Poor Pretty Eddie

Just found this on DVD today, in a much better transfer than the old VHS versions. Let's face it, the film would be even more obscure, had the producers not had the vision to cast Shelley as Bertha, the faded beauty who "used to be an entertainer", but now owns a run down inn that is way off the beaten path. She's also an alcoholic plagued with loneliness and insecurity, which is somewhat relieved by Eddie, a good looking but psychotic stud about 25 years younger, with whom she maintains a desperate sexual and emotional relationship.

There is some debate about Shelley's acting, that her character is really just Shelley playing herself. That is an insult to the actress, who like any talented actor draws emotion from her own experiences. This is a tour-de-force performance, particularly when she explains to Leslie Uggams (in a very one-dimensional performance) that Eddie is all the man she's got, and at her age, there won't be any others. It's a heartbreaking scene that leaves no doubt about Miss Winters acting abilities. The crazy plot reminds me of HG Lewis' "2000 Maniacs". Slim Whitman has some choice lines. Entertaining in a "Bad Movie We Love" kind of way, this trashy treasure is worth seeking out.

This great but weird film is certainly among my favorites .Its probably not for all tastes ,but a superb film I think.Y'know its like that car wreck you can't take your eyes off it.The acting by all incredibly good !And the direction excellent. What makes this film so much better than a hundred exploitation films like it ? The detail in each scene is fascinating !I've often wondered what creating this film must have taken on the cast and crew etc. Its a real shame this piece of artistic fantasy remains obscure and forgotten .Maybe the powers that be want it that way ,no doubt.Fortunately I obtained the videotape many years ago. If you can find this ,grab a rare 70's cult classic (dare I say?).You won't believe your eyes .

Leslie Uggams stumbles into redneck run motel with stereotyped Southerners running amok. Creatively photographed, the rural setting is effectively creepy, as are the characters, all of whom can barely write their names in the mud with a sharp stick. Some eerie, Morrocone - like music adds to the oppressive atmosphere. The cast of hicks is led by Shelly Winters, with Slim Pickens and Dub Taylor lending support as a perverted sheriff and justice of the peace respectively. The big question has to be, who was the intended audience, since there is something here to offend almost everyone? A slow motion shotgun wedding finale is somewhat reminiscent of the Halloween party massacre in "Ms.45" - MERK

One of the great undiscovered jewels of Truly Bad Cinema! It's almost useless to try to write a commentary on this, because this film is indescribable. Leslie Uggams (whose acting consists of exactly two expressions, defensive and shrieking) plays a famous singer adrift in a redneck landscape that's like the love child of Franz Kafka and HEE-HAW; she's up against a horny young Elvis wannabee, Shelley Winters (surprise - she's drunk through most of the film!), Slim Pickens, Dub Taylor, Ted Cassidy, and a DELIVERANCE kid with a slingshot. What else can you say about a film that includes one of the most memorable montage sequences in film history: Uggams' rape is intercut with Cassidy and his friends watching dogs goin' at it, while a lilting country tune plays over the soundtrack. Or how about the scene in which Slim Pickens (as the Sheriff!) interrogates poor Leslie about her rape while begging her to "suck on one'a these tomatoes"?

This film screams (like poor Leslie) for a DVD release. Listen up, you distribs out there - this is the great lost cult film of the 70s, just lying around like some petrified critter waiting to be put on display. Pull out that jug of moonshine and enjoy!

One of the most deeply disturbing films of the early 70s, bar none, POOR PRETTY EDDIE is also, at times, morbidly comical as well. A murky, surreal tale centering on a black superstarlet singer(Leslie Uggams) who becomes stranded alone in a small, backward Southern town. She takes a room in a tumbledown lodge run by Shelley Winters and "Eddie", her handsome "kept" boy. Eddie becomes discordantly smitten with Uggams, rapes her, beats her, and vows his undying love to her as a distraught Ms. Winters looks on.

Flush with heterodox characters and nightmarish imagery, POOR PRETTY EDDIE is a mind-bending, jaw-dropping, head-scratching freak-on-wheels which is equal parts effective and defective.

6.5/10...file under "uncategorizable".