Lust in the Dust

Divine, the alter ego of Glen Milstead (1945-1988), first burst onto an unsuspecting public with such notorious John Waters films as the infamous PINK FLAMINGOS, dishing up bad-taste humor in proportion with her truly ample size. But there was more to Divine than drag queen humor, and LUST IN THE DUST offers her a less extreme playground, pitting her against a lone gunman (Tab Hunter), a vicious saloon floozy (Lainie Kazan), and a host of desperadoes in a flyweight send up the spaghetti westerns so popular in the 1970s and 1980s.

Directed by Paul Bartel, best known for his 1982 black comedy EATING RAOUL, LUST IN THE DUST is essentially the very slight story of a search for gold--a search that leads Able Wood (Hunter), Marguarite Ventura (Kazan), and Rosie Velez (Divine) to the isolated old west one horse town of Chile Verde. There, with support from the likes of Cesar Romero, they snap, snarl, break up furniture, sing bawdy songs, show their tattoos, and... well... lust in the dust. What else? I may be overly generous in granting this film five stars. The film is occasionally slow and there's nothing greatly inspired about plot, script, and so on--but the performers make the whole thing a lot of fun. Divine wallows, Kazan hisses, and Hunter sweats with the best of 'em, and when it comes to one-liners the movie overflows with both the obvious and very unexpected. Yes, it's all very silly stuff, but everybody puts it over with flair and a sense of fun; you'll grin in spite of yourself. The DVD offers a reasonable, if not pristine, print of the film--and there's even a bonus package: the film trailer and an entertaining little "making of" documentary.

If you're already a Divine fan, LUST IN THE DUST is a must; if you've never encountered Divine, this would be a good place to start, for it lacks the truly jaw-dropping (and frequently off-putting) content of Divine's work for John Waters. Two tons of fun.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This movie aims for low humour, and it hits its target. Against all odds it entertains from beginning to end. The key to its success is that it proudly steers clear of anything resembling class or good taste. As far as cheap laughs go, you could do a lot worse. Oddly enough, by the end of the movie I was convinced that Divine should star in every single movie ever made.

This is NOT the sort of film for everyone. Apparently gay men love it (according to Lainie Kazan) and people who love Divine (like me) will get a kick out of seeing this character play a somewhat normal role--at least compared to all the freaks he/she played for John Waters!! But for the rest of the folks out there, it's very possible you won't like the film...and it's quite possible you'll enjoy it on its own very simple merits. The way to determine this is to ask yourself "am I normal?"--if so, don't watch the film! But for all the quirky folks out there (and I know there are a lotta you), it's worth seeing.

The film stars a whole lot of familiar faces, though the only big star (at least once upon a time) in the film is Tab Hunter. In addition, Divine, Lainie Kazan, Caesar Romero, Henry Silva, Woody Strode and Geoffrey Lewis (whose face you are bound to recognize) are there for excellent support. The film was directed by Paul Bartel--a man who is probably most associated with the ultra-strange "Eating Raoul".

"Lust in the Dust" is a gentle parody of westerns. Nothing in it is super remarkable except for its strong sexual overtones as well as having Divine play a part that is really pretty normal. There are a reasonable amount of decent laughs, some that fall flat and a few surprises--but it never is dull.

My attitude is that lovers of weird films should see this at least once. And, if it doesn't scare you too much, try another one of Divine's films, such as "Hairspray" (the original) or perhaps "Polyester". Save "Pink Flamingos", "Female Trouble", "Mondo Trasho" and the other early John Waters films for AFTER--as they can be too shocking and too weird for the uninitiated!! I warned you!

The is the best 'bad' movie ever. Great cast (who never play for the laughs). Divine and Lainie Kazan are so great together as rivals for Tab Hunter. Geoffrey Lewis is hysterical in all his scenes...especially the bedroom. Ceasar Romero, Woody Stode, Neddra Voltz (as the west's oldest hooker), Henry Silva, Courtney Gains...everyone is perfect. Want to have a great party? Have a Lust in the Dust night with some chili verde, cornbread and 'red-eye' for the buffet then watch Lust in the Dust. Don't invite any squares.

Rosie, a cantina singer of questionable virtue (Divine) and a gun fighter (Tab Hunter) head for the squalid desert town of Chili Verde in search of a fortune in gold. Neither title, star, nor director (Paul Bartel) would lead discerning viewers to suspect that this is 'one of Shaw's' but it is pretty funny in a silly, ribald way. Devine has excellent comic timing and a great, expressive face and the rest of the cast are fine. The story and characters are scattershot parodies of spaghetti westerns but the plot is reasonably clever (for what it is) and hinges on Rosie's back story, so pay attention. Any movie featuring Divine is interesting (albeit not necessarily watchable by most people) and, relatively speaking, this one is pretty tame (and the music is fun). Better than I expected.