Bad

"Andy Warhol's Bad" concerns a rapacious middle-age housewife in NYC who runs an electrolysis business and a murder-for-hire (with only female employees) business out of her home. There are various subplots, involving her hired assassins, their clients, and her mentally dull daughter-in-law who lives with her (and whom she cruelly exploits). Although often considered "camp", a la the films of John Waters, "Bad" is in reality more of a satire in the vein of "Gulliver's Travels". The critique is presents of contemporary, capitalist values in American society is right on target, so that the thoroughly unrealistic plot seems all too real. Even more, this film has perhaps the funniest, most original dialogue of any film ever made - you'll never forget the dangerously paranoid Brigid Polk (a.k.a., Brigid Berlin) and the two amoral sisters she hires to kill a dog. The acting, by both pros and Warhol superstars, is excellent. It even manages to successfully pull off the few moments of poignancy that are allowed in the bleak world it depicts (the assault on the dog and his owner, the final epiphany of L.T. when his empathy prevents him from killing an autistic child and his subsequent confrontation with Hazel). This is not a film for most people - it is far too pessimistic, brutal and graphic - but if you can stomach that, it is more than worth your while to see.

The measuring stick of dark comedy. Subtle, yet outrageous. A despicable work of art. This is Andy Warhol's Bad. Meet Hazel, Hazel appears to be a regular house wife. She runs a beauty salon out of her house, she also lets her sick mother, and morbidly depressed, freshly dumped, daughter-in-law, live with her. Hazel also let's young ladies who need a place to live, stay there too, for a little extra money. The thing is, they're all going through Hazel, acquiring jobs as hit women, to do anything from vandalizing buildings to murdering unwanted infants. You see, Hazel really likes money. One of Hazel's young ladies has a friend named L.T. (not played by Joe Dallesandro), L.T. is broke and needs a "job". Hazel doesn't usually hire guys, but what the hell. So she lets L.T. stay for a few days, to wait for the job to come through, although there will be plenty of rent money due. L.T. is a lazy smart-ass, and Hazel's non-existent patience quickly runs thin with this mooch. Meanwhile, we the viewer are subject to one offensive, gruesome, and often humorous crime after the other. Bad also includes hot women like Carroll Baker, and Stefania Casini, hilarious dialogue, and were even given the pleasure of a couple cameo's by Adam Sorg from Color me Blood Red, as Hazel's insignificant, discouraged-looking husband. There isn't one character in Bad that isn't either evil, or miserable. Even the cop has bad intentions. Everything in this movie revolves around either money, revenge, or simply causing someone misery because it's funny. The Highlights of Bad include a very dry-humored, mean-spirited, Hazel, and her lonely, whipped puppy-dog of a daughter-in-law, and let's not forget the spiteful racist, Estelle, an outlandish hog of a woman, just looking for a fight. Calling Bad politically incorrect would just be silly at this point. Bad is the first, as well as the last Warhol Film that wasn't directed by Paul Morrissey. Thus film has a different feel all together, Bad doesn't have that improvised charm of a Morrissey/Warhol, but is more determined to shock than ever. If you've never seen a Warhol, it's probably best to start with this one, then Trash, if you like that one, Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula will definitely impress. They say Bad has something to offend everyone, a lot of us have seen more offensive than this, but as far as dark comedies and cult films in general go, Bad is among the elite. As far as I'm concerned, they should have called this movie Andy Warhol's Awesome. 9/10

It beggars the imagination to see that so many contributors feel the need to cover plot points even though a high percentage of said commenters have already amply traveled that territory.

When I saw this in 1977 it was an exhilarating example of what freedom of expression was all about. Defying every convention of "normal" films it featured individuals who did not feel the need to follow the rules, the standard behaviors, of either society or film conventions.

Yep, sociopathy. OK so we outgrew that.

Its depiction of selfishness, depravity, and disregard for norms of social behavior hasn't aged well. Sort of curdled. But if you want to see what American culture in the 70s was boiling down to this is the movie for you. And it is hilarious if you can get into the dead pan delivery and the absurd behavior. You would need a 70s mindset to do that and I'm not sure there's much of that in supply anymore.

I've only watched a few of Warhol's films but BAD now joins FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN (1973) and BLOOD FOR Dracula (1974) in being the most interesting examples of his work (so far, anyway), if still not exactly good cinema!

Tacky in presentation and patchy in effect, the film is tasteless enough to keep one watching - sometimes incredulously - till the very end; Mike Bloomfield's pounding score helps, too. Carroll Baker seems comfortable enough with her unusual (to say the least!) role - though she had cut her teeth in Italian cult films during the previous decade. The rest of the cast is eclectic, if not especially rewarding: Perry King, Susan Tyrrell (playing a simple-minded ugly duckling who's been left stranded with a child suffering with Down's Syndrome!), Stefania Casini and Lawrence Tierney. The first three appear as temporary residents in Baker's house - a hair-removing business indulging in criminal activities on the side! - while Tierney is one of their victims (or, rather, its master as the target was actually his dog!). Baker utilizes several colorful killers for her alternately anarchic and murderous jobs: King is a wastrel, while Casini (who comes off best, despite struggling with the English dialogue) is a tough foreign broad, for instance; among others, there is also a memorable sister act - one of whom is a pyromaniac.

Among the film's most hilarious - or, should I say, horrifying - sequences: a young one-armed man reacting passively to Casini's killing of the mechanic responsible for his disability; a journalist reporting a fire in a cinema, which left 14 people killed, saying that one should thank God that the film being shown was a Hispanic release with limited appeal - as, otherwise, the number of victims would have been far greater!; and, particularly, three scenes involving violence perpetrated on children: a jaw-dropping yet hysterical one where a distraught mother callously throws her crying toddler out the window of a tall building, splashing bystanders with its blood (the baby itself is then voyeuristically shown splattered on the pavement)!!; another in which King punches a retarded boy several times - and even throws him across the room - in order to make sure of his condition, but still can't bring himself to 'execute' him; and the end sequence when Baker's body is discovered by Tyrell who, in her amazement, lets go of the baby (which comes tumbling down to the floor).

One last thing; "Leonard Maltin's Film Guide" erroneously lists this as having been made in 1971 - but that's quite impossible since, at one point, Tyrrell's character is asked what was the last film she watched and the reply comes that it was "that Watergate thing" (alluding obviously to ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN [1976])!

It's fair to say that "Bad", the final film produced by Andy Warhol's studio, is not for everyone.

Hazel Aiken (Carrol Baker) is a New York housewife who runs an electrolysis clinic from her home, as well as running an all-female "murder for hire" business. Her life is complicated by the arrival of boarder LT (Perry King), who is waiting for the call for his first contract killing.

The film is loaded with offensive scenes, including a mother throwing her unwanted baby out of the window of a skyscraper. However there is a strange morality to the film, which explores a world completely without morality, where life is completely meaningless. The film is full of deeply dark humour. This was the most expensive of Warhol's films, and may be his most accessible. If you're a fan of cult film-maker John Waters, you'll probably love this. In fact, this is one of the great cult movies. Recommended to people with strong nerves and stomachs.