Assault of the Killer Bimbos

How can you not love this campy B flick! Made on a VERY low budget by people who made the most of it. "Thelma & Louise" which came a few years later lifted the basic plot. Featuring characters named "Peaches" & "Shifty Joe", future director Nick Cassavettes & the immortal line "Oh no, a bimbo with a gun!"

With the title "Assault Of The Killer Bimbos", and the premise of two airheaded women on the run from the law, you may think that you'll get a lot of sleazy fun with this movie. Alas, the actual results are somewhat of a letdown.

The women in the movie are written to be a likable bunch, and the actresses playing them are a talented bunch, but the screenplay is pretty one-note with them. After a while, these characters seem to just be doing the same thing over and over again. That may be because the screenplay stops advancing the plot after the first twenty minutes or so, and does not start advancing the plot until the last ten minutes.

Eddie Deezen does liven things up with his appearance (no movie can be completely bad if it has Eddie Deezen), but he's only in the movie for a few minutes.

Also, the screenplay is seriously lacking in sleaze. There's hardly any nudity, no sex, and a minimum amount of PG-style violence.

Did this movie inspire "Thelma & Louise"? Probably not, but you never know.

Expecting some lamebrain sitcom reject, I found "Assault of the Killer Bimbos" to be good stupid fun. Christina Whitaker made the biggest impression on me; I found her to be funny, smart, and rather attractive. To coin a cliche, don't expect Shakespeare, and you won't go away disappointed. An excellent "girls just wanna have fun" movie; the overall acting and story are better than what the box at the video store led me to believe.

Even in the rarefied air of b-movies this is a stinker. Unlike the work of the fun B directors (H. G. Lewis, Fred Olen Ray, Al Adamson, even Ed Wood) this commits the cardinal sin of being boring. There's no energy, style or fun to this movie. It's just a tedious, drawn-out chase plot featuring three scantily clad women, of whom only Elizabeth Kaitan is worth a second look. (It's no coincidence that she's the only of the three who subsequently had any sort of career.) Even the bad actors (and there are plenty) are boring. Only Kaitan and supergeek Eddie Deezen bring anything to this party. The picture also deserves special mention for two of the lamest performances ever given by famous actors' offspring in one movie, courtesy of Griffin O'Neal and Nick Cassavettes as zonked out surfers. How did this mess ever develop a cult following?

There is a special place in my heart for this wacky film. Not only is the plot similar to Thelma and Louise, it came out before that one! It's lighthearted, full of one-liners, and surprisingly tame on the "let's show some breasts" element. I appreciate the fact that nudity was not a chief concern for this story. I never thought these gals were dumb at all, the references to them as bimbos came from the "dudes" who were just not very bright themselves. And like Thelma and Louise, they rise above all the obstacles in their way. Think of this film as celebration of spiritedness and going for your dreams, well, even if it's a cowabunga barbecue! Favorite line: "MMMMM I love pancakes!"