It's Big Bugs And Banjos In Bakersfield

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Hank Ray Harwood / Avery Guerra

Before I get into writing this article I want to make a small statement, if I may. Now, some people out there seem to have gotten the impression that I enjoy making fun of independent, low-budget, movies. That simply isn't true. I love low-budget independent movies!

True, I do sometimes make a joke or two about them in my articles, but I do it out of love. Trust me, I have a lot of respect for people who endeavor to create the best film they can with limited or no resources.

But, that being said, I do run an honest ship here. If you make a movie with cardboard sets and puppet monsters, then I'm going to talk about it in my article, not to put down the work, just in the practice of being honest.

Okay, enough of the disclaimer.

Today I want to talk about ants. No, not the little pests that ruin picnics, I'm talking about the really big kind.

Over the history of film there have been several monster movie musicals produced. Most have these featured either rock or rockabilly, but now Hank Ray Harwood is about to change all that. There are two things that good ol' Hank loves, giant ants and country music, and the fledgling director has put them both into his movie, "Giant Ants Eat Bakersfield." A film that may very well be the first country music driven horror movie ever produced.

Actually, "Giant Ants Eat Bakersfield" had been shelved for time, before Harwood began getting positive e-mails about it, mostly from our very own Avery Guerra, which gave him cause to begin working on it again.

Harwood explains, ""I filmed this all over Bakersfield. We almost got busted filming on the roof of the old BUCK OWENS recording studio. The film is is not finished, and I sort of put it on the shelf. I have had some really good feed back lately so I will start on it again this weekend."

Apparently Bakersfield has a long country music history. The area was the long-time home of country music legend, Buck Owens, a name that may be familiar to many of you who used to watch the television series "HEE-HAW!".

I know that I used to watch the show. Not, for the country music, I have never liked country very much. I used to watch it for the pretty girls with exceptional cleavage. Hey......I was a teen at the time!

Harwood explains a little about Bakersfield's country music history and it inspired him to make "Giant Ants Eat Bakersfield", "Well, Bakersfield used to stand for an underground or rebellious response to Nashville country Music. When Buck Owens passed away a while back, I went to his funeral. I later wrote some songs about that and one was called "Giant Ants". It was that corporate music was like giant ants that took over country music and Bakersfield was one of the things the corporate ants ate. I suppose I am a nut. The film is meant to be a take off of those really old B monster movies where the monsters are so fake that they are cool. Like the tree monster and some of the ones on the old Star Trek. I went to Buck Owen's ranch and made a mini film of Buck's son's band BUCKSHOT for Brighthouse. It showed on cable. That's how it started. I have others that are helping Dr. B.L.T. a local song writer and some local hot rod club members and my friend Ron Ramos, whom almost got pinched on the Buck Owen's studio roof, helped film a lot. The reason we had to get on the roof was, the studio had just sold, so we made a sign - like the studio was still open and put it on the marquee . Then we took a giant ant off an old pest control truck and painted it with rubberized undercoat, so it looked better. After that I bought some fake human skulls at the Halloween store in Bakersfield and some dry ice for smoke. One night I was wrestling the ant under the giant Bakersfield Arch sign at Buck Owen's Christal Palace, it was so bizarre of a sight that the 99 freeway slowed to a crawl above the Palace. A lot of the film footage got ruined when I spilled beer on it at a local honky-tonk where I had filmed."

Well, this news came just at the right time! I was planning to travel through Bakersfield in the next couple of weeks, but if the area is going to be over-run with giant bugs and bluegrass players, I will take an alternate route!

For more info on "Giant Ants Eat Bakersfield", visit Hank Ray Harwood's blog - HERE