Rabbiosamente femmine

Switchblade Sisters, apart of the more or less dozen films in Tarantino's Rolling Thunder pictures collection (re-released exploitation flicks and foreign films), was worth the watch for a past midnight time of viewing. It might even be Jack Hill's most entertaining movie (though I haven't seen Coffy in a while). There are really a few things that he gets really right, amid the obvious camp that comes with a movie like this. He uses some tough, interesting B-actresses for the parts of the Debs-turned-Jezebelles, with Robbie Lee and Joanne Nail and Monica Gayle as the main three ladies of the bunch all turning in cool, un-restrained performances (one thing they don't lack, aside from some sex appeal, is spunk).

Another thing that makes the film really work is that, more often than not (which was also the case with Hill's Pam Grier pictures) is that it's very, very funny. Sometimes it was just by some unexpected stuff (the guy in the elevator early in the film, or stuff during the climactic battle in the streets), or just by some of the creative dialog. But really what helped make the film work for me was that it had a great marriage of 'exploitation' ideals (just look at the prison scenes) with spots of realism, or at least things that seem realistic in the Roger Corman school of writing.

These may be larger-than-life character, but that's part of the fun in it, that it's an action fantasy where we can root for the rough, take-no-prisoners gals of action, who also aren't completely in-human. Hill, who has mentioned in interviews how part of his film-making comes from being a musician, knows the rhythms of scenes and dialog (as stupid as it can get at times), and even has a little style to show off amid the patently 70's times. That, in the end, it's really a lot of fun helps out during some of the more 'dramatic' parts. And what an awesome last line!

Jack Hill's 'Switchblade Sisters' is a wild ride that will have you hooked from the get go! It's everything I hoped Ted V. Mikels disappointing 'The Doll Squad' was going to be - a trashy, campy slice of 1970s exploitation that manages to be self-parodic AND take its subject matter seriously simultaneously. Happily, 'Switchblade Sisters' is so good you'd think you'd dreamed it yourself.

Robbie Lee plays Lace the Debs' leader, and fulfills all the promise she showed in Roger Corman's 'Big Bad Mama' the previous year. She's cute but deadly, and why she never became a major star is hard to fathom. Most of the other girls, particularly gang newcomer Maggie (Joanne Nail), and Lace's former second in command Patch (Monica Gayle), are also sexy and dangerous, but none show the sheer charisma of Lee's Lace, surely up there with Tura Satana, Pam Grier or Raven de la Croix as a proto-feminist icon of the drive-in era.

'Switchblade Sister' is trash par excellence. You will both laugh at and laugh with the Dagger Debs and their rival gang, the disco-dudded Crabs, who could easily walk off this movie and straight into 'The Warriors', another surreal gang movie, directed by another Hill, Walter. Both Hill's deserve their place in psychotronic history!

Predating the cycle of gang movies by a few years, "The Jezebels" (a.k.a. "Switchblade Sisters") by exploitation icon Jack Hill really is a whole lot of fun. It's colourful entertainment that actually manages to be campy and serious in equal doses. And it does come complete with a feminist statement.

Robbie Lee is Lace, the leader of a girl gang dubbed The Dagger Debs, who are affiliated with a male gang known as the Silver Daggers. She's sweet on Dominic (Asher Brauner), their leader. Laces' world starts falling apart when Maggie (Joanne Nail), a loner, attracts the attention of the gangs (especially Dominic) and rises within the ranks - and gains influence - a little too quickly. Amid the personal problems of the main characters, they must go to war with a gang that masquerades as community activists.

Considering the fact that some of these actresses don't really convince at all as tough gals (especially Lee), and are clearly too old for their roles, they really are a whole lot of fun. Monica Gayle delivers a standout performance as Patch, a gang member who comes to distrust and despise Maggie. A rich assortment of familiar actors in the supporting roles include Marlene Clark as black revolutionary Muff, Don Stark as Hook, Bill Adler as Fingers, Kate Murtagh as butch lesbian prison guard Mom Smackley, and Bob Minor as police officer Parker. Nail definitely looks very hot in various sexy outfits. Co-star Kitty Bruce, who plays the put-upon Donut, is the daughter of Lenny Bruce.

