Fanny Hill (2 Stars)

For years I've known that Russ Meyer made a film called "Fanny Hill" that was supposedly nothing like his other films. I assumed that it was lost, but now it's been released on Blu-ray. My curiosity took over; I had to have it.

The film is based on an 18th Century novel that was initially banned because it was too sexual. It's strange that the film is so unsexual, especially since it was directed by a man like Russ Meyer. Sexually, it's even tamer than the British Carry On films.

The story follows the title character, Fanny Hill, as a young woman who moves from the country to London to find work. She's hired by Mrs. Brown, a woman who runs an elite brothel for the richest men in London. She tells Fanny that the other girls are all her nieces. Throughout the film, Fanny never realises that it's a brothel. This is the whole foundation of the film's humour. It's funny for the first 15 minutes, but after 90 minutes it's tiresome. There's nothing to laugh about.

Summing up the film, it's an erotic comedy that's neither erotic nor funny.

Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens (5 Stars)

I've always been a fan of Russ Meyer. He changed his style several times over the years, but I like all his films. If I were to rank his films, I'd put "Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens" in third place, after "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill" and "Supervixens".

Unlike in "Supervixens", the women aren't called Super, but I think you'll agree that everything about Junkyard Sal is super. Sadly, this was the actress June Mack's only film. Five years later she was shot dead in the street. There are various rumours floating around about the motive. Most common is the story that she was the target of a crazed drug dealer, but the killing looked so professional that others think she was the victim of a professional hit man. We'll never know the truth.

The film is narrated by Stuart Lancaster, appearing in his sixth film directed by Russ Meyer. For most of the film we think he's just a random off-screen character, but in the last five minutes we discover that he's Lute, the farmer in "Supervixens". This means that "Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens" is a quasi-sequel.

Russ Meyer never made another film, apart from the mockumentary "Pandora Peaks", which he seems to have stitched together in a hurry. It's a film I like to ignore. I haven't watched it for 10 years, and it's possible I'll never watch it again. Time will tell.

Success Rate:  + 25.3

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Supervixens (5 Stars)

This is something I never thought would happen. "Supervixens" has always been one of my favourite films – in my top 10 – but I've always cursed the poor quality of the DVD. I've been crying out for a Blu-ray release, but now, bang! I'm holding a 4K release in my hand, painstakingly restored from the original negatives by Severin Films. So far, only five of Russ Meyer's films are available on 4K discs, but I'm expecting others will follow.

It's difficult for me to review the film itself, because I've said it all before, especially in this review. That's what you should read if you want to know more about the film. I apologise for the poor quality screenshots from the DVD. Maybe I should go back and replace the images. I'll consider it, if I have time.

Russ Meyer's films are gloriously inappropriate. Who else would show a naked woman lying in the hay doing a Hitler salute?

Many people don't like Russ Meyer's films because they don't understand them. Others dislike his films because they do understand them and disagree with his messages. Whatever they think, Russ Meyer was a visionary genius. His films will live forever. Hopefully in 4K.

Success Rate:  + 168.0

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Up! (4 Stars)

Who killed Adolf?

Or didn't he commit suicide in his bunker?

In "Up!" we find out that he faked his death, so that he could flee from the Russians. He's living in a castle in northern California. He's changed his name to Adolf Schwartz, so that nobody will suspect who he is. So what's he up to now, thirty years later (in 1976)? Is he planning to return to power and conquer the world. No, he's gone into retirement. He indulges in his masochistic fantasies by paying local townspeople to torture him. I shan't go into details, except that we see the typical twisted BDSM practise of the submissive being the person in control. Adolf is tied up, but he continues to bark commands about how he wants to be treated next. It's obvious that the people dominating him, a man and three women, despise him and are only with him for the money.

But Adolf's retirement doesn't last. After the BDSM session, when he thinks he's alone, someone murders him by throwing a piranha into his bathtub.

As far as the production went, this was probably Russ Meyer's most chaotic film. When the filming was completed, he realised it was too short, so he added interludes with Kitten Natividad, in which she balances naked on a tree and encourages the audience to work out who the killer is. Normally I would have laughed, but Kitten is so beautiful that I'll forgive Russ just this once. Russ had written the film itself, but he asked his friend Roger Ebert to write Kitten's dialogue. Kitten was picked at the last minute, and her Mexican accent was so strong that her dialogue was barely intelligible. Attempts were made to give her voice coaching, but it was too late to do a good job, so her voice was dubbed by an unknown actress.

