The Corner Penthouse

White Line Fever arrives on Blu-ray as part of Mill Creek Entertainment's Retro VHS Look Series, part of a growing trend of physical media releases with packaging designed to look like the VHS videocassettes of the 1980s and 1990s. I have reviewed several other titles in the series here on The Corner Penthouse.


White Line Fever (1975) is the story of young Air Force veteran, Carrol Jo Hummer (Jan-Michael Vincent), who starts a business as the owner-operator of a thirteen-speed, seven-and-one-half-ton diesel truck, which he names "Blue Mule". With his bride, Jerri (Kay Lenz), he sets off to Tucson, Arizona, where his old friend Duane (Slim Pickens), the manager of a trucking company, gets him a job. After Carrol Jo realizes he will be carrying illegal cargo and refuses the assignment, he's beaten by a band of gangsters working for an organized group of criminals headed by Cutler (Don Porter). When Carrol Jo's commitment to staying honest results in even further violent retribution from the trucking syndicate, he has no choice but to team up with other independent truckers to break Cutler's stranglehold and uphold the rights of the decent working man.


Jan-Michael Vincent, who passed away earlier this year, is quite likeable as the lead. He's backed by a stellar supporting cast, including the lovely Kay Lenz; Slim Pickens; Don Porter, best remembered as Gidget's father on the Sally Field-starring series; Martin Kove, who channels his future Kreese from The Karate Kid; and the late great Dick Miller as fellow trucker R. "Birdie" Corman, a tribute to producer Roger Corman, who was a mentor to director Jonathan Kaplan. Kaplan also pays tribute to his friend and fellow director, Joe Dante, late in the film when Cutler's secretary mentions him as one of Cutler's scheduled appointments. Dante would also cast Dick Miller in all of his films.


This action film is a great time capsule of the mid-1970s, filled with truckers and their rigs, CB radios, country music, and good old-fashioned blue collar heroes battling "the man". It's a product of its time, complete with a liberal use of racial slurs. It's part of an era that also produced Convoy and Smokey and the Bandit. Although there were moments where it certainly felt cliched, I quite enjoyed White Line Fever and recommend it to anyone who would like films in this genre.


White Line Fever is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:29:26. On the audio side, there is only an English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track. Subtitles are available in English only (though they contain a lot of errors). As is the case with most Mill Creek Entertainment releases, there are no special features - just like the original videocassette! The movie ends with the Sony Pictures Television logo, indicating that this was sourced from a print made for current premium cable showings.


The real "bonus feature" here is the vintage-looking VHS-inspired slipsleeve, with faux wear and tear, and fake "rental stickers" on it, while giving the appearance of a videocassette being pulled out from the right side (though the original VHS may have been in a bottom-loading box), complete with tape label side on the right spine. Here's a complete look at this special slipsleeve. Click on it to get a better look.


The front artwork is based on the original U.S. VHS box art, as seen below. The back of the slipsleeve bears a similarity to the original VHS box art, using the same photos, but in a different orientation.


In what is a complete change of pace for the Retro VHS Look Series, the case artwork underneath is NOT of a modern style. Instead, it reproduces the artwork and text from the original movie poster. Since it's not the same artwork as the sleeve, it's possible that the VHS-style slipsleeve may only be available for a limited time. In the photo below, the slipsleeve cover is on the left and the case artwork underneath is on the right.


I think you'll agree with me that in this one instance, the case artwork is better than the VHS-inspired slipsleeve artwork. That's not Mill Creek's fault; they simply recreated the original VHS artwork, which was very bland and minimal. Below is what the original movie poster looks like.


If you're not already aware of Mill Creek Entertainment, they are a budget company, which results in their products having a lower cost than the big studios. Right now, White Line Fever is listed on Amazon for less than $10.


The "Retro VHS Look Series" includes the following Blu-ray releases, which are being listed in chronological movie order, and not the order they are being released onto Blu-ray. Some titles below may not have been released yet.



Images used come from the Internet Movie Database gallery of the film. The Blu-ray has been provided by Mill Creek Entertainment for review on this site.