Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I guess I'm glad I only glanced at LA's scandalous Free Press years ago. Because with a telephone, I might have ended on somebody's dinner plate. At least, that's according to Mary and Paul's (note the Biblical names) newest fund raising idea. But what do the wacko Blands (another ironic name) care, as long as their American dream of their own business comes true. What a loopy black comedy this is. It's the LA swingers scene, 1980's style, both front and back, clothed and unclothed. And get a load of Bartel who looks like he should be selling life insurance, except he'd bankrupt the business. On the other hand, there's Woronov, a statuesque figure as his accommodating wife, except her clientele includes Nazis, midgets, Mickey Mouse, Lash LaRue, and other assorted pleasure seekers. It's a riveting flick with lots of sex and about as many chuckles. No doubt about it, the Blands pursue their American dream in truly dedicated fashion, at least as long as a trash compactor is available. Meanwhile, my cooking will include everything but a frying pan and maybe a trip to a rural restaurant. Nonetheless, bon appetite Bartel and co. for an inspired cinematic meal.

This is a wonderfully inventive and clever movie made while the Reagan administration was trying to suppress anything that didn't meet the approval the so-called "Moral Majority" - and in retrospect, I LIKE Reagan! But it was also definitely a time when powerful white people were trying to recreate both the best and worst features of the 1950s. The worst features weren't very pretty.I can't say for sure that there was political satire intended in the film, but just at the right time, here comes a movie that pretty much destroys anything "Happy Days." I mean, where else can you hear a character implore another to "Whip me! Beat me! Make me write bad checks!" It's marvelous. Really, I'm tempted to give it a higher rating to offset the humorless 50s lovers who don't appreciate this work of genius, but it is a low budget "indie" film with all the flaws inherent in the genre. It's not polished, and that is a flaw in any work of art, but really, that's also part of the beauty of the genre as well: what can a filmmaker do within the constraints of a limited budget? So, it's not El Mariachi ... but what else is?It's definitely worth a look, if for nothing else than as a work of superlative satire and subversion, while Ron & Nancy tried to bring back McCarthyism with a friendlier face.

Straight-laced middle-class couple Paul (a fine and likable performance by Paul Bartel) and Mary Bland (the always great Mary Woronov) are forced to murder decadent perverted swingers in order to raise the necessary money so they can realize their dream of opening a restaurant. Shrewd and unscrupulous con man hustler Raoul Mendoza (smoothly played by Robert Beltran) helps the pair dispose of the bodies of their victims.Director Bartel, who also co-wrote the witty script with Richard Blackburn (who appears as nice guy real estate agent James), maintains a deliciously dry'n'deadpan tone while poking wickedly hilarious satirical fun at uptight traditional American values, debauched rich folks, the moral erosion caused by the sexual revolution, how the hedonistic excessiveness of the 1970's was rebuked by the oppressive conservatism of the Reagan-era 1980's (the swinger victims are all total raunchy products of the 1970's while the Blands represent the staid'n'standard status quo-abiding types who voted Ronald Reagan into public office as President), and the desperate measures ordinary decent folks must resort to so they can achieve their goals in an amoral society. The spot-on winning and natural chemistry between Bartel and his frequent co-star Woronov gives this picture a teeming surplus of pure radiantly loopy heart; indeed, the Blands are perhaps the most appealing murderous couple in the history of cinema. It's this singularly good-natured screwball charm which in turn makes this movie so special and delightful. Susan Saiger positively shines as the sweet Doris the Dominatrix, who happily dispenses business advice while doing her laundry and feeding her infant son. Popping up in neat small parts are Buck Henry as smarmy bank president Mr. Leech, Garry Goodrow as the Blands' aggressively lascivious drunken first victim, Ed Begley Jr. as a horny hippie pothead, John Paragon as a pushy sex store clerk, Don Steele as obnoxious party host Howard Swine, and Eddie McClurg as the ditsy Susan. Kudos are also in order for Arlon Ober's bouncy jazzy score and the bright cinematography by Gary Thieltges. An absolute hoot.

Writer-director Paul Bartel co-stars with statuesque Mary Woronov as a prudish married couple in Los Angeles who hope to someday open their own quaint restaurant. Funding proves to be their sticking point, until one night a calamitous run-in with a wealthy swinger gives the pair a twisted new idea. Uneven dark farce with the germ of a great comic premise--and blessed with the talented leads to nearly pull it off successfully. Woronov, with her incredulous sexiness, gets possibly her best screen role here, and her sisterly rapport with Bartel is perfect within this context. It's a very slight movie however, with small, quirky laughs sharing space with frantic gags and dumb jokes. Bartel (as a filmmaker) doesn't trust himself completely, and his pacing is so slow that many potentially funny lines or ideas are muffled. Still, the plot is worked out satisfyingly and the film's better moments stay in the memory. ** from ****