Satan in High Heels

The female of the species, is more deadly than the male!

Agreeably sordid melodrama is fine as a curiosity piece, although in truth, it's not titillating or sleazy enough to be of great use to hardcore exploitation fans. It stars Meg Myles ("Coogan's Bluff") as Stacey Kane. Stacey toils away as a burlesque show stripper at a carnival until her junkie ex-husband Rudy (Earl Hammond) shows up one night, wanting to start fresh. He's got a wad of bills with him (payment for a story he wrote), which is big temptation for her, so she steals it and takes off for NYC, where she soon starts a new life as singer in a nightclub, run by a lesbian character named Pepe (Grayson Hall of 'Dark Shadows') and owned by Arnold Kenyon (Mike Keene). Before too long, she's become involved with both Arnold and his ne-er- do-well son Laurence (Robert Yuro, "The Shakiest Gun in the West").

Overall, the movie is competently done, and certainly better acted than one might expect, with an especially fine, effectively bitchy performance by the sexy Ms. Myles. Hall and Keene are also quite good, but what's really amusing is noting that Paul, the suave, bisexual pianist, is played by Del Tenney. Tenney was better known as a cult director during the 1960s; he went on to helm "The Horror of Party Beach", "The Curse of the Living Corpse", and "Zombie" a.k.a. "I Eat Your Skin". English entertainer Sabrina (playing a character named Sabrina) rounds out the main cast.

Unfortunately for some, "Satan in High Heels" fails to measure up to that grabber of a title. It's not that the story isn't diverting at all, but the pacing is slow, and things never ever get that interesting, at least until Myles belts out her show stopping number near the end. In fact, the four songs in this movie are actually not bad.

Still worth a look, but it might not appeal to trash lovers across the board.

Six out of 10.

Released by the "Something Weird Video" DVD label and promoted as a campy (s)exploitation flick, "Satan In High Heels" turns out to be, in reality, a slow, talky drama with touches of film noir (especially at the end) and a generally low-key tone apart from the musical numbers. Meg Myles is attractive (although she looks somewhat older than her age - 28 at the time) and has a throaty voice that makes her a good choice for the role of a cynical, sarcastic femme fatale: she clearly knows and enjoys her power over men, but when she meets one whom she is actually beginning to develop honest feelings for, will she be able to get him? All the performances are fair-to-good, and Sabrina, in a minor role, has a figure that will make your eyes pop out. The film has some lingerie shots and even some nudity, but it's very discreet and if you want more explicit stuff you can find it in the DVD extras! Not something I would watch twice in its entirety, but an interesting experiment nonetheless. (**)

If you like movies from the sixties with jazzclub, sexy pinups, american cars, sex maniac situations, and of course treason, "Satan in high heels" is for you. It's not a junk movie, direction and cinematography are competent, Meg Myles is so sexy (especially in her leather number), but it's not a masterpiece. Jerald Intrator is a perfect unkown director to me, and looking after his filmography, his few movies are all connected with sex : Striporama, Naughty New-York, Strip Poker, Caught in the act, the Sexperts, la Vengenza del sexo. Some kind of Joe Sarno? Don't miss Del Tenney and Sabrina.

This film was quite enjoyable really. It starts out a bit slow...and never really gets to full speed...but in the end it's got a pretty decent storyline going. A carny/burlesque girl rips off her carny/sleaze ball husband and sets out to the big city to find wealthier men to take advantage of. She gets a job at Pepe's, an upscale burlesque/variety club and proceeds to mercilessly make her play for the rich older man. And his son. This movie is worth watching if only for the vibe that it gives off. The early sixties smokey club scene is beautifully portrayed. The costumes are over the top and lovely. The riding outfit that the main character wears is priceless, as is the plastic-ish, big collared pant suit she wears in a couple of scenes. Pepe's wardrobe is gorgeously early mod. The ending was a little anti-climactic for me. I was expecting a lot more....like an actual murder. Either of her or of the old man. The way they left it was a bit lame. But still a pretty darn good film and worthy of a viewing.

Del Tenney fans MUST see this depiction of early-60's club life in which he plays Paul, a bisexual pianist (!). It's pretty hard to believe that this suave leading man later directed THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH and I EAT YOUR SKIN. The main character though is Stacey, played to the bitchiest by sexy, husky-voiced Meg Myles. Stacey moves inner-city with her junky boyfriend and gets a job as a burlesque entertainer. There, she gets catty with Pepe (Grayson Hall), her female boss for wanting her own way and becomes involved in a romantic triangle with Pepe's son and husband.

The music was by jazz composer, Mundell Lowe who's album TV ACTION JAZZ has become a rare collector's item over the years. One of the songs from that album (a nice version of 'Naked City') as been issued on to CRIME JAZZ, a CD compilation avalible from Rhino. The music in SATAN IN HIGH HEELS is pretty mundane jazzamaspazz but I'm after the the original soundtrack (from Parker Records) just for one great song sung by Meg Myles (in leather clothes and a whip!), 'More Deadly Than the Male'. Also starring in the film is Sabrina, something of a poor man's Jane Mansfield, who sings a really bad number before Stacey's act. I was amazed to know that Sabrina was a real sensation down here in Oz! She was down here regularly starring in television commercials (one was for Amcal oil-cubes!) and was featured in lots of newsreel footage (always holding her poodle, just like Jane) and magazines. I even found reference to her in Peter Doyle's AMAZE YOU FRIENDS, a crime novel set in Sydney during the 1950's.

Aside from all these fascinating facts, SATAN IN HIGH HEELS is a fairly enjoyable little film with lots of class. It also remains a decent examination of sleazy, smokey inner-city burlesque clubs which will never again be seen or experieced.