He Washington Post called Earl Ownesby the "South's king of Grade B movies."
They described this movie with this purple prose: "The lights dimmed, and within minutes, there was a fist fight, a hooker was carved up by a hood and an ex-con was framed for her murder. And before scores were settled, a prison guard was impaled on a stick, bullets turned bad guys into Swiss cheese and countless people were slaughtered, all in the name of revenge and profits. Most died slowly, foaming red Karo syrup at the mouth."
Making movies out of a studio complex in the Appalachian town of Shelby, N. C., Owensby gave America - he said "My audience is grass-roots America. The guy who comes out of the textile mills in the Carolinas or the car plants of Detroit or the wheat fields of Kansas. They're gonna love Chain Gang." - movies like Wolfman, Rottweiler, Buckstone County Prison, Tales from the Third Dimension in 3D and so many more. He made them cheap. He knew what people wanted.
Buckstone County Prison is a lot like this. He wasn't afraid to throw some BS in his ads - "First there was Cool Hand Luke then Billy Jack, but there has never been anyone like Seabo." - and it did pretty well. Chain Gang is a lot of the same as Mac McPhearson (Owensby) is framed for murder - he was just trying to save a stripper from getting beat up, but they hunted them down and killed her - and tossed into Black Creek Prison Farm and has to escape to get back at those that did him wrong.
If you're running a prison scam, don't have the guy you sold out come to do your yard work as part of the prison gang work. That's my advice to all future drive-in bad guys.
Director Worth Keeter started making movies for Owensby and went on to direct tons of American sentai shows like Beetleborgs and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He also made L. A. Bounty, which if anything at least has that Sybil Danning in the fog poster art, The Order of the Black Eagle and Unmasking the Idol. Writer Todd Durham went on to write Hotel Transylvania.
A lot of the mid 80s Ownesby movies were made in 3D. There isn't a lot of 3D needed for this, but there you go. It was still in 3D. A male prison movie in your face!
They described this movie with this purple prose: "The lights dimmed, and within minutes, there was a fist fight, a hooker was carved up by a hood and an ex-con was framed for her murder. And before scores were settled, a prison guard was impaled on a stick, bullets turned bad guys into Swiss cheese and countless people were slaughtered, all in the name of revenge and profits. Most died slowly, foaming red Karo syrup at the mouth."
Making movies out of a studio complex in the Appalachian town of Shelby, N. C., Owensby gave America - he said "My audience is grass-roots America. The guy who comes out of the textile mills in the Carolinas or the car plants of Detroit or the wheat fields of Kansas. They're gonna love Chain Gang." - movies like Wolfman, Rottweiler, Buckstone County Prison, Tales from the Third Dimension in 3D and so many more. He made them cheap. He knew what people wanted.
Buckstone County Prison is a lot like this. He wasn't afraid to throw some BS in his ads - "First there was Cool Hand Luke then Billy Jack, but there has never been anyone like Seabo." - and it did pretty well. Chain Gang is a lot of the same as Mac McPhearson (Owensby) is framed for murder - he was just trying to save a stripper from getting beat up, but they hunted them down and killed her - and tossed into Black Creek Prison Farm and has to escape to get back at those that did him wrong.
If you're running a prison scam, don't have the guy you sold out come to do your yard work as part of the prison gang work. That's my advice to all future drive-in bad guys.
Director Worth Keeter started making movies for Owensby and went on to direct tons of American sentai shows like Beetleborgs and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He also made L. A. Bounty, which if anything at least has that Sybil Danning in the fog poster art, The Order of the Black Eagle and Unmasking the Idol. Writer Todd Durham went on to write Hotel Transylvania.
A lot of the mid 80s Ownesby movies were made in 3D. There isn't a lot of 3D needed for this, but there you go. It was still in 3D. A male prison movie in your face!
