Runtime: 106 minutes
Directed by: Russ Meyer
Starring: Shari Eubank, Charles Pitts, Charles Napier, Uschi Digard, Henry Rowland
From: RM Films International
I’d say that Martin Bormann’s Super Service sounded like quite the gas station to visit… then I learned that Martin Bormann was the private secretary of Hitler and an important member of the Nazi party! This is probably more surprising to people than hearing that before last night, the only Russ Meyer I’d experienced was the cult classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! That movie’s always been a gas but I’ve always been curious what an adult Meyer movie featuring no censorship was like. What an experience it was!
It's a movie where a Nazi sympathizer runs a gas station, a dude named Clint is an employee, and his girl is Super Angel-yes, all the women are referred to as “Super.” Not that there are many sympathetic characters around but Angel was rather narcissistic and vulgar. Then again, Clint might as well have been named Bad Luck Brian! The worst of luck follows him; the decision to wear Daisy Duke shorts in one scene—that’s on him.
To state the obvious, Russ Meyer movies typically aren’t watched for the plot, unless you consider “plot” to be such things as “multiple big-breasted women,” “random outrageous scenes loosely strung together,” “sometimes hyperactive editing,” and “a scene involving dynamite is stretched to the maximum; that’s meant as a compliment.” As outrageous as Supervixens was, I genuinely did laugh a decent amount & there was a familiar face who arguably delivered his best performance: Charles Napier. He was terrifying and hilarious as the evil cop… insert your own comments if you wish.
While this was early in Napier’s career (in fact, he had retired due to a lack of success until Meyer convinced him to take this role) and he found greater success later. The same can’t be said for Shari Eubank; I now understand why many cult fans became smitten w/ her—as I was smitten as well in her dual role. While inexperienced, she was still memorable as both the outrageous Super Angel and the kind-hearted Super Vixen. However, after 1976’s Chesty Anderson, U.S. Navy (VHS rips are on YouTube but it’s apparently a terrible film) she peaced out and became a teacher in Illinois. If only there were more roles…
Supervixens was wild; there were non-sequitor moments, a random snake bite, a genuinely uncomfortable bravura death, cartoon moments, an Austrian nymphomaniac mail-order bride, a deaf Black woman who is also sex-crazed, a vehicle chase in the desert, etc. What a madman Meyer must have been. As flawed as the movie is, “original” is another obvious term for me to use; I was always entertained, even if at times perversely so.
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