Motorpsycho.

Review #1872: Motorpsycho.

Cast: 

Haji (Ruby Bonner), Alex Rocco (Cory Maddox), Stephen Oliver (Brahmin), Holle K. Winters (Gail Maddox), Joseph Cellini (Dante), Thomas Scott (Slick), Coleman Francis (Harry Bonner), and Sharon Lee (Jessica Fannin) Directed by Russ Meyer (#1420 - Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!)

Review: 

If you remember, Russ Meyer first made movies when he was with the US Army's 166th Signal Photographic Company during World War II. His first couple of films would be "nudie cuties", which thrived on the circuit of independent and exploitation audiences, which he wrote, directed, edited, photographed, and distributed himself. He did this for a couple of years before shifting to less nude fare with Lorna in 1964 (incidentally, that movie was about a woman being assaulted that sees her break out of sexual frustration with her husband - Meyer described himself as looking at sex in a humorous and outrageous way). Mudhoney (1965) was a Great Depression period drama without as much exploitation (and not quite successful with audiences). But August 1965 saw the release of both Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and this film, with the former being the one that eventually became a cult classic. Each have their fair share of violence and sex (i.e. women you or someone would probably say is attractive) with villainous trios, with one featuring a gang of go-go dancers and the other featuring a gang of bikers. Meyer served as co-writer on this film, as James Griffith, Hal Hopper, and W. E. Sprague did the script with him. Meyer also served as producer along with his wife Eve, served as cinematographer, and he edited the film with Charles G. Schelling.

There are a handful of odd moments but seeing a blurb promoting the use of Toyota vehicles at the end certainly was a surprise. Seeing a movie with a character depicted as being a veteran of the Vietnam War in 1965 was another surprise in a movie filled with lurid energy. It may not spring as many eye-raising moments as the aforementioned Pussycat movie (which he also wrote/produced/edited), but it never loses sight of what it means to see raw human energy put on screen to the point where could almost call it a satire of exploitation. Who else would make a movie where a guy gets stung by a snake and yells at his lady accomplice to suck the poison out? Meyer has an efficient eye to making movies with the right degree of sleaze that means one gets to see a bunch of grim violence to go with the early moments of attractions (as one says). Sure, there are probably people who will say that it is the women that really attracts people to his films, but who cares? I would rather have a director who has a clear interest in what they want to show on screen rather than a pretentious bore, and Meyer knows how to edit his material into 74 minutes of entertainment with bombast. As was the case with Pussycat, it is the women (in this case, one) that sticks out among the cast, as Haji (playing a Cajun whose trip with a scuzzy husband turns into death) makes for quite a tremendous presence, one who vexes the screen with dazzling energy. Rocco is fine in the general hero of vengeance type designed to fill time in one-note moments that doesn’t waste all of one’s time. The biker gang (three of them, which is the minimum to even have a gang) do okay, with Oliver becoming more interesting when the deranged elements come through (i.e. going from hip lingo to fantasizing about being back in the jungle), with the radio-in-ear Scott being a close second. Older film lovers may notice Coleman Francis in a scuzzy role, which is amusing to consider when this might be the best film he ever appeared in where he is on screen (for longer than a couple of seconds) or behind the camera. As a whole, one would best consider this a decent companion piece to Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, both having their own methods of going through the road of sleaze and violence that can be the difference between one being a cult classic and the other just being a decent little flick to find in the margins for those who like what they saw from the mind (and eyes) of Russ Meyer.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Review #1420: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Cast: 
Tura Satana (Varla), Haji (Rosie), Lori Williams (Billie), Susan Bernard (Linda), Stuart Lancaster (The Old Man), Paul Trinka (Kirk), Dennis Busch (The Vegetable), Ray Barlow (Tommy), Mickey Foxx (The Gas Station Attendant), and John Furlong (The Narrator) Directed by Russ Meyer.

Review: 
"It was the usual thing with me. It's like being in the military. Everybody has to get up and do their jobs to get things together, and that's it."

If you need a film that sticks out for the 1960s in its exploitation value and provocative nature, one can't quite go wrong with a film like this. It should only prove natural that this came from Russ Meyer, who over the course of twenty years served as director, producer (with some of his early films being co-produced by his wife Eve), writer (with this being co-written by him and Jack Moran), editor and cinematographer (this film however was done by Walter Schenk) for a variety of sexploitation films involving either campy humor, violence, or powerfully imposing women that earned him the nickname of "King of the Nudies", although his films have been argued to feature feminist values with their empowerment of women at times. One could view his career from just the titles, ranging from his first in The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959), to his "Gothic" period in Lorna (1964), to his brief association with 20th Century Fox in the immortal Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). He started doing films with a 8mm camera at the age of 15, and he served as a combat cameraman for the 166th Signal Photo Company in World War II, for which he made friends with people that would later ask to work on his films. After the war, he did industrial films along with still and glamour photography before moving his attention to doing cheap (but profitable) films to direct. With the success of his motorcycle gang film Motorpsycho (1965), a film that dealt with three men terrorizing the countryside, Meyer wanted do one with three women terrorizing the desert, with both films featuring Haji. Two working titles for the film were The Leather Girls and The Mankillers before sound editor Richard S. Brummer came up with the luridly memorable title that we see today. The film wasn't a huge success upon release, but it has endured as one of Meyer's most influential films with plenty of admirers. Fellow director John Waters called this "beyond a doubt, the best movie ever made. It is possibly better than any film that will be made in the future." Satana gave credit to Meyer for how he "liked to make women strong, make them feel that they were empowered." Film critic and colleague Roger Ebert described him as "an auteur whose every frame reflects his obsessions. Like all serious artists, he doesn't allowed any space between his work and his dream."

This is an entertaining film, filled with plenty of entertainment value with its sly dialogue, brusquely charming characters, and roaring violence that make for a good time for those who seek something daring with passion for its time. One should expect something special from the opening narration, which welcomes you to violence (word and act), stating it as something that "doesn't only destroy, it creates and molds as well." At the helm is Satana, a dancer of Japanese and Native American descent that had just one other prominent role besides this with Ted V. Mikels' The Astro-Zombies (1968). She has an alluring power to her, one with rebellious spirit and conviction in all she sets out to do with manipulating others (men or women) that serve as a great curiosity to view. Haji, a fellow dancer-turned-actress that starred in numerous Meyer films along with making contributions to her own dialogue, proves adept in following along with the action on all the ends with care. Williams fills the last end of the uninhibited triangle with a careful carefree attitude. Bernard makes for a panicky debut that adds some tension to the dynamic between the other women and eventually the men, particularly with its climax. Lancaster (a fellow regular in Meyer films) makes a creeping adversarial presence with odd striking power that dominates among the other supporting parts of the half dealing with the desert. In the long run, one is watching a movie about people who know what they want and will do what they can to do so, whether that means violence or coercive passion that bubbles into a highly entertaining experience in a efficient 83 minute package. It deserves the cult following it has received in the five decades since its release as a neat little gem worth watching late at night for something different in independent cinema. It is a film with no bounds about how reckless and fun it can get with people in the right mindset for weird fun and a director efficient and focused enough to make such a passion come alive without becoming consumed by it.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.