Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! DVD Review

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)

By: J.R. McNamara on December 26, 2005

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Madman (Australia). Region 4, PAL. 4:3. English DD 2.0 Mono 83 minutes

The Movie

Cover Art

Credits

Director: Russ Meyer
Starring: Tura Satana, Lori Williams, Haji, Susan Bernard
Screenplay: Jack Moran
Tagline: Superwomen! Belted, buckled and booted!
Country: USA

There is no other way to say it; ex World War 2 combat photographer and Playboy photographer, the late Russ Meyer liked big boobs…real big boobs…actually massive boobs. His first film was a documentary in 1950 called The French Peep Show, followed in 1955 by a 60 odd minute film titled The Desperate Women, but it wasn't until 1959 with his film The Immoral Mr. Tease that he really started making a name for himself as a purveyor of 'saucy films'. His career spanned over 25 films of which all focused on his favorite subject…buxom women reigning supreme over men. He is best known for the four black and white films that he made between 1964 and 1965: Lorna, Mudhoney, Motor Psycho and this feature: the unforgettable Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is about three buxotic Go-go dancers, Varla (Tura Satana), Rosie (Haji) and Billie (Lori Williams), who leave the leers of the men at the bar they dance at and take their violent passion for fast cars and men on the road, leading them down a path of mayhem, kidnapping, murder and self destruction.

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, for the uninitiated, is like watching a violent spiteful episode of the 60s Batman TV show, but with arousing vixens bursting their voluptuous way out of man's clutches. The acting is overdone, the script is underdone, the fighting scenes feel like you are watching a cat fight in High School, but it is such a stylish action filled adventure that you can't stop watching it, and the sexy full-figured women don't make that too difficult either. Russ Meyer's abilities as a photographer really show in the way he sets up shots and presents visual contrasts between characters and situations.

Presented with a great retro cover, and with a concise but thorough biography and filmography of Meyer, Madman has created an awesome package for this film. Sometimes perceived as a pornographer, and not a groundbreaker (he was probably both), it is great to see this director given the respect he deserves, when you consider his influences on everyone from Waters to Tarrantino, in being part of Madman's 'Director's Suite' films, which also includes such names as offbeat indie hero Todd Solondz and noir legend Jules Dassin.

Video

This Black and white film is presented in its original full frame 4:3, but is clear as a bell.

Audio

The audio is in its original mono, but as with the picture, is perfect.

Extra Features

Directed and written by David Gregory (Deathdreaming), Go! Pussycats! Go! is a 25 minute 27 second documentary featuring interviews with antagonists Tura Satana, Haji, Lori Williams and victim, Susan Bernard. An interesting recollection by these three super women about Meyer, and the filming of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! This retrospective documentary is excellent, and has some great recollections of the filming, the times and of Russ Meyer himself.

There are two commentaries on this disc. The first is by Russ Meyer himself. Meyer discusses the motivations of the characters explores some of the subtleties that may be overlooked by even the devout fan of this flick. His commentary is informative and entertaining and contains some great behind the scene tales. The second commentary is by the superwomen themselves: Tura Satana, Haji and Lori Williams, with assistance by John Cregan which discusses their respective careers and their experiences on this film. At times this seems more like a radio interview, with the occasional anecdote upon visual cues from the film, but is still informative and engaging.

The trailer (2 minutes 44 seconds) is one of those great "SEE! HEAR! WATCH AS…!" type trailers that is obvious of the era of cinema, when trailers were more like carnival barkers.

The Verdict

If I may quote John Waters, who described this movie best: '(Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Is) beyond a doubt the best movie made ever. It is possibly better than any film that will be made in the future.' Waters was pretty close to the mark with that comment, with fast cars, fast sexy women and really weird fight scenes, Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is easily the greatest cult film ever made and this disc has some really excellent extras. Top shelf for fans of 60s cult flicks!!