I should mention that Adolf's dialogue, spoken completely in German, was written by the Swiss actress Uschi Digard. Despite being played by an American actor, the German accent is flawless, which makes me suspect his voice was also dubbed.

Is this Nietzsche's Superwoman? Kitten is unnecessarily modest, calling herself the Greek Chorus.

Maybe this is Nietzsche's Superwoman. Margo Winchester is an undercover policewoman who arrives in town to solve the murder. When she performs a dance act on stage her voice sounds like Mae West. The identical initials aren't a coincidence.

"Up!" wasn't as successful as Russ Meyer's other films in the 1970's. It was criticised for its excessive violence. His films always contained violence, but this time he pushed it to the limit. It was banned in several American states, which contributed to its lesser success. In a new commentary track for the 4K release, the film historian Elizabeth Purchell says that "Up!" is an underrated film, but doesn't go as far as to say it's up to the standard of "Supervixens" or "Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens". I also like "Up!" a lot, but not as much as these two films.

Vixen (4 Stars)

"Vixen" is set in the great country of Canada, to be more precise in British Columbia. It was Russ Meyer's 12th film, made in 1968. His previous films had been moderately successful, but this was his big breakthrough. In the commentary Russ says it was the film that put him on Easy Street. It was filmed with a budget of $20,000, but it earned $26 million at the box office. I have to ask how he could make it so cheap. Didn't he pay the actors anything?

This is Vixen herself, as played by the beautiful Erica Gavin. Was she the reason for the film's success? Maybe in part, but there had been beautiful women in all of Russ Meyer's films. Maybe it was the politics. Maybe it was the scandalous subject matter. Whatever it was, Russ ticked all the right boxes, and the film was a massive hit.

This is Vixen's husband, Tom Palmer. He has a small cabin that he rents to tourists who want to get away from civilisation. He picks them up from a nearby airport with his private plane. It's mentioned at the beginning that he spends a lot of time away from home, but it's not stated what he's doing. A fellow pilot asks him if he's not worried that Vixen will be unfaithful in his absence. Tom isn't worried. He's convinced that Vixen is always faithful. Silly man. At the very moment he's speaking these words she's with a Canadian Mountie.

It's a remote community, and there aren't many men. One of them is Vixen's brother Judd. He declares his rebellion against the world by wearing a swastika and other Nazi regalia. Is that really necessary? There must be other ways to tell people you're a rebel. He's not a pleasant person. There are a lot of unpleasant characters in Russ Meyer's films. But Vixen herself is the most unpleasant person.

When there are no Mounties available, Vixen opens her shirt to tempt her little brother. He resists her, but it's all he can do to keep his hand steady on the throttle.

Vixen doesn't give up so easily. She always gets what she wants. She climbs into the shower with him when he's naked. That's more than any man can resist, sister or not. Within minutes they're on the bed performing acts that are illegal in Canada.

At this point you must be thinking that Vixen will sleep with any man. No, she has her limits. She despises black men, so she refuses to sleep with Judd's friend Niles. He wants her, but she doesn't want him. He's an American who's fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam war. He wears his peace sign with pride, although his peaceful nature isn't his only motivation. He also says that he refuses to fight for a country that treats him as a second class citizen.

But what about the politics? Tom has a guest called Mr. O'Bannion, a stereotypical Communist. He promises Niles a better future in Cuba, where his skin colour won't matter. O'Bannion hijacks Tom's plane and forces him to fly to Cuba, where Niles can enjoy a life of freedom. On the way, Niles wakes up to reality and sees that O'Bannion is just another sort of oppressor.

There's something I never noticed in Russ Meyer's films until I listened to the film commentaries: the women don't blink. They always stare straight at the men they're talking to. This is a subtle touch, that most viewers (including me) will miss, but it makes the women more intimidating.

Success Rate:  + 1298.0

Motorpsycho (4½ Stars)

Look at this photo of the Blu-Ray cover. It's not a DVD, and it's not even a standard Blu-Ray. It's a 4K Blu-Ray. It's taken us a long time to get this far. Sixty years, to be precise. I found out a week ago that five Russ Meyer films have recently been released on 4K discs. I couldn't contain myself, I ordered them all immediately, and they arrived today. I'm hoping that all his other films will follow in quick succession. We'll have to wait and see.

