Supervixens

Russ Meyer is a truly original American filmmaker of the highest caliber. His films are filled with lightning-speed edits, larger-than-life characters, delicious women, and over-the-top acting. His movies are shining examples of wonderful exploitation. They are by no means 'high-art' and should not be judged as such. Myer masterfully puts his unique vision on the screen in all of his films, and 'SuperVixens' is a shinning example of this...

This film starts off wonderfully, for it is incredibly entertaining and highly humorous (filled with VERY sexy women, large breasts, and lots of violence of course). It maintains a pretty rudimentary story-line, but that was never something that Meyer really pursued. He is more concerned with amusing characters, gorgeous women, and sweet violence, and this movie has plenty of that. Charles Napier gives one of his best performances ever here, as a psychotic, impotent, woman-killing cop. Shari Eubanks is dynamite and a vision to behold...

My only complaint about this film is that it loses a bit of momentum after its blazing beginning. If you are into Russ Meyer you have undoubtedly seen this film- if you haven't, you must! The transfer to DVD is of a very high quality- the sound and picture and crystal clear. If you have never seen any of Meyer's films, this as good a place to start as any...

Russ Meyer's Supervixens mixes extreme violence with campy humour, which results in a film that can feel a rather awkward at times. Those looking for a gritty, hard-hitting thriller might struggle with the frequent comical sex scenes (accompanied by a breezy soundtrack), and those wanting a frivolous romp loaded with big-breasted women could well be deterred by the occasional spot of gruelling nastiness. One things for sure: it's a one-of-a-kind offering - offbeat and quirky - that fans of cult cinema simply cannot ignore.

Buxom Shari Eubank takes on a dual role in the film: first, as SuperAngel, stunning yet obnoxious girlfriend of easy-going gas station attendant Clint Ramsey; and secondly, as SuperVixen, the lovely rest-stop owner Clint falls for while on the run from the law, having been wrongfully accused of Angel's murder. In reality, the villain of the piece is corrupt psycho cop Harry Sledge (a memorably loathesome performance by Charles Napier), who killed Angel after she mocked him for his inability to perform in the sack. Much of the film follows Clint as he hitches down the highway, meeting various characters along the way, including swinging couple Cal (John Lazar) and SuperCherry (Sharon Kelly), farmer Lute (Stuart Lancaster) and his nympho mail-order bride SuperSoul (Uschi Digard), and SuperEula, the wild daughter of a protective motel owner.

Undoubtedly, the most disturbing scene in the film is the murder of Angel, Harry Sledge kicking down a bathroom door to get to her, pushing her into the bath (which is full), stamping on her, jumping on her, and then electrocuting her. Its cruelty and sadism rivals anything to be found in a video nasty. The film also ends with some brutal violence, Harry abducting Vix (as SuperVixen likes to be called) to use as bait to lure Clint to his doom. Vix ix roughed up by Harry, and Clint is shot and stabbed. In a typically kooky Meyer moment, Harry finally get what is coming to him, blown up in a loony tunes style with his own stick of dynamite. As for the more light-hearted stuff, my favourite part has got to be Clint's crazy day out with sassy black babe Eula, who is one crazy gal, riding topless in a speeding dune buggy, sunbathing naked in the desert, and seeing to the sexual needs of a wandering strongman in the middle of the highway. Phew!

My rating: 7/10 - might've been a touch higher had it been a bit shorter.

Russ Meyer, like David Lynch or Alejandro Jodorowsky, creates his own world in his movies and invites you to visit. And while I may not want to LIVE there, I sure do like to visit! You either love Meyer or you don't, it's as simple as that. Most fans seem to regard either Faster Pussycat or Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls as his best movies. I worship them both but my particular favourite is Supervixens. This movie is like no other ever made, with it's surreal mix of buxom babes, humour, violence, car chases and dynamite that has to be seen to be believed! Charles Napier fans note that this is his definitive performance playing psycho cop Harry Sledge, which may or may not be a reprise of his role in Cherry, Harry and Raquel! I dunno. Other Meyer regulars pop up including Haji, Stuart Lancaster and the criminally underseen John Lazar(Z-Man). But the real find here is Shari Eubank in a duel role. She unfortunately only made one other movie after this, Chesty Anderson,USN (with Timothy Carey!). She will always be remembered by lovers of trash cinema everywhere.

You haven't lived until you've seen Supervixens!

Part of the fun of watching a Russ Meyer movie is sitting in mind-boggling disbelief at just how sexist & deranged it is, then going with the flow as you escape into his voluptuous pre-silicone dreamworld. Misogyny isn't really the word, as you can imagine the old sleazeball worshipping these women & doing anything for them while he's filming them bouncing around.

Supervixens, however, is just plain nasty, due to the one scene in which Super-Angel (the running joke is that all the women have the Super- prefix to their names) is kicked to death & electrocuted in a bathtub by Charles Napier's impotent cop. Not funny. Doesn't help that Super-Angel's character is set up as being somehow deserving of it.

No, not funny at all, even if you're used to the Russ Meyer school of sensitivity. It belongs in a 1980's splatter film, & leaves a nasty taste in the mouth for the rest of the film, which is pretty ordinary until Charles Napier turns up again & torments Super-Angel's later re-incarnation, Supervixen, in a way that would be amusing if you could only forget his earlier scene.

See Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls instead.

Without a doubt, the first 10 minutes of Supervixens is one of the best pieces of comic film editing I've ever seen. If there's anyone who's interested in figuring out how to quick cut images with dialogue in order to create a comic effect, watch this. Most of Meyer's movies are pretty bad, but there are three that are great and this is one of them. Meyer creates a surreal American landscape, where people are all endowed with unreal sex parts, all the woman bare the title "super", and ex-nazi's are gas station owners. The movie is filled with in-your-face phallic symbols and the scene with Super Angel and the cop is absolutely hysterical. Can't wait until this is on DVD.