Undescribable Perfection

Pretty Good

One of my all time favorites.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This film is a true gem. For followers of sleazy cinema, this is a must- see that will never lose its entertainment value.A rich neurotic housewife kills her husband in a fit, with the help of her maid. Now the duo have to escape and take up a new life in Mortville, a slum-like trash community made up of filthy criminals, perverts and other oddballs. The inhabitants are harassed daily by the gruesome Queen Carlotta, and have to make the best out of their desperate, feeble lives.What is striking about this film is that it has a self-ironic feel, I don't know whether it is intentional or not. Every part of the story is over-the-top for a reason, and John Waters certainly makes use of "more is more".Most of the acting is mediocre at best, but it all comes together perfectly for that trashy feel. Mink Stole is hilarious as Peggy Gravel, she plays her neurotic character without flaw.Even though the acting, the story, the budget and everything else is as bad as you'd expect, the film is extremely humorous and the actors have enough comical timing to make you laugh again and again. This in combination with the irony of it all made me appreciate the film on a whole other level than similar sleaze-productions.The most interesting aspect of this film however, is its gender perspective. All the important characters are -without exceptions- women, the men are nothing but objects or servants in this film. Apart from regular Hollywood productions, there is lots of diversity among the female characters, and everyone is equally filthy. There are lots of elements in the movie to strengthen the image that Mortville is ruled by females; the Queen and her male servants/sex slaves, the beating up of males by females, and extensive lesbianism. John Waters paints a picture that is, again, far from today's supermodel standards, where females rule and are free to be as disgusting or beautiful as they want.I highly recommend this film to anyone who would like to watch something different, because it's way underrated.

For a while this was John Waters classiest film. That's a compliment. Mink Stole and her morbidly obese maid Grizelda flee town after killing Stole's husband. They end up in Mortville, a seedy, trash strewn town ruled by the grotesque Queen Carlotta (the brilliant Edith Massey). They also run into Liz Renay (as Muffy St. Jacques) and the angry Mole, who's desperate for a sex change and heads to none other than Johns Hopkins to get that ball rolling. Needless to say, her new appendage does not meet with a pleasurable fate. Stole gives an absurd performance that should have received Academy recognition and Jean Hill (as Grizelda) is hilarious. The film is insane, a lot of fun and featuring some pretty savvy opening titles.

John Waters disgusted the world in 1972 with the holy grail of trash PINK FLAMINGOS, starring the voluptuous Divine, and continued to offend and entertain two years later with FEMALE TROUBLE. When the final climatic piece of his trash trio DESPERATE LIVING came to pass, it was not as widely accepted as it was missing his muse Divine, instead casting resident villain Mink Stole (the fire crotched Connie Marble in PINK FLAMINGOS and ungrateful illegitimate delinquent child Taffy Davenport in FEMALE TROUBLE) as the lead character, neurotic and paranoid housewife Peggy Gravel. While Stole doesn't possess the outrageous act and memorable costume and attitude of the late Divine, her portrayal of Gravel was equally lively and insane as Divine's roles.Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) is an abusive housewife fresh out of the sanitarium after suffering from EXTREME paranoia and psychotic breakdowns. When her sweet-natured husband Bosley (George Stover) tries to medicate her after a round of abuse at her two innocent children, she and her obese black maid Grizelda (Jean Hill) kill him and go on the run from the law. After a narrow escape from a perverted motorcycle cop, they seek refuge in a scummy town for runaways called Mortville. The runaway partners in crime stay with lesbian lovers Mole (Susan Lowe) and Muffy (Liz Renay), owners of a boarding house, Mole being a woman trapped in a mans body, and Muffy as the most beautiful woman in Mortville. The sleazy town is run by kinky and sadistic Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey), a fascist leader whose punishment for ANY crime is death by firing squad. When her wayward daughter Princess Coo-Coo (Mary Vivian Pierce) runs off with a nudist garbage man, all hell breaks loose. DESPERATE LIVING is my favourite John Waters film, and one of my favourite films period. I'm relatively new to Waters, but his outrageous sense of humor and strong satirical slander is particularly evident in DESPERATE LIVING. He mocks the fascist political view, with paintings of Hitler and Idi Armin lining Queen Carlotta's walls, and the most trivial things being contraband (such as newspapers etc.). It is also a strong feminist film, which copped a lot of flack in its release as it was made by a man! And the performances are golden, Mink Stole makes the opening scene magical, Jean Hill is the perfect addition to the Dreamlanders as she goes all-out, and Edith Massey is adorable and strong as always. Mary Vivian Pierce is also delightful, and I don't know if this was intentional, but bears a strong resemblance to Bette Davis' Baby Jane Hudson from WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE.DESPERTE LIVING is one of the funniest films I've ever seen, the dialogue is fantastic. There are charming and original costumes, and the set design of the town and Queen Carlotta's kingdom is great.While John Waters' DVD commentary is hilarious as usual, Liz Renay contributes a less insightful, but still relatively entertaining accompaniment. You could tell she really enjoyed working with John, and she looked divine (no pun intended) for her age (51 at the time). R.I.P. Liz, while your contribution to the commentary was slight, your energetic performance will live on in my DVD player.Overall, DESPERATE LIVING is one for fans of trash and Waters alike, but with a strong political satire. 10/10, don't take the humor too seriously or you will want Waters castrated.

Having been a huge fan of "cult flicks and trash pics" (to quote the book title), I knew it was time to watch John Waters. I started with Polyester, considered one of his more "mainstream" movies, and thought hey, let's try an earlier one. Okay, I can usually handle disgusting stuff, but I have never seen a movie that not only is as flat out sick as this one, but one that is so annoying. Many of the comments I read about this flick said it was funny, offensive, even "artistic." Of course, I knew it'd be repulsive, it's John Waters. But wow, the incessant screaming of EVERY character made the viewing experience about as enjoyable as fingernails to a chalkboard. Maybe it'd be funny here and there, but non-stop, oh the agony. To add to the misery, none of the characters were even the slightest bit charming, making the movie going experience that much more excruciating.I know Waters prides himself on making movies that have no engaging qualities, which begs the question, why did he make this junk in the first place? Is he "pushing boundaries?" I guess when you have no movie-making ability and want to offend everyone, you want people to remember you for something, so why not show a naked 400 pound fat chick? Better yet, let's take every sick thought and image that comes to mind and actually film it while we have every character shriek their lines rather than speak them. What an inspiration to aspiring filmmakers without talent, with David Lynch being the notable exception, he at least develops strong characters when he's not showing fat chicks go au naturalle.In Polyester the zaniness of the movie made it somewhat amusing, I found myself laughing at the non-stop wackiness. Nothing worthwhile came in watching this movie and I truly don't understand how anyone could find any redeeming qualities in it. At least schlock like Ed Wood productions are funny due to their thorough ineptness. This flick consciously wanted to be dreadful, and yes, it did succeed in that. I know tons of cult flick fans out there love John Waters' unrepentant attitude and his fearlessness in showing humanity at it's worst. But at the same time, you really have to wonder what goes on in a directors head when he makes something as awful as this. Bad film-making can be so much fun to watch but this film was not entertaining at all and makes me wish I weren't into B-movies. Many people call this movie groundbreaking and shocking, but frankly, I think it's a desperate cry for attention.