Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

April 11, 2008

I’ve finally seen John Waters’ favorite movie. I can totally see why this film is his favorite – the cars, the sex, the violence – sure. But what about the big hair, bullet bras and lesbians?

Three lesbian Go-Go Dancers (Are they called Go-Go Dancers because their patrons chant “Go, Go, Go!” at them?) run into a guy and girl out in the desert. After a fierce race, the girls’ leader, Varla, kills the guy with her bare hands (impressive) and takes the girl hostage. While on the run, they come upon a situation that will net them money, sex and violence (not to mention fried chicken) – how could they pass it up?

After watching The Incredibly Strange Creatures or Who Gives a Fuck!!?, my expectations were pretty low. Both are black and white low budget cult films that came out around the same time – 1964/1965, so I was expecting more of the same. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of Meyer’s work. Beautiful cinematography and artfully framed shots. Film stock that wasn’t shoplifted from Sears. A plot that made a little bit of sense. Sexual innuendoes involving trains. This is Film School stuff – why didn’t Paul ever teach us about films like this?

How disappointing is it that there is absolutely no nudity at all in the whole film? I’m pretty sure that this is the only Russ Meyer film with no nudity! Actually, it’s probably a good thing…I would recount the “60s floppy titties” discussion that I had with my husband, but then he would probably get mad at me and not talk to me for a week.

This movie is a pop culture phenomenon – songs have been written about the film, dialogue sampled in lots of songs (like Thunder Kiss ’65) and even has a crap 80s metal band named after it. It’s probably a good thing that I didn’t see this film back in college when I was dumb and impressionable. I probably would have been dressing like Varla, instead of Mrs. Mia Wallace.