I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Before picking up a boxset of movies by director Russ Meyer in the Christmas sales,Mudhoney was one of two films that bought me to the attention of Meyer,thanks to the title of the film being used decades later as the name for an amazing Grunge band called Mudhoney.With having greatly enjoyed Meyer's previous movie Lorna,I decided to touch Mudhoney,to find out how "sick" it truly is.The plot:1933-Spooner,Missori:Walking round the small dust town of Spooner after having recently been released from jail,Calif McKinney runs into a strange looking woman called Maggie Marie,who to McKinney's surprise offer's him the chance to spend some time with each of her lonely and very eager daughter:Clara Belle and the mute Eula.Politely turning down Marie's offer,Calif ask Maggie if she knows about any jobs that are available in the area.Grungingly accepting McKinney's dismissal of her offer,Marie tells Calif that there is a farm near by,that is desperate to hire a new farm boy.Knocking on the door of the farm,Calif is met by the old owner of the farm:Lute Wade,who despite being servily ill, still gives Mckinney a warm welcome.As McKinney starts to talk to Lute about what his daily job routine will be,Calif is left monetarily speechless,when Wade's beautiful niece Hannah arrives and gives McKinney a very warm welcome.Feeling pleased about finding a good place to work and also happy,thanks to the easy on the eyes sight of Hannah.Ripping Calif's moments of joy into shreds,Hannah's husband Sidney Brenshaw stomps into the farm,and openly shows that he rules the farm with an iron fist by telling Lute that he is going to steal the farm from him that moment that Lute dies,and also demanding Hannah that she makes dam sure to stay in her place.Angered that the decision to hire McKinney had not been made by him,Sidney decides to give Calif his own "special welcome",by telling McKinney that he must follow every task that he tells him to do,due to Sidney servily beating up the last farm boy over his faliour to walk Sidney's vicious line.View on the film:Working on the first ever movie that he himself has not written or done the cinematography for,co-editor/co-producer/extra/director auteur Russ Meyer shows that even when some other people are allowed to hold on to the main reins,he is still able to set his wonderfully unique vision "bounceing" across the screen.Setting the mood of the film with Andre Brummer's spike-driven score,Meyer and cinematography Walter Schenk make Calif's arrival into Spooner one that is entering a chilling Horror atmosphere,with Meyer and Schenk using crisp black & White to make all of the town's folk appear as if their eyes have been pushed to the back of their sockets,with Meyer also showing the religious hypocrisy in this deep-fried southern Horror,by showing the local's to break out into a far too tightly knitted mob rule.Initially appearing unsure about what direction to take things in their adaptation of Raymond Friday Locke's novel Streets Paved with Gold,with the opening bringing back memories of Meyer's disappointing "Nudie- Cutie" era,the screenplay by Locke and W.E. Sprague chooses the scene where Calif meets Maggie's strange family as the moment to slam the film into the deep-frier,with Calif being shown as the strong,silent type who attempts to keep hold of his sanity against the cackling Sidney.Entering the movie grotesquely wide-eyed,Princess Livingston gives an extremely unsettling,creepy performance as Maggie who welcomes Calif and the viewer into this off-beat Horror World.Taking on Calif McKinney, (played by a very good,stern John Furlong) in Russ Meyer's first film to have a male in the lead role,Hal Hopper makes Sidney a true piece of brilliant villainy,thanks to Hopper curling his lip each time he delivers a snarling verbal slap to the lesser beings of his land,which help to make the taste of this honey one that is perfectly sweet.

Drama takes place in Missouri during the Depression (though that adds little to the story). Drifter Calif McKinney (John Furlong) comes by a small town looking for working. He finds it at the Wade farm run by Luke Ward and his niece Hannah (Antoinette Christiani) and her alcoholic abusive husband Sidney (Hal Hopper). Calif starts to fall for Hannah--Sidney sees that and doesn't like it. He gets the town and the local preacher (Frank Bolger) to rally against Calif. Also there are the two beautiful, huge-chested sisters (Lorna Maitland and Rena Horten) who are in the local cat house...It all leads to two near rapes, violence, murder and tragedy. But it does (in a way) have a happy ending.Sleazy (in a good way) and enjoyable Russ Meyer drama. He ignores the campy dialogue he had in his previous features and gives us a straight forward drama. The script is good and it's well-directed with some beautiful black and white cinematography. The acting was (surprisingly) pretty good--especially when you consider all the women were hired for their bodies not acting ability. Furlong and Christiani give good performances but Hopper screams all his lines and Bolger is hopeless.There is nudity on a few occasions but it's pretty tasteful. No great shakes but right up there with "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" as one of the best Russ Meyers film.

I know this movie has it's fans, is considered a satire and is preferred to the slightly earlier, Lorna, but I just cannot agree. Certainly this has pretensions to seriousness with it's stance against the simple preacher and the easily manipulated lynch mob, but everything is so overblown all becomes simply crass. As for the bulk of the film preceding the melodramatic ending, tiresome might be the word. There is the crazy family where is Lorna Maitland is reduced to playing a bit part for some reason and the homestead that takes on the new hired hand. There is so much unwarranted screaming and hysteric laughter that I felt like switching off during the first twenty minutes. Sure there are some fine sequences, the rape and murder of the preacher's daughter is very powerful, but I think this loses direction and has a pat 'satirical' theme tagged on for want of something better. The characters are nothing like as rounded as in Lorna and as with the later, Faster Pussycat, Meyer is probably at his best with the themes kept nice and simple.

For some reason, I expected more crass (and I've seen Russ Meyer films from the late 60s and early 7s) and exploitive (although they are in docu-creepy realistic funny way) rendition of a story like this. I couldn't have been more mistaken. Perfectly cast - Hal Hopper (the ultimate sleaze-bag in a worn linen suit, babes galore - Lorna Maitland and her beautiful mute sister (can't remember her name) who was mute (and has no lines)...the "crazy" and hilarious mother of the these two "Lil Abner" rejects who makes moonshine ..on the side - whose name is Princess something (in real life)...Anyway, I'm making it sound complicated and it's not and it's not "dirty" (even for then). It's funny, serious (darkly later), kind of sexy, great b/w cinematography and the ending is on the plains.I never thought this film would be good. Meyer's best film (that I've seen - which is about half his output). Well-done.