The town of Elk Hills, California has been getting rough ever since the oil field workers stuck around. Ben Arnold (Jan-Michael Vincent) joins the police to try and keep things safe while his brother Aaron( Kris Kristofferson), a Vietnam vet, hires mercenaries - his war buddies Beal (Charles Cyphers), Viner (Shelly Novack) and Selden (=Carmen Argenziano) - to deal with the problem. But much like what happens after someone hires cats to get rid of the mice, who gets rid of the cats? The mercenaries - and Aaron - are now out of control and take over the town.
Director and writer George Armitage said that the film was a "very slightly coded reference to the Revolutionary War...although what I was really doing there was Vietnam." Jan Michael-Vincent's character was named after Benedict Arnold while Kristofferson's was named for Aaron Burr.
If the town where all this goes down seems familiar, it's the Mayberry back-lot set at Desilu Studios in Culver City, California.
Ben's also a widower who falls for schoolteacher Linda (Victoria Principal) and Aaron gets with bar singer Little Dee (Bernadette Peters) and who can blame either of them? Plus, David Doyle, Dick Miller and Loni Anderson all appear.
This movie gets wild, because it's almost a white version of Bucktown and has a bizarre ending where Kristofferson and his buddies dress as a marching band to rob a bank. I can't think of another movie that ends with the guy who wrote "Sunday Morning Coming Down" standing on top of an oil tower blasting townsfolk with a machine gun while dressed like a drum major.
Produced by Gene Corman, this movie is a fine exploitation film with an above-average cast. It's also nearly a modern Western with an ending that has brother versus brother and only one can walk away.
Director and writer George Armitage said that the film was a "very slightly coded reference to the Revolutionary War...although what I was really doing there was Vietnam." Jan Michael-Vincent's character was named after Benedict Arnold while Kristofferson's was named for Aaron Burr.
If the town where all this goes down seems familiar, it's the Mayberry back-lot set at Desilu Studios in Culver City, California.
Ben's also a widower who falls for schoolteacher Linda (Victoria Principal) and Aaron gets with bar singer Little Dee (Bernadette Peters) and who can blame either of them? Plus, David Doyle, Dick Miller and Loni Anderson all appear.
This movie gets wild, because it's almost a white version of Bucktown and has a bizarre ending where Kristofferson and his buddies dress as a marching band to rob a bank. I can't think of another movie that ends with the guy who wrote "Sunday Morning Coming Down" standing on top of an oil tower blasting townsfolk with a machine gun while dressed like a drum major.
Produced by Gene Corman, this movie is a fine exploitation film with an above-average cast. It's also nearly a modern Western with an ending that has brother versus brother and only one can walk away.