Thunder County (1974) * 1/2 (out of 4)Four women break out of prison and make their escape through the Florida swamps. The bad news is that criminal lord Cabrini (Ted Cassidy) and his goons are in the same swamp and soon they take the women hostage but one of the goons (Chris Robinson) begins to have feelings for one of the ladies.THUNDER COUNTY, which has been released under quite a few names, is your typical no-budget film that would have played drive-in screens throughout the South back in the day. For the most part this is part women-in-prison, part crime drama and part romance but sadly all three are so watered down that there's really not too much here that is overly memorable.The biggest problem with this movie is that it's all rather predictable and there's not an inch of originality yet this is hampered even more by the fact that there's no violence, no nudity and not too much action. For the most part director Robinson did a good job at making this feel like a professional movie but at the same time the screenplay really needed to have a shot of some exploitation to make it more entertaining.I really enjoyed the swamp setting so they had plenty of elements that they could have worked with including a crazy rapist redneck but even this sequence is so tame that you have to wonder what the point of even having it was. Cassidy is actually pretty good in the lead role and it's too bad he's not given even more screen time or allowed to become really dark. The supporting players are decent for a film like this. Mickey Rooney gets the second billing and appears briefly in a role that probably had him on set for just a day.The director's next film, THE INTRUDER, would be lost for over forty-years before being discovered and released. Fans of that film will be interested in this one because it shares a lot of the same cast and crew but there's no question that this is the weaker of the two titles.

The movie begins with four female convicts breaking out of a prison in Florida and in an effort to outrun the police venture deep into the swamp. Once there they encounter a redneck who has escaped from prison five years earlier and sometimes works for a mobster by the name of "Mr. Cabrini" (Ted Cassidy). As luck would have it Cabrini just happens to be involved in a drug deal and in order to exchange the heroine for the money has to go into the swamp with two of his men and the courier. When they get to their destination they discover the four escaped women and things begin to get real complicated after that. Now rather than reveal any more of this film and risk ruining it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this movie had a good premise but the execution was lacking in several key areas. For starters the character development was extremely poor and this resulted in confusion concerning the identities of several of the female characters involved. Additionally, the movie wasn't edited very well and because of that it had a very choppy feel to it. In short this film could have definitely used some improvement and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

Four inmates escape from a women's prison and wind up stranded in the Florida Everglades. The gals run afoul of a gang of vicious criminals led by ruthless heroin smuggler Cabrini (expertly played with laid-back menace and stylish flair to spare by Ted Cassidy; Lurch on "The Adams Family"). Director Chris Robinson relates the entertainingly trashy at a steady pace, makes the most out of the treacherous swamp location (watch out for them 'gators!), and stages both the big break out and the exciting last reel action with aplomb. The lively acting from a game cast helps matters a whole lot: Carol Locatell, Anya Ormsby, Deedee Bradley, and Phyllis Robinson are all suitably sassy, sexy, and spirited as the quartet of feisty female felons, the legendary Mickey Rooney contributes a hilarious turn as a lecherous gas station owner, Robinson does well as gutsy undercover narc Vic, and Cassidy has a ball with his juicy bad guy role (Ted also totally rocks a cool pair of black sunglasses and cuts a dapper figure in a spiffy suit). Jaime Mendoza-Nava's funky score hits the get-down groovy spot. A nice slice of 70's grindhouse schlock.

I saw this movie on tv on a Saturday. We all know the quality of movies shown on Saturdays. This one was quite a lot worse even than the ones shot with one hand-held camera in which the cast and crew all (both?) have the same last name.The best part of the movie is the brief S&M relationship between Ted Cassidy and one of the prisoners. He beats her up, she enjoys it, he kills her.I didn't say it was a good part. It was horrible.I don't know why Mickey Rooney was in this movie. He must have been in serious financial trouble.Don't watch this movie unless you need your stomach pumped and would prefer an emetic.