Movie: 'Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'

One Christmas Eve, late at night, during my childhood years I witnessed my first dose of Russ Meyer's work. At this point, my tiny bedroom held a box television set, black and white, which not unlike a radio required a dial to find each channel. No doubt too excited to sleep that night, I was searching for something worthwhile to watch and came across a film that, unbeknownst to me, was the type of film I would relish in my later years when I became more familiar with exploitation cinema. The film in question was one of Meyer's earlier films from his unique career: Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! The film concerns three buxom Go-Go dancers, who head off after their shift on a road trip filled with nothing less than trouble. On the way, they encounter a clean-cut couple of sweethearts, who perhaps due to being the polar opposite of the girls, end up rubbing them the wrong way. The leader of the pack, Varla, ends up in a full blown manimal fight with the young boyfriend and beats him to death, exuding her power of strength proving there is more to her (and her accomplices) than just sex appeal. These women are not to be messed with and following the brutal act of violence, they kidnap the remaining half of the couple and continue on their journey. Taking a break at a gas station, they learn of an old man and his sons who own a ranch nearby, and who happen to be sitting on a large sum of money. The women want it and set out to get it, arriving at the ranch, introducing themselves, settling in and putting that sex appeal to work in order to seduce the all-male family. Still in tow is their young hostage, who has been reduced to a snivelling wreck, too scared and unable to defend herself against these superhuman females. Getting comfortable at the ranch, the women try their hardest and almost succeed in getting their paws on the family booty, but despite their violent, defensive and strong-willed exteriors, they underestimate this hum drum family and soon receive a taste of their own medicine. Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a standout among Meyer's catalogue of exploitation and soft core films, simply for being less concerned with sex and nudity, and more with a simple tale of violent characters getting their comeuppance – think rape revenge without the rape. At a time when American independent cinema was emerging as the rebellious sibling of mainstream cinema, such films would entail more overt sexual, violent and graphic content. Meyer's films would eventually shape him as the king of soft-core pornographic films, featuring equally buxom women to that of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, with the likes of Vixen, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Supervixens and Up! Though more concerned with titillation and tongue in cheek humor, his films were a celebration of women as powerful, independent and no less sexual beings. Though indeed these films were considered exploitation, women are at the forefront, seducing men and reducing them to

mere slaves to their very being.

The three main actresses are striking, notably Japanese/American actress Tura Satana, as Varla (the leader) and Filipino/Canadian Haji, as Rosie (suggested to be Varla’s lover), who both hold exotic looks and are captivatingly perfect for their roles.

The women too were in cohorts with cinema's uprising and rebellion towards the more conservative Production/Hays Code, showing they can party, be bad and in a lot of cases, overpower men. Though the women of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! are contrary to this notion - eventually unsuccessful in taking full advantage of an all-male family - the film's ultimate goal is to showcase women, who just like men in violent, revenge flicks, are deadly, out of control and must be stopped: they are simply brutal, toxic, vicious killers.