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Released by: Distribpix
Released on: 2011
Director: Mel Greene
Cast: Sonny Landham, Bobby Astyr, Barbara Carson, Sherry Cass, Alan Marlow
Year: 1975
The Movie:
Before he became an action movie star best known for movies like Predator and 48 hours but appearing in Hollywood fare as recently as 2013's The Last Stand, and long before he became a fringe element in the Republican and then Libertarian Parties (going on record referring to Arabs as 'ragheads' and 'camel dung shovelers'!), internationally recognized crazy person Sonny Landham banged women on camera for a living. Yep - before he teamed up with Schwarzenegger, he got double teamed by Jennifer Jordan and Judith Hamilton in 1974's The Love Bus, among many more through the late seventies, usually in supporting roles. 1975's Big Abner, however, put him front and center in the lead for a film that, if you hadn't figured it out by the title alone, is a hardcore adult take on Al Capp's classic Lil' Abner comic strip.
When the movie begins, Rita Davis is down on her knees doing what female porn starts do down on their knees. The camera pans up to the man she's gobbling and wouldn't you know it, it's Sonny. He grins a dopey grin to the camera and proclaims thusly 'I'm big… Big Abner!' and we're off. As it turns out, Big Abner is 'the champion of the mountain folk' and he seems to have something going on with each one of the ladies in the vicinity of the weird little hillbilly shack he's been working on.
That there is more or less the story - Abner messes around with the ladies. He bones a 'goat girl' named Pigpen (Rita Davis), he gets it on with Crazy Lay (Sherry Cass) and he gets it on with Sady Hawkins (Barbara Carson). And then there's Ellie May (Ginger Snaps), a foxy young thing who just so happens to be the daughter of the town's mayor (Gandorph The Grey, credited as The Wizard?!?). She gets it on with as many men as she can, even weird old Granpappy Yokum (Bobby Astyr), a random guy called G-Man (Alan Marlow) and even the mayor himself. Topping all of that off is a scene in a barn where a fat, fuzzy hillbilly named Tiny (Bear Wilson) gets some action from good ol' Pigpen. So yeah, lots of sex, very little plot, and not one second of this is taken in the least bit seriously.
The production values are perfectly sufficient - this isn't the type of movie that requires lavish sets, instead it asks for run down barns and creaky little shakes and maybe a wood lot or two in which the characters can bump and grind. The costumes are obviously modeled after Capp's designs, with Landham decked out in greasy old overalls looking very much like the comic strip character he's intended to look like. The acting is goofy, hokey, hammy - but it works. Astyr is his typically hilarious self here, and nobody is really trying too hard here; but why would they, the script simply doesn't call for it. As far as the sex scenes go, there's a heavy emphasis on oral, so your mileage may vary depending on how that suits you but at the very least the copious copulation is performed with enthusiasm and a sense of 'fun' that makes it endearing, even if it does wind up feeling more than a little bit repetitive.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Big Abner looks pretty good, presented here on DVD in 1.33.1 fullframe. Colors seem accurate if slightly flat and detail isn't bad. Black levels are closer to dark grey but all in all this is a perfectly acceptable presentation of a grungy, older, low budget dirty movie.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono track is also fine. The dialogue, almost all of which is spoken in hokey fake southern accents, is perfectly audible and the score properly balanced. There might be some minor hiss here and there but it's nothing particularly distracting. The movie sounds fine.
The only extra on the disc is a trailer, but it's a lengthy one at just over four minutes in length. Menus and chapter selection are also included.
The Final Word:
Short on plot but high on blowjobs, Lil' Abner is seriously goofy stuff. It does a pretty good job exploiting its source material and offers up plenty of bizarre laughs to accompany the fairly repetitive sex scenes - but you'll seriously never look at Sonny Landham the same way again!
