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A few months ago, beautiful young blonde Jennie (Beverly Lunsford) has married middle aged farner Albert Peckingpaw (Jack Lester), mainly because he has promised her all sorts of expensive gifts - gifts that have never arrived though, instead he has made her his housemaid and sex slave, something she understandably doesn't enjoy, and guards her jealously from the eyes of strangers, including his farmhand Mario (Jim Reader). Thing is, Mario's about Jennie's age, is reasonably fit and good-looking, so she feels herself drawn to him almost naturally, and Peckingpaw's jealousy only drives her into Mario's arms all the more. Thing is, at first Mario rejects her, also because he's afraid of her husband and of course of losing his job. But then Peckingpaw has a heart attack and thus remains bed-ridden for a few days, and slowly Mario warms up to Jennie - after all, she's a beautiful woman. So eventually they have sex, then make up a plan to steal Peckingpaw's money - he's said to be quite wealthy - and startn anew together somewhere far away. Their plan doesn't work out as they fail to even find Peckingpaw's money and so they're stuck with him a little while longer. And Peckingpaw soon recuperates from his heart attack, too. Thing is, he knows his wife has been unfaithful and also that she and her lover tried to rob him blind, but he doesn't let on, he only behaves a tad erratic. And then it's Jennie's birthday, and Peckingpaw throws a party for her with Mario as the only guest, and he allows the youngsters to have fun - not telling them of course that he has drugged their drinks ...

Ok, this film was rather obviously made for drive-ins and grindhouses across the US to cash in on the hicksploitation wave, with some bits of very harmless nudity thrown in just for good measure. Thus you can expect a pulpy and somwhat simplistic story with lurid undertones (heck, even the title suggests child marriage while it's clearly stated that Jennie's of age in the film, and she looks it, too), a not first rate cast, and everything done on a budget. And there's nothing wrong with any of this per se - it's just that it tells only half the story, as this is really a bit of a hidden gem, it's very competently put together, directed with great care, the camerawork is artful rather than functional, using many interesting set-ups, angles and pans to create mood, and the limited sets are used to great advantage. Even the story, simplistic as it may be, has elements of rural film noir and an eventual horror spin to it that make it rather engaging. Only the somewhat comical final scene seems out of place, otherwise this is pretty much a must-see.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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