Review of Mule Skinner Blues (2001) by Steve J — 08 Dec 2007

I was a bit frightened when I saw that this documentary was "Presented by Clive Turner." As some of you know, Turner is the (ahem) genius behind The Howling: New Moon Rising. The concept was enough to make me give it a watch anyhow. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Mule Skinner Blues is a documentary about the residents of a trailer park in Mayport, Florida who decide to make a horror movie. Beanie Andrew is the director/co-writer/star of the show, but Beanie has a lot of friends. And they have a lot of free time on their hands. Beanie, for his part is a dancer, singer, kazoo player, and philosopher as well as a filmmaker. He also really digs gorillas and mud. Watching Beanie in action will remind viewers of both Hasil Atkins and Ed Wood.

In addition to seeing the triumphs and tragedies involved in the making of Turnabout is Fair Play, a revenge movie involving swamp beast gorillas and musicians, we get to see some (or maybe all, I'm not really sure) of the short film. Overall, Mule Skinner Blues comes off as sort of a cross between Dancin' Outlaw and Redneck Zombies, but with better special effects.