| Swamp Girl (1971) 78 min |
| If nothing else, swamp movies always have great locations. While this isn't entirely the case here (that there's nothing else going for it), Swamp Girl is a pretty simple straightforward story with some really good looking locations. Set almost entirely in the depths of the Okefenoke Swamp, Swamp Girl dishes out generous portions of colorful characters and low budget action. We also get some gator footage and a few country songs thrown in for good measure. |
| Director Don Davis is wise to be equally conerned with setting a swampy mood as he is telling a fun little story. We start out with a fitting country song as out title character (Simone Griffeth) paddles her boat down the swamp. She eventually deposits a snake bitten body on the shore, and is spotted by some hillbillies in the process. Before you know it, the local swamp ranger/country singer is hot on her trail. She takes a liking to the ranger and goes home to tell her 'Pa' about it. |
| Here's where the somewhat bizarre backstory comes in. Apparently her 'Pa' is actually Nat, a black man who had been living out in the swamp with some guy called Doc for quite some time. Apparently Doc was a boozer who kept Nat scared that if he left the swamp the cops would arrest him for a pair of jeans he stole when he was younger. Eventually Nat figures out what Doc's been doing in all this solitude. He takes in single pregnant women who would otherwise be shamed in the outside world. Well, when he gets them he sells them off to some scumbags for $500 each! Nat is able to keep our lovley swamp girl, Janine, from being put on the market for a while. Doc has a change of heart one day though, and tries to bilk the scummy baby collectors out of $1,000. The disgruntled men kill him and take the girl off in a burlap sack. Luckily for everyone involved Nat storms the scene weilding a hatchet! Next thing you know, Nat and Janine take up residence together in the swamp. |
| Now if you haven't seen the movie, you're probably thinking I just ruined the whole movie for you. Well, not entirely. This is just a backstory told in an all too quick flashback. The main story is of a convict woman who breaks out of prison with the help of her boyfriend and takes off into the swamp for refuge from the law. Meanwhile the girls parents somehow know she's in there and hire the three hillbillies from earlier to find her and get her safely across the boarder. All hell breaks loose when the fugitives find Janine and Nat, with the hillbillies hot on their tale, and the local sheriff and swamp ranger hot on theirs! |
| As you can tell, there's a hell of a lot going on here; almost too much for the 78 minute run time. There's almost enough material here for two pretty interesting movies. On the upside, there is so much going on here that the movie never even comes close to being boring. On the downside, the stories are kind of rushed to the point that it's hard to appreciate them individually. I personally think it would have been more effective if it were just slightly longer. Of course, I shouldn't really complain, overall the movie is a really entertaining swamp romp all the way through. The only real misfire is at the very end. The twist is good in theory, but is executed in a pretty clumsy way that makes it both predictable and a little silly in the end. |
| Technically the movie is pretty well made too. Obviously this was a really low budget excusion, but it never really hampers the movie. The photography is a bit on the dark side at times, but the characters always stand out enough that it only adds to the swampy feel at the end. The acting is amatuerish at times, but everybody plays it up enough to have fun with it. Sixteen year old local Simone Griffeth makes her debut as innocent swamp girl. She has a Brady Bunch-esque naivity that brings quite a bit to the role. She's got a bit of a hippy mentality that makes her the perfect earthy heroine. She also has pretty good chemistry with country singer Ferlin Husky. Husky is likable as the nice guy swamp ranger. I was surprised to read that he had a few big country hits in the 50s! according to the IMDB he still performs regularly in Branson, MO (if you want to check him out, make sure you don't take the bus mark Bronson, MO)! |
| Overall this is a fun little romp with very little objectionable material. It carries the rating GP on the print, but it's a little heavier than the G rated stuff of today. It would probably end up with a PG rating or so today, making this one of the few Something Weird DVDs that could be watched by the entire family. If you enjoyed Sting of Death and want something a little more plot heavy, you'll probably dig this one. Other more cynical viewers might like to play Mystery Science Theater with this one. Although I can't stand people who can't close their yaps during an old movie, if you have a good time doing that I wish you the best! |
| Although this isn't a must have by any means, it is another quality release from Something Weird. It comes as a double feature with Swamp Country and a gaggle of swamp themed extras. There's a slew of trailers and a couple entertaining short subjects. All in all, it's enough to make a guy want to visit the Okefenoke Swamp for real...I wonder if they have honeymoon packages??? |
| I give this one 3 1/2 country croonin swamp rangers out of 5 |
| review by Joe Canistro 07/31/2002 |
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