You see, this movie is the tops. Cranpire and Nathan may disagree, but they're wrong. Hillbillys in a Haunted House is not necessarily misleading as titles go, even if there aren't really hillbillies, or a verifiable "haunted" house anywhere to be found.
What we got instead were frequent musical numbers strung together using the most meager of explanations, a gorilla, some cheap ghosts, bad lip synch, inexplicable shifts from day to night and back to day, and an idea for a new sitcom:
This Fall on CBS - Three Queens and a Drunk, starring Basil Rathbone, John Carradine, Sandra Ho, and Lon Chaney Jr. as the drunk. It's a full house of comedy!
The subplot involving the Queens, the drunk, and that gorilla have virtually no bearing on why the house is "haunted", even if their ill-defined plan to steal Acme Missiles takes us away from the aspiring Nashville country-and-western musicians that lip-synch badly to canned music. When these two pointless stories aren't happening, some other musicians show up (in person or on tv) to sing two or three songs at a time, interspersed with reaction shots that hold on too long.
Our heroes (if you can call them that) are a guy whose name I can't remember, his manager Jeepers and a lady named Boots Malone. Or Boobs Malone. You could really make the argument either way, since her large chest keeps an iron maiden from closing her in, even though it has no spikes.
Made during the Summer of Love in 1967, Hillbillys in a Haunted House tries to make some new stars in country and western music, but mostly is notable for featuring Merle Haggard as the opening act for some totally forgettable "talent." I still found it to be charming in a stupid way and most of the attendees agreed.
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