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Macon County Line (1974) DVD Review
Macon County Line (1974) DVD Credits:
Macon County Line (1974) Directed by:
Richard Compton
Macon County Line (1974) Written by:
Max Baer Jr.
Macon County Line (1974) Cast:
Alan Vint, Cheryl Waters, Geoffrey Lewis, Joan Blackman, Leif Garret, Max Baer Jr.
Macon County Line (1974) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
0
Macon County Line (1974) DVD Release Date:
5th May 2008
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Macon County Line (1974) Synopsis:

A small town sheriff is out for blood after his wife is brutally murdered.

Macon County Line (1974) DVD Review:

Macon County Line is the 1974 cult favorite about a pair of drifters, the Dixon brothers, Alan and Jesse Dixon (played by real life brothers Jesse and Alan Vint). Set in 1954, it tells the story of a pair of brothers traveling across country as they spend their final weeks together before heading off to the boot camp. While on their adventure, the duo, pick up a hitchhiker named Jenny (Cheryl Waters). Just after crossing the Macon County line, their car’s fuel pump gives out. The group makes their way to a mechanic, but is unable to afford the repair and opt for a quick fix instead. While waiting for their car repairs to be completed, the local sheriff deputy, Reed Morgan (Max Baer Jr., who also wrote and produced the film), tries to shake them down, demanding ten dollars per person for vagrancy. The guys refuse to pay and Sheriff Morgan demands that they leave as soon as their car is fixed.

Sheriff Morgan then drives out to pick up his son, Luke (Leif Garret) from military school. Meanwhile a group of cold-hearted drifters blow through town. These drifters pick a house at random to break into and rob. They chose Deputy Morgan’s house, where Morgan’s wife is home alone watching television. At first it seems as if they will simply rob her and leave her tied up, but safe, but then one of the drifters see one of Morgan’s work shirts. Seeing the uniform causes the man to completely lose control and brutally murder Morgan’s wife.

Shortly afterward, the trio, Alan, Jesse and Jenny breakdown in front of Morgan’s house when the quick fix fuel pump repair fails to hold up. They decide to spend the night in a nearby barn.

All hell breaks lose when Sheriff Morgan and his son return home to discover Mrs. Morgan’s fate. Morgan and son take off after the trio, chasing them through the woods in a fit of vengeful rage.

It is hard to believe that Macon County Line ever found legs. The film runs for 88 minutes but does not get interesting until 75 minutes in. For over an hour, the film is little more than a slice of life as we watch three youths bound around the south without a care in the world. The actual villains in the film barely have any screen time and no motive is ever made clear, other than sheer lunacy. The only true villain in the film seems to be Sheriff Morgan who both tries to extort the group of travelers but who also takes it upon himself to bring out his revenge in his own form of vigilante justice.

The film editing is also horribly dated. There is a sequence of long cross fades during one of filmmaking’s longest sex scenes in memory, a scene that was both stretched well beyond a necessary length and could earn a PG rating.

As far as the film DVD release is concerned, little to no effort has been made to restore or clean up the negative. Nor have any improvements been made with the sound. The film is presented in widescreen and has a mono soundtrack. There are zero special features included on the DVD.

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Macon County Line (1974) DVD review written by: Andrew Mattson

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