Girl Gang

My mother played the part of one of the girls, Wanda! So here we are me, my husband, my step-son, and my mother (Mary Lou O'Connor) watching Girl Gangs on Christmas day!!

I can remember my mom telling me that she did a movie before I was born, and now I am finally seeing it. I cannot believe what this movie contains for the time period. It is astonishing the things that they show the people doing, or is it just the fact that my mom is in it that I find it so unbelievable! I have only watched it because she is in it, other than that I wouldn't give it the time of day.

Girl Gangs is a really horrible movie.

This film when watched on a Ultra HD screen takes on a a whole new viewing experience, if one can put aside their predilections for what the film "should" be, they will uncover an existentialist nightmarish allegory of the complacency and conformity of the nuclear age. Previously I viewed this film as a standard "exploitation" film. I viewed it a second time , late one night after 13 energy drinks, 7 cups of coffee and sleep deprivation of 49 hours; and came to a far different conclusion. When examining Ed Wood's subconscious one can see that he was comparing the heroin addicted life style that the Girl Gang was engaged in to that of the prescriptive feminine standard of living in the 50's where every female was racing through life trying to imitate one another and never taking time for introspective review. Wood's conclusion was that this conformity led to death, or a mental prison that was inescapable. While viewing this celluloid sociological warning to women imprisoned by the etiquette and mores of the nuclear age, those who would give up their careers and dreams for a marriage and the security of a husband with a pension, it is good to remember the wisdom bestowed by Ed Wood's own words," Live life because life is to be lived."

Girl Gang is so bad it's good. The acting is sub-par, yes. The direction isn't great. But the plot is actually pretty well thought out: Drug dealer uses a couple of his regulars to recruit young 'greenhorns' to his 'candy'. Once they get hooked on weed, he moves them on to heroin and all of them eventually find that the heroin habit is more expensive, therefore they 'owe' the dealer more and more money. He then basically forces the girls into prostitution and 'rape' allegation shakedowns to get the money to pay him back. Time goes on and they get deeper in debt to him and get into worse and worse criminal activity to support their habit. This is certainly not a family night movie, what with all the sex and prostitution and blackmail. There is even a point where it shows step by step how to freebase heroin...you learn something new every day! If you have no sense of humour, or the slightest understanding of the time period in which this film was made, I don't suggest you waste your time. On the other hand, if you love 'Teenagers Going to Hell' delinquency films of the fifties and sixties as much as I do, you'll love this monstrosity! It's a campy cheese-fest worthy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 that actually holds up decently on it's own!

This movie begins with four young ladies robbing a man, stealing his car and leaving him unconscious on the side of the road. They then drive the stolen car to a man named "Joe" (Timothy Farrell) who gives them $50 each and has a young man take the car to a garage to have it repainted. We soon find out that Joe not only deals in stolen automobiles but he also has a small gang of young men and women who have become addicted to heroin and rely upon him to supply their needs. He hooked them on it and now he essentially owns them. Now, while this movie would pretty much be unremarkable today what's interesting about this picture is that it was filmed back in 1954--ten years before the advent of the "hippies" and the explosion of drugs in the 60's. That said, the subject of heroin (and possibly marijuana) was probably pretty novel for its time. Because of that this particular audience probably had no idea about the effects of either drug. As a result what they are shown about marijuana is greatly exaggerated. Conversely, the effect of the heroin "trip" is somewhat minimized--but not the addictive quality. Naturally, it's that result which is what Joe is aiming for as he skillfully uses marijuana as the "gateway drug" to entrap these young men and women into an addiction to heroin. And they willingly do whatever he says to get their next fix. Whether it requires theft, prostitution, blackmail or even murder doesn't matter to them. Neither does it matter to Joe as long as he makes money. Anyway, as far as the movie is concerned I thought it was definitely dated and had a B-movie quality to it. As a matter of fact, other than the presence of Joanne Arnold (as "June") I can't really think of anything that stood out. Accordingly, I rate this film as slightly below average.

Timothy Farrell runs an operation where he gets boys and girl hooked on marijuana and heroin, then sends them out to rob and commit prostitution.

When the most prominent name on a cast and crew list is Farrell, you know you're in for a dire time. No one can read a line with any conviction, the mise en scene is obvious and dull, and even the sound effects, provided by Dale Knight are poor; the sounds he offers bear no relation to what is seen on screen, save the occasional jangling of harp strings to indicate a high.

Like most exploitation films, this one promises a lot of titillation, but the cheap and sordid production doesn't offer much beyond some necking, a view of Joanne Arnold's garter belt, and a poorly shot, fully clothed catfight between her and Mary Lou O'Connor. If that's all you require for a major turn-on, then you've got an imagination that sets a very low bar.