Review of Supervixens

Introduction

Before we get into the fine detail here, let`s remind ourselves that `Supervixens` was pulled together in 1973. And in the seventies, movies like the horribly unfunny (and decidedly un-erotic) `Confessions of a Window Cleaner` and `Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse` were the biggest box-office hits of the year. They were of a genre that started with the Carry-Ons but didn`t know where to stop, dragging old timers like Arthur Askey, Charles Hawtrey and James Robertson Justice down in their wake. In this context, American auteur Russ Meyer`s madcap movie `Supervixens` is like a breath of fresh air.

This was Meyer in full swing, steadily approaching the end of his illustrious career (never could figure out why as he passed away just last year). By this time Meyer was the ultimate Hollywood maverick, doing his own thing. Combining writing talents with Directing, Producing, lighting, filming, and editing his movies, he was in many respects an admirable example of how independent (non-studio) filmmaking can work.

So what did he do with this hard earned creative freedom? Well, he created madcap comedy-erotica, filled with impossibly large-breasted women, with a heady mix of sex, violence and dark comedy - all set against the beautifully colourful blue-sky of the North Californian desert. In short - all the archetypal Russ Meyer ingredients are present and correct.

The movie`s story (if you can class it as such) is centred on a good-looking, infinitely patient young man called Clint. The movie opens with Clint working at a garage in a dusty backwater. He`s getting the come-on from a buxom young customer when he receives a call from his incredibly demanding girlfriend, Super Angel. She demands that he returns home before she burns it to the ground. When he gets back to the trailer, it`s clear that her demands are physical but this soon degenerates into some ultra-violence which culminates with Angel taking an axe to his pick-up truck. Unable to take any more abuse, Clint ends up hitting back.
And that`s where the trouble starts.

The police arrive in the form of gum-chewing hard-man sleaze-ball Harry Sledge (Charles Napier). After giving Clint a hard time, Harry makes a house visit and gets it on with Angel - though, when unable to fully rise to the occasion, the merciless Angel`s teasing causes him to lose control and brutally murder her. (The shock of all this sudden violence is slightly lessened when he finishes off the evil deed by dropping a wired up radio into her bathtub).

Clint clearly looks like the prime suspect so he hits the road to star what could pretty much be described as an episodic road movie. And it seems that wherever he goes, the Super-vixens are out in force!

He meets them on the road, at backwater farms (for some of the more comedic moments); and in motels (for some of the more surreal moments).

The movie`s narrative gets lost somewhere along the way but by then you`ll have given up caring - either loving or hating the endless tirade of buxom beauties, slap-stick comedy, go-go music and hardcore violence. And for the record, this is completely uncut so expect some blushing flash-frames of male genitalia too.

Video

This is the fourth of the Arrow transfers that I`ve seen and it`s decidedly the worst. The transfer is speckled and worn on occasion, though colours remain vivid throughout. I`d half suspected (on `Vixen`) that the Arrow crew had undertaken some serious clean-up work on these releases but this transfer tells me that they lucked out on good prints for others in the series.

Audio

Whaddya expect? A perfectly serviceable period soundtrack - no more, no less.

Features

Once again Arrow have come up trumps with a Meyer audio commentary that is really entertaining and informative. There`s an easy, almost intimate feel to these commentaries, as if Meyer is gently talking to himself, or you get the distinct feeling that you`re actually a very good old friend.

There are also the standard Arrow Meyer movie trailers, which are pretty extensive in their own right.

Conclusion

`Supervixens` is, in many respects, the archetypal Meyer movie. All the ingredients are correct and present. Crazy cartoon-like narratives with a heady mix of sex and violence in a dusty Californian backwater populated by buxom women and disturbed men.

This movie is not for the faint-hearted, the easily offended or the politically correct. Very much of its era, it`s a vibrant and fast-moving sexploitation picture that demands nothing more of its actors than to look good and voice the lines.

This edition has a very welcome audio-commentary with Meyer that adds a great deal more insight into the movie than I`m able to offer here.

Despite some dodgy moments with the transfer, I thoroughly recommend this to either the die-hard Meyer fan, or to the merely inquisitive trying to get a handle on the Russ Meyer oeuvre; this is as good a starting point as any.