The movie contains some absolute gems of dialogue thanks to screenwriter F.X. Maier; the viewer will find them very quotable. Nails' speech to the cops right before the end credits is hilarious. There's sex and plenty of violence, and some eye catching costumes by Jodie Tillen. And you just know that this is going to a be a most enjoyable film because of the tune "Black Hearted Woman" that's belted out during the opening credits. Many fine scenes include the clichéd action in the penitentiary and the gunfights at the roller rink and in the streets.

Fans of this kind of thing would be well advised to seek it out. It really hits the spot in terms of all of its exploitative elements.

Nine out of 10.

"Switchblade Sisters" is one of the most awesome and amusingly incompetent trash/gangsploitation movies ever made; only back in the period when it got released nobody ever intended to make a bad film, of course. Personally, I enjoyed the privilege of seeing this film in a genuine grindhouse theater and with no less than writer/director Jack Hill present there to introduce the film and answer questions from the audience. Hill explained how he always dreamed of filming his very own version of Shakespeare's "Othello", yet this story was probably the closest he ever came to realizing that project. Irrelevant info, I know, but this just to illustrate "Switchblade Sisters" once actually was a remotely ambitious film and not just a piece of lesbian trash. The recent revival of drive-in & grindhouse cinema (courtesy of Quentin Tarantino, who's also a giant fan of this particular film) enlarges the sleaze-elements and silliness of 70's movies even more, but you should always at least try and see it in its framework of time. That being said, "Switchblade Sisters" is first and foremost a delightfully absurd gang-wars movie and a thoroughly flamboyant portrait of female empowerment. This baby has it all! Stereotypical gang members that easily look over 30 but still attend high-school, big fat ugly lesbian prison wardens, romantic rivalry, jealousy, treason, roller-skating shootouts, secretly desired rape sequences and – last but not least – female Maoist guerrilla fighters. Maggie is the ravishing and potent new chick on the block and she eagerly joins Lace's Dagger Debs gang after proving herself in a knifing contest. The Debs are the girlfriends of the Silver Daggers and all together they hang out in a ramshackle hangar to play pool and sell dope. There's a gang war with the Crabs in the offing and jealous Dagger Deb Patch inflicts a dispute between best friends Maggie & Lace when she notices they both fancy the same hunk. If you can overlook (and you simply must when you're interested in this type of cinema) the sometimes atrocious performances, one-dimensional characters and the absolute lack of logic & coherence, you will find great enjoyment here! The clichéd situations inside the penitentiary (with the obese lesbian warden), out in the schoolyard (with the nervous principal) and in the skating hall (random M-16 gunfire!) are all sublime. The whole finale, from the actual virulent street war up until the main Jezebels' showdown contest, is simultaneously suspenseful, spirited and even a bit touching. The soundtrack is great, although clearly not as enchanting as the ones featuring in Jack Hill's ultimate Blaxploitation masterworks "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown". Speaking of which, this movie perhaps lacks the powerful and attention-demanding presence of a starlet like Pam Grier, but the girls here are still more than adequate. The supportive characters are actually more convincing than the main ones. Lace, played by Robbie Lee, is an often intolerable and whiny child and Maggie simply appears too cherubic to play a rough chick. I vote for Patch to be the Jezebel's unhinged leader! She's unreliable, deceitful, mean and stark raving mad. Awesome film, highly recommended to slavering sick puppies like myself.

As in all thing's this was not made for everyone, it was intended to latch onto a genre that makes money, however, I think Jack Hill has done some great work with this, if one has an open mind, they just cant help but feel for the characters as the story develops, it's interesting the whole way thru, with lots of humor violence & sex involved.