The film brings back memories. The first Russ Meyer film that I saw was "Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens", probably in late 1979. I was reading the Stuttgarter Zeitung at work, and there was a big article about it being a masterpiece. I went to see it in the Gloria cinema the same day. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. After that I saw "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill" at a small cinema opposite the Stuttgart Central Train Station. I believe it was called Ambo. It was a cinema that specialised in showing old films, usually only showing them for a single day, not a whole week. "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill" was often shown, about once a month, and I tried to see it as often as possible.

Over the years I managed to see some of Russ Meyer's films in various cinemas, but I didn't manage to see all of them until 2005, when the complete Bosomania collection was released on DVD, 18 films on 12 DVDs. At the time I didn't have many DVDs, so I watched the films over and over again. I hadn't seen "Motorpsycho" before, so it was an experience for me. As I remember, I didn't like it much and didn't watch it as often as the other films.

Watching it today, I was amazed. I tried to figure out why I didn't like it so much in the past. Maybe because of the violence against women? Maybe because so much of the action is random? There's a lot of violence against women in Russ Meyer's films, but usually the women are able to defend themselves or at least get revenge. In "Motorpsycho" it's a man who stands up to protect the women. As for the random action, it's more like real life. Things happen that aren't necessary for a plot, they just happen.

I think it also bothered me that the three tough guys drive wimpy little motorbikes. I should accept it. They're tough guys who act like bullies and are knocked down when someone stands up to them. Just like real life.

"Motorpsycho" is a very realistic film. It's not one of Russ Meyer's best films, but it's definitely worth watching.

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Supervixens (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #10

There are films that are impossible to file under any one genre. Is "Supervixens" a road movie? Is it a comedy? Is it a political satire? Is it a fairy tale? Is it a sex film? Is it a neofeminist propaganda film?

It's all of them and more.

While anyone who sees the film for the first time might be shocked and confused, fans of Russ Meyer will laugh and say "It's typical Russ Meyer".

The opening credits are accompanied by the Nazi marching song, "Heil Hitler Dir". I wanted to quote the lyrics here, but they're so disgusting that I'm ashamed to post them on my blog. You can easily find them online if you search. Was Russ Meyer a Nazi? Far from it! He frequently spoke out against political extremism on both sides of the political spectrum. By using racist political imagery in his films, he was just acknowledging a fact. Racism exists. We all know that it's bad, but if we don't talk about it, it'll grow stronger.

The film's hero, if he can be called that, is Clint Ramsay. He's a poor, not too intelligent man, who lives somewhere in the South of the USA. "Supervixens" was filmed in Arizona, but it could be anywhere. Clint's curse is that he's irresistible to women. He does his best to fight them off, and he suffers as a result.

Clint works at a gas station owned by Martin Bormann, Hitler's former private secretary. As everyone who watches Russ Meyer's films knows, he survived the war and fled to America, where he became a respected citizen. In this film he's a lowly gas station owner, but in "Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens" he's worked his way up to become the owner of a Christian radio station. In America anything is possible.

At least, that's the theory. Look at the town where they live. The houses look like they've been built in a scrap yard, surrounded by junk and poor farms. There might be an American dream, but this is the American nightmare.

People who take a quick glance at Russ Meyer's films see the naked women with large breasts and shrug them off as films that exploit women. The opposite is the case. The women are in control, and they use their nudity to get what they want. There are three archetypes in Russ Meyer's films, two male archetypes and one female archetype. The men fall into one of two categories.

The first type of man is weak and stupid, but sexually capable.

The second type of man is strong and stupid, but sexually impotent.

The women are all strong, intelligent and sexually demanding.

Women use the first type of men for their sexual pleasure. They ridicule the second type of men. In fact, they ridicule both groups. They demand more and more sex from a man, and when he's eventually worn out they laugh at him.

This is Clint's wife, Super Angel. Do you find the name strange? All the women in the film are called Super. It shows their position in the pecking order. Super Angel is fiercely jealous of Clint. She constantly suspects him of infidelity, even though he fights off women all the time. She's isn't faithful to him. She's quick to jump into bed with any man she likes. That's her privilege as a Super woman.

This is Super Lorna, tempting Clint at the gas station. She wants to drag him into the men's room, but luckily Martin Bormann drags Clint away. Nazis can be useful at times.

Back home, Clint and Super Angel get into a fight over his alleged infidelity. A neighbour calls the police. Along comes Sheriff Harry Sledge, who throws Clint in jail to cool down for a few hours. Super Angel wants Harry as a replacement for her husband, but she's disappointed. Harry belongs to the second type of men. When she laughs at his sexual inability, he kills her and frames Clint.

