MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM: REDNECK MILLER (1976) (Film Masters Archive Collection Blu-ray Review + Screenshots)

REDNECK MILLER (1976)

Limited Edition of 1500

Archive Collection Blu-ray

Label: Film Masters

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: R

Duration: 89 Minutes 8 Seconds

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: John Clayton

Cast: Geoffrey Land, Sydney Rubin, Steve Jones, Paul Walsh, Lou Walker, Paulette Gibson, Angel Sandie, Marcel Cobb, Charles Elledge, Sidney Rancer, Charles Leonard, Linda Hammond, Allan "Mitch" Miller, Salvatore Charles, John Spain, Charles Reynolds, Roger Freeman, Bill Atkinson, Catania Golightly

Redneck Miller (1976) is a Southern-fried slice of
regional hicksploitation out of Charlotte, NC directed by John Claystone (Benji knock-off Summerdog), following the exploits of jerky self-absorbed radio disc-jockey DJ Miller (Geoffrey Land, Nurse Sherri) who finds himself is framed for stealing a drug shipment from local drug peddler

Supermack, whose thugs Preacher (Lou Walker, Mississippi Burning) and Foxy are waiting for an airdrop of drugs out in the middle of a field at the crack of dawn when someone on a chopper cycle rolls in and makes off with the stash before they can get to it. A brief chase ensues and the chopper manages to get away when the thugs drive into a haystack. It turns out the signature chopper bike belongs to DJ Miller, and Supermack sends his thugs to bring him in, but DJ proves to be handy with his fists and gets away.

Miller is quite a character, a Schlitz-swilling smalltown lothario who is willing to bed any and all horny women in the vicinity, who even brags about his conquests on his radio program tainting the local fellas; he's the kind of guy who sees a lady in distress on the side of the road and who fixes her flat, so chivalrous as to not accept a cash reward, but more than willing to take it out in trade in the backseat! When it turns out that the woman in distress is Supermack's girl Pearl the smalltown gangster gets even hotter under the collar, and vows to see that the DJ gets what's coming to him.

DJ is a rather unlikable main character to be honest, he's an arrogant womanizing asshole who cheats on his girlfriend Jenny non-stop. He's a hard guy to like, he even seems to to suggest he would rather let his side chick Rachel (Paulette Gibson, Getting Over), the busty and lusty wife of his radio station boss Ralph, get raped by Supermack's thugs if it would mean he would come to no harm, telling the nearly raped gal "Baby, you can take a lot of lovin', but I can only get killed once", fair enough. Thankfully the guy who framed him is even more of a low-life, a local scumbag named Ray (Paul Walsh, House of Games) who attempts to roofie DJ' s gal Jenny, sending, so you know DJ has got to open up a can of Schlitz-fueled whoop ass on him to not only avenge Jenny to get Supermack off his back.

You can tell this is super low-budget and the script was probably pretty bad, but I have got to give kudos to director John Clatyon, he makes the most of what could have been a pretty awful flick and turns in a quite entertaining hicksploitation/blaxploitation mash-up that was never dull, not even for a minute. The cast is not great, the most "well-known" is Geoffrey Land as DJ, and let me just say when you're top-billed named is most famous for working with z-grade auteur Al Adamson, well, you're working on the fringes my friend. While the acting might not be great I thought the community theater acting certainly had it's moments, and there's some great quotes to found for sure! On top of that we get a couple of tasty car chases, a car explosion, and fisticuffs set to country and banjo music, and the occasional slide-whistle audio gag, and a decent amount of top-shelf nudity.

Just as a time capsule of the mid-70's I thought this is a fun watch, shot in and around Charlotte, NC this features some peak '70s decor and color schemes, DJ's apartment is chock full of green and yellow, there's burnt-orange shag carpeting, and it's hard not to love DJ's distinctive chopper with it's custom flame paint job, even his truck is custom painted (with a blue carpeted headliner), like I said, this is peak 70's material, and seeing all the vintage cars was a wonderful nostalgia trip.

Redneck Miller (1976) is quite the hicksploitation gem, it's got everything I need from the sub-genre and it was never dull, as soon as it ended I watched it again, recommends don't get any higher than that. This release is limited to just 1500 copies, so act fast, I could easily see this rowdy hicksploitation rarity selling out soon!

Audio/Video: Redneck Miller (1976) makes it's official home video debut from Film Masters, presented in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1). In regard tot he transfer we get the following information from Film Masters:

"Scanned from one of the only surviving rare 35mm release prints in 4K, this print was run through multiple rounds of restoration including dustbusting, dirt and debris removal, and repair of deep scratches that were digitally removed. The original print was very faded, having lost much of the blue and yellow tones, and was color corrected to bring back the original film grade. This regional U.S. feature film has never had a formal home video release or been screened theatrically outside the U.S"

The film is in terrific shape, looking appropriately grainy, with only a few emulsion scratches faint vertical lines, and tiny nicks, but has otherwise been restored to near-pristine condition with bold, well-saturated colors. The yellows and greens seen throughout particularly look terrific.

Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. There's a spot or two where hiss/static shows up in brief spots, but overall the track is clean and well-balanced, dialogue exchanges sound great and the soundtrack comes through just fine.

Disc extras include a terrific new Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Author Justin Humphreys and a new 3-min

2024 Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, plus a Limited Edition Slipcover with the same artwork as the wrap. Inside there's a 12-Page Illustrated Booklet with an essay by Film Historian/Author Justin Humphreys that gets into North Carolina hicksploitation cycle, highlighting the output of Preacherman Corp, and how this little seen entry gained new life when Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder

Pictures started screening it in '07.