“It started out as a Country Picnic! But before it was over 37 men were dead!” Killers Three director Bruce Kessler toiled away on episodic television through most of the 1970s but worked early on for low budget studios American-International and Crown International, churning out engaging exploitationers such as Simon King of the Witches, The Gay Deceivers and Angels from Hell. During Prohibition, Robert Walker, Jr. and Dick Clark (who also co-wrote and produced) are two desperate thieves who murder a bootlegger and steal his bankroll, escaping with Walker’s wife (Diane Varsi, of Wild in the Streets, Bloody Mama) into the North Carolina countryside, trying to get over the state line. Merle Haggard is the beleaguered sheriff out to catch them. Merle sings “Mama Tried” and the title song.
