Russ Meyer Movies
American filmmaker Russ Meyer channelled his youthful energies into photography, winning several awards for his amateur films before he was 15. Experience under more grueling circumstances came when he worked as a newsreel cameraman in Europe during World War II. As a civilian, Meyer at first specialized in glamour photos of beautiful models, then found that the money came quicker and the... (read more) work was more plentiful in the world of male-oriented "nudie" magazines; he was among the first and most prolific of the centerfold photographers for Hugh Hefner's Playboy magazine. From there, Meyer moved on to nudie films, a field in which he managed to strike a happy medium, titillating the audience while remaining within the boundaries of local censor boards. His first film, 1959's The Immoral Mr. Teas, has a plenitude of female flesh, but the story line -- a man subjected to a powerful anesthetic discovers that he can see through the clothes of every woman who walks past him -- precluded any physical contact between man and woman. Arguing that nudity in and of itself is not obscene so long as it is kept at arm's length, Meyer was able to circumvent the bluenoses and get his film booked into theaters. Shot silent on a budget of 24,000 dollars, The Immoral Mr. Teas made over 40 times its cost. When other producers began muscling in on his territory, Meyer decided to move beyond mere voyeurism, and with Lorna (1964) added elements of sexual contact (always stopping short of actual fornication) and violence. The director's excesses in terms of blood and carnality reached a peak with his "classics:" Motor Psycho (1965), Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill! (1966), and Harry, Cherry and Raquel (1969). With the 71-minute Vixen (1969), Meyer deliberately courted obscenity charges, reasoning that the best way to keep one's head above water in the sexually liberated movie scene of the late '60s was to stir up as much publicity as possible. Suddenly the director was making appearances on such conservative TV programs as The Art Linkletter Show, defending the artistic merits of Vixen -- and as a result, the film, put together for a mere 76,000 dollars, was a hit to the tune of six million dollars. 20th Century Fox, financially strapped and desperate to cash in on the sudden respectability of X-rated films (via the Oscar win for 1969's Midnight Cowboy), signed Meyer to direct his first big-studio picture. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), co-scripted by no less than Roger Ebert, was a success, emboldening Meyer to make his chanciest career move yet: The Seven Minutes (1971), a sexy but nonetheless "mainstream" all-star film based on a best-selling novel by Irving Wallace. Without his usual lascivious story ingredients to fall back on, Meyer proved to be an inept director, and the film ended up his first failure. Meyer continued making films into the late '70s, having been by this point firmly established as a cultural icon, and heralded at various respectable film festivals. Despite his body of film work, Russ Meyer's most lasting legacy may be his "protegée" and former wife, Edy Williams, the busty perennial starlet who could always be counted on to show a lot of skin at the annual Academy Awards show. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Midnight Blue, Vol. 3: Celebrities
2007
Few television programs have broken as many taboos as Screw publisher Al Goldstein's groundbreaking late-night cable program Midnight Blue, and in this collection of...
Russ Meyer's Pandora Peaks
2001
Adult cinema director Russ Meyer returns to the screen for his first time in 20 years with this documentary about big-breasted (Triple H cup) strip dancer Pandora...
Cult People
1989
This documentary presents interviews and clips with some of cinema's best loved cult figures. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi...
Amazon Women on the Moon
R 1987
The 1987 portmanteau comedy feature Amazon Women on the Moon lampoons several film genres in general and the 1954 sci-fi cheapie Cat Women of the Moon in particular. Other...
Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens
1979
Like most of cult director Russ Meyer's later films, his final ode to the superhuman bosom largely dispenses with plot in favor of episodic sexual sight-gags. The ostensible...
Up!
1976
Nobody is what they seem to be in this dizzying Russ Meyer feature, and everyone is a suspect. The reclusive Adolf Schwartz (Edward Schaaf) pays for weird pansexual...
Supervixens
1975
Russ Meyer once again airs his obsessions with huge breasts, violent revenge and escaped Nazi war criminal Martin Bormann in this highly perverse sex comedy/action thriller....
Blacksnake
1973
Cult director Russ Meyer's biggest financial flop is also one of his best-looking films, a gorgeously photographed wallow in pre-Mandingo plantation sleaze lensed by...
The Seven Minutes
R 1971
Russ Meyer followed-up his delirious Beyond the Valley of the Dolls with this surprisingly straighforward drama, which offered little of Meyer's traditional tongue-in-cheek...
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
NC17 1970
After nearly a decade as one of America's most successful independent filmmakers, legendary sexploitation auteur Russ Meyer first reached out for the brass ring of major...
Cherry, Harry and Raquel
R 1969
This Russ Meyer blend of action, rapid-fire editing and large-breasted naked women takes place near the Mexican border, where town sheriff Harry (Charles Napier) is under...
Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers
1968
Paul (Paul Lockwood) is a strip club owner, with a sexually repressed wife, who has been fulfilling his needs at the local brothel. Main madam Claire (Lavelle Roby)...
Vixen
1968
Tom Palmer (Garth Pillsbury) is a good natured "bush jockey," flying chartered tours in and out of scenic British Columbia and entertaining visitors at his remote mountain...
Common Law Cabin
1967
One of Russ Meyer's lesser efforts, Common Law Cabin is nonetheless scintillating entertainment delivered in his usual taut, energetic style. Jack Moran is the proprietor...
Good Morning... And Goodbye!
1967
A very dysfunctional family is saved through the intervention of some erotic magic in this typically top-heavy Russ Meyer soap opera. Burt (Stuart Lancaster) is...
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
1966
Exploitation maven Russ Meyer created a cult classic with this turbo-charged action film. Three curvaceous go-go dancers in a cool sports car go on a desert crime spree,...
Mondo Topless
1966
Since Mondo Cane translates to A Dog's World, we can only suppose that Mondo Topless means Topless World. No, the title does not refer to a world without the...
Mudhoney
1965
California McKinney (John Furlong) is hitchhiking to the state he was named for after serving a five-year sentence for manslaughter. He runs out of money in Spooner, MO, and...
Motor Psycho
1965
This exploitation film delivers the typically sadistic and fast-paced action expected from cult director Russ Meyer. Alex Rocco stars as veterinarian Corey Maddox, whose...
Lorna
1964
Lorna (Lorna Maitland) is growing tired of her husband, Jim (James Rucker), after only a year of matrimony. He spends his days toiling in a salt mine and his evenings...