Ruby (1977)

This is a very strange film. In 1935 Ruby (Piper Laurie) is so shocked by the brutal gunning down of her boyfriend by gangsters that she gives birth. Sixteen years later she is a drunk who owns a sleazy nightclub (that never seems to have any customers) and a drive-in movie theatre (which has plenty of 1950s stereotypes). Her daughter Leslie (Janit Baldwin) is a mute with staring eyes who bites random people. For some reason she now employs the guys who killed her man at the theatre.

And then they start getting bumped off one by one in horrifying (in theory) / ridiculous (in practice) including the movie projectionist who is menaced by a film reel and strangled by film stock. As Ruby continues to prance about drunk in a fur coat strange voices are heard. Is the spirit of her dead boyfriend somehow out for revenge and using Leslie to carry out the murders? Meanwhile Ruby's new beau Vince (Stuart Whitman) wanders around looking as confused as most the audience...

Although it makes little sense, the gore and special effects are often laughably poor, the film has an irresistible camp quality about it. The cast generally do a good job with the weirdness and supernatural nonsense.