Desperate living (E)

Only John Water’s could conjure up a fairytale which featured amongst other things, cannibalism, rabies, castration and general debauchery. Peggy Gravel (Waters’ regular Mink Stole), a respected but slightly unhinged Baltimore citizen finds herself on the run with her obese, black maid, Grizelda (Jean Hill), when they accidentally murder Peggy’s husband. The two outlaws eventually end up in Mortville, a lawless shanty town populated by deviant criminals and ruled over by the evil Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey) and her leather clad biker troops. What follows is classic Waters, as Peggy and Grizelda have to contend with perverted cops, lecherous lesbians, an outbreak of rabies, and a demented queens unreasonable whims. Working for the first time without his regular leading lady, Divine, Waters hands the reigns over to Edith Massey (the crib bound egg lady from Waters infamous “Pink Flamingo’s”), an appropriate substitute to fill the famous drag queen’s pumps, and if one star wasn’t enough, busty strip artiste Liz Renay makes a wonderfully sleazy film debut as Muffy St. Jacques, a part originally intended for Divine (who was touring in her one woman show at the time). All the while Waters tries his best to gross us out and make us laugh. Long live the Pope of trash! Cast includes Susan Lowe and Mary Vivian Pearce. See also “Serial Mom”, “Hairspray”, “Cry baby”, “Polyester”.