Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Three beautiful female dancers are driving through the desert when they come across a young couple. They kidnap the woman and leave the man for dead. Travelling further they come across an old man living with his two sons. The old man is apparently sitting on a pile of cash and the girls do their best to separate him from it.

Knowing Russ Meyers' later movies I wasn't expecting too much from this movie. Turned out to be a much better than I expected.

It has the hallmarks of Russ Meyer movies: incredibly beautiful women as the heroes (or main characters, at least), a trashy sort of feel and mediocre performances. However, here the usual random plot is replaced by a decent one. Is an interesting, gritty adventure and the characters are quite engaging. Hardly a dull moment, is paced well and doesn't overstay its welcome. Good fun.

I loved "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" from the beginning, together with its three great main actresses Haji, Lori Williams, but especially the outstanding Tura Satana. The film tells the story of three exotic dancers, who become outlaws, drive fast cars, wear provoking clothes and cheat and beat up men. The only not typical thing about this movie is, that none of the chicks has a nude scene, what is really a pity! On the first view, Russ Meyer´s flick is nothing else but a funny piece of trash from the swinging 60s. But on the second it´s a portrait about the power of female sexuality on men. The sex characteristics differ from the usual stereotypes: the male are the victims, the women are the offenders, who apply their "weapons" unscrupulous to reach their aims. Also they are physically stronger and more cunning than the naive guys in this film. Especially Varla becomes a sexy, but immense violent murder machine and that makes her being one of the most frightening women in the history of cinema! But "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" is more than that: it´s a piece of modern art, every lover of real cult movies or pop art should have seen it! (8/10)

From the beginning, you know that this monochrome Meyerama is going to be incredible--an Outer Limits-style voice-over pontificating on the violence of women, followed by incredible shots of three luscious go-go girls doing the Watusi as the Bostweeds' wild theme song blasts from the jukebox. Then things move to the barren California desert for drag races, catfights, murders, straining blouses, and a lot of torrid action and satirically overwrought melodrama.

Tura Satana, Haji, and Lori Williams have terrific screen presence as the three tough-as-nails villainesses. They're the kind of deliciously over-the-top antagonists that you root for, especially since the nominal heroine (Sue Bernard) is a ridiculous dimwit who couldn't act her way out of a paper bra--I mean, bag. Highest honors go to the amazing Satana, shouting most of her lines and dropping sexual innuendos while resting her boobs on the dinner table.

As usual, Russ Meyer fills the screen with sharp dialogue ("Breast or thigh, darlin'?") and sharp camerawork. There is no nudity, since Meyer was trying to circumvent the censors in 1966, but there are some incredibly sexy scenes all the same. Excitement and laughs abound in this straight-faced send-up of action-flick conventions. This celebrated cult classic is one big-breasted Gothic melodrama-satire that really...um...stands out!

While there are some who argue that it is a pro-feminist flick with lots of social significance, truth is FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL KILL is a very deliberately made bit of ultra-drive-in trash, a movie that glories in all things low-brow, low-rent, and low-neck lined. And it has a cast that makes up for their collective lack of talent with lots of attitude and lots of cleavage.

The story is as hooty as the cast. Tura Satana, she of the lethal chest, leads minions Haji and Lori Williams away from the grind of their jobs at the go-go joint and out into the desert. They race their cars. They wrestle in the water and then in the sand. They dance the watusi. They bump off this guy who shows up wearing plaid shorts. (Given his attire you might read this as a mercy killing.) Then they set their sights on an old lech and his dum-dum sons, hoping to make away with their money. Faster Pussycat indeed! The script is deliberately absurd, with an emphasis on memorable one liners that try to out-cliché all known clichés. But the real attraction here are the "pussycats." It isn't often that you see a 2D movie with 3D effects, but that's exactly what happens when Tura, Haji, Lori, and their six talents hit the screen. These are three big-busted, nip-waisted women with evil attitude, and they sneer, snarl, snap, and slither around the screen with all the aplomb of trailer park drag queens gone bad. It's more "tacky cool" than a 1965 plastic jewelry box explosion.

Now, how much you like this sort of thing really depends on how warped your sense of humor is. Cheap though it is, the thing is remarkably well done, and taken in the right way the combination of trailer-park chic, retro-hysteria, and ultra-attitude is a lot of fun... and when the pussycats hit the screen you may think you're about to get a black eye, and I don't mean from their fists! Breakout the popcorn and some protective glasses: Tura and the Pussycats are coming at ya! GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Please, take it from one who, until tonight, foolishly and ignorantly pigeonholed Russ Meyer as a Grade-B Soft-Core cult hero. What did I know? He's so much more than that. Think really good John Waters crossed with really bad Fellini (which is good, of course, in its own way) and you have just a hint of the inspired wickedness here.

Three mean chicks in sports cars, on a road trip from hell, back in a blistering hot, black-plate California desert. The script is undisguised genius and the performances (particularly, of course, the sadistic, sneering Tura Satana) cross most known bounds. But you know what? Even with that firebrand in the lead, the others hold up incredibly well. Meanwhile, the cinematography is spot-on for the theme here, tilted and trenchant. The overall effect: bracing--blinding, almost--and more than a little surreal.

FASTER, PUSSYCAT KILL! KILL! It's hideous and hip. Nightmarish, and nasty. Scathing and scabrous. Insane, but inventive. It's not a film for everyone. Some will call it sick, some will dismiss it as camp. It's all that and more. Hardly a wrong note, and with *so* many opportunities too... I was glued to the screen from beginning to end. Wicked fun. Captivating. Can you tell I liked it?

PS: Also recommended for fans of NHB, male/female bare-knuckle boxing. You know who you are ;)