-Grindhouse Fest is the special section in Celluloid Dimension where you can discover all the goodies…and baddies from the golden age of exploitation cinema. Have fun!
Directed by John Clayton
Written by W. Henry Smith and Joseph A. Alvarez
Starring:
- Geoffrey Land as DJ Miller
- Sydney Rubin
- Steve Jones
- Paul Walsh as Ray
- Paulette Gibson as Rachel
Rating: 
If you thought there couldn’t be any crazier exploitation genre mash-up than the simultaneously Blaxploitation and Nazisploitation The Black Gestapo made a year earlier, then let me tell you that you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that this rarely seen 1976 Hicksploitation meets Blaxploitation actually exists. Another bonkers hybrid of exploitation modes that truly works despite its evident political and cinematic incompatibilities.
Geoffrey Land, one of Al Adamson’s trashy canon staples, stars in this jocular yarn of Southern clichés, crime and sex romps. Land plays Dj Miller, outwardly harmless but when provoked he’s a badass. His job is to blast the hottest country music on the radio station, the rest of his day is spent in bed with women and guzzling cans of Schlitz as if his whole life is being staged like a big beer commercial. His laid-back life is disrupted when the black mob accuses him of stealing a drug shipment he had nothing to do with. John Clayton helms this uncomplicated, low-key, low-budget exploitation premise with effective comedic flourishes.
Redneck Miller is the rare exploitation flick that flows and feels like the ultimate feel-good, chill-out romp. Even though it’s a story with a poor sense of action and an annoying dearth of set pieces, the vibes are just consistently groovy. Still, the character dynamics are infallible here; three superfly, seemingly tough black dudes chase after DJ Miller throughout the movie without much success. They’re pretty much like the three mafia stooges, they’re a complete failure at being mobsters. Lots of hot skin is also part of the silly storytelling procedures, plenty of boobs especially and endless footage featuring shirtless Geoffrey Land.
The entertainment is foolproof indeed, but let’s just point out that its juvenile mentality also locks it into its own limitations by restraining it from being more than a goofy exploitationer. The script has much more potential to be just that. The sleek, eye-catching cinematography should have been more geared towards the unpredictability of the situational action rather than just instilling hollow cool vibes. I really dig the latter, but I also noticed a great deal of wasted potential in it. That being said, Redneck Miller manages to bring out the best in its imperfections and is not at all shy about demonstrating what can be done with just a touch of chutzpah and gender-bending tomfoolery.