At the time of Super Angel's death, Clint was sitting in Super Haji's bar getting drunk. She could have given him an alibi, but she was angry with him because he'd refused to have sex with her. So Clint flees, hitchhiking across the USA towards the West. Everywhere he goes he meets Superwomen who want his body.

After turning down Super Cherry, she kicks Clint in the groin so hard that he's left lying unconscious at the roadside.

Clint is rescued by a farmer, but his wife Super Soul needs another man.

Clint flees from the farm and rents a room in a motel, where he's accosted by the motel owner's daughter, Super Eula.

Incidentally, this is her father. As Eddie said in "Jurassic Park: The Lost World", there's not much of a family resemblance.

On the run again, Clint finally arrives at Super Vixen's Oasis. Water in the desert. I told you it's a fairy tale! Until now he's resisted every woman who wanted him, but Super Vixen is different. She reminds him of his wife, which is hardly surprising, because she's played by the same actress, Shari Eubank.

"My name is Supervixen. My friends call me Vix".

Super Vixen gives Clint a job, and they become lovers. And they all lived happily ever after?

Not quite. I have to leave a few things open.

This is an absolutely brilliant film. It's not as culturally significant as "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill", but I still think it's Russ Meyer's best film. For unfathomable reasons it's been out of print in America and the UK for years. It can still be bought in Germany.

Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #14

Varla lives!

Varla is probably the most evil woman ever shown in a film. Evil women shouldn't die, they should carry on killing forever. This is a film that needed a sequel, if any film ever did, but it was made in 1965, long before psychotic killer movies were popularised by "Halloween".

Beautiful but deadly. Look, but don't touch. She doesn't need a knife to kill a man, she can use her bare hands. She has a black belt in karate, as well as being proficient in aikido. The film is effective because the actress is playing herself. Her birth name was Tura Yamaguchi, but she changed her name to Tura Satana. It figures.

Kirk is playing with fire. Varla's hands aren't made for gentle caresses.

And now Kirk is staring into the pit of Hell.

The only time Varla smiles is when a man is suffering. Or dead.

Varla lives!

Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (5 Stars)

I don't understand people. Why has this brilliant film been allowed to go out of print? The DVD release is impossible to find in America, England or Germany. (I didn't check other countries). It was released on Blu-ray in America in 2016, but it must have been a limited release, because it quickly sold out. It's a disgrace!

---

Addendum on 18th July, 2020

A friend has pointed out to me that the film is available on YouTube. Click here to watch it. It's only in 480p, but that's better than nothing. Normally I don't give links to films which are possibly illegal uploads, but in this case I don't have a bad conscience, because I'm doing a public service.

Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (5 Stars)

Two days ago I received a message telling me that Susan Bernard passed away on 21st June. She was never an A-List actress, so there weren't any big articles in the press. I wouldn't have heard about it if I hadn't been contacted by Dennis Busch, one of her fellow actors in this wonderful, groundbreaking film.

Admittedly, she isn't the first person that people think of when they discuss "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill". The spotlight is on the three bad girls, so good girl Linda fades into the background. When I watched the film today I deliberately concentrated on her part. Even though she's a good girl, she also commits a murder. Whether she'd be tried for it depends on the skill of her lawyer, so I won't even hazard a guess.

This was Susan's first film. She made another few films in late 1960's and early 1970's, but this is the film she'll always be remembered for. At the time she made "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill" she was only 16, so her mother insisted on being on set. Russ Meyer agreed, but he later regretted it because her mother kept interfering during the filming. Parents should be seen but not heard.

Susan grew up in Hollywood surrounded by celebrities. Her father was the photographer Bruno Bernard, who took pinup photos of actresses and glamour models. After her father's death she published a collection of previously unseen photos of Marilyn Monroe. He was a regular contributor to Playboy magazine, which was a factor in her being selected as Playmate of the Month for December 1966.

There was no need for her to dangle holly over her head. I would have kissed her anyway.

For years Susan claimed that she was the first Jewish Playmate of the Month, but it was later discovered that Miss May 1959 was Jewish. In 1998 she modified her claim to "I was the first under-18 Jewish virgin who was in the centerfold placed in front of a Christmas tree". There's no way I can argue with that.

Susan retained her girl-next-door image, which could hardly have been said of her three co-stars. Tura Satana probably looked mean as a toddler.

She was delightful, probably one of the most blissfully innocent models ever featured in Playboy.

The body of a woman and the face of a little girl.

It wasn't her father who took these photos, but he must have been proud of his little girl.

Susan Bernard
February 11, 1948 – June 21, 2019