The Film:
For me, Russ Meyer holds a certain place in my heart. When I was fourteen/fifteen, I can remember staying up on a Thursday night to watch his films, when Channel 5 wasn't as clean cut as it is now. Then the next day, going to school and discussing the finer points of his films with my mates. Obviously, this talk wouldn't progress much further than discussing certain parts of the main actresses anatomy and then we would wait for the following Thursday to come along. Born to a policeman and nurse, Russ Meyer became well known for his direction of sexploitation films through the sixties and the early seventies and this is the first time I've watched one in around seven or eight years. Is the film just what I thought it was back then, a romp-filled fest with no story? Or now that I'm older and have a bit more understanding, is there an underlying tone to his films that I somewhat missed in my teenage years?
Supervixens was one of Meyer's last films and stars Charles Pitts (Hollywood Man, Hardly Working) as Clint Ramsey. One day, whilst working at the garage, his girlfriend phones him. She gets very angry when hearing a customer say what shes going to do to her boyfriend down the phone, and although Clint stays faithful, SuperAngel (Shari Eubank - Chest Anderson USN) demands he comes home. When he gets there, they get into fight and she puts an axe through his truck, causing the neighbour to call the police. He gets arrested, released and ends up at a bar whilst the cop that stepped in, Harry Sledge (Charles Napier - Annapolis), ends up with SuperAngel killing her in a rage. As Clint is in the frame for the murder, he runs away, meeting various characters until he ends up working at the SuperVixen garage. One day, the murderous cop Harry pulls up for petrol, and soon enough recognises who Clint is. Harry then kidnaps SuperVixen and we are quickly thrust into an explosive ending.
Before I start giving my overall opinion on the film, let's be honest and say that anyone expecting some sort of award winning film should look elsewhere. Shot on a budget of under $100k, this film has many flaws. Some of the characters introduced whilst Clint makes his way between the two garages are just there so that another sex scene can be added along with gratuitous nudity. There isn't much wrong with this but getting rid of one or two of these scenes or cutting them down, would've made the already weak plot a lot tighter. The acting isn't great but is wonderfully cheesy and as the film gets to the gritty ending you notice that Meyer has actually done well to develop both Clint and Harry, as you find yourself really disliking Harry, but feeling for Clint in a bit of an offbeat way. If you just want a bit of fun and a bit of laugh, then this film is certainly worth a look but if you're not a fan of other comedic sexploitation films, then you'd be best to avoid this.
The DVD:
Video:
Arrow Films have provided the film with the original aspect ratio of 4:3 and it's not very good. Although the colours are generally bright and enriching, it is spoiled by the countless scratches, grain and split second blotches on the top right hand side. The film is a better than VHS but it could do with a LOT of restoration work. No subtitles have been provided.
Audio:
Arrow Films have provided us with a solo English Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono track, which is actually the film's original option. There is an occasional crackle, but other than that, the audio is quite a bit better than the picture. Dialogue is clear at all times and music levels are at an even keel throughout with no need to change the volume halfway thrugh the film. The 'swinging' soundtrack comes through nicely aswell. Obviously, an upmixed surround track of some sort would have been a great addition, but as it is, the mono track is certainly capable.
Extras:
We start off the small amount of extras with an audio commentary with director Russ Meyer. Ported over from the old laserdisc release, the commentary is actually pretty informative. With Meyer telling us about the crew members parts in the film aswell as his own cameo, he seems to have really enjoyed making the film, despite what he says about Charlie Pitts causing a few problems with coming onto the lead actresses off camera. Delightfully insightful, brutally honest and with plenty of anecdotes chucked in, this commentary MUST be listed to.
Other than the commentary we just get a trailer reel which is only available as a play all option and includes the following trailers:
- Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (2:44)
- Blacksnake! (1:23)
- Mudhoney (3:22)
- Vixen (1:23)
- Wild Gals of the Naked West (2:19)
- Supervixens (1:53)
- Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens (1:57)
- Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (3:14)
- Common-Law Cabin (3:07)
