Blast from the Past: 40 Years Ago
Russ Meyer’s affection for shlock lends Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!, an anarchic joyride the aura of high-camp that characterizes exploitation pictures.
It was a follow-up to Meyer’s Motorpsycho, which was about three bad boys.
The tale follows three wild, uninhibited go-go dancers—Varla, Rosie, and Billie—dance at a club before racing their sports cars across the California desert.
They play a high-speed game of chicken on the salt flats and encounter a young couple, Tommy and Linda, out to run a time trial.
The film is known for its violent acts, twisted sex and gender roles, and quotable one-liners.
Faster, Pussycat! was a commercial and critical failure upon its initial release, and has since become regarded a more influential film.
The screenplay is credited to Jack Moran from, based on Meyer’s original story. The first draft, titled The Leather Girls, was quickly written by Moran, who also collaborated with Meyer on Common Law Cabin and Good Morning and… Goodbye!
The script went through a second working title, The Mankillers, when sound editor Richard S. Brummer came up with the now-immortal final title.
Made on a budget of $45,000, it was shot in black and white.
Meyer got his start making films while serving in the US Army’s 166th Signal Photographic Company during World War II, and later used a small crew composed of former Army buddies.
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! premiered in Los Angeles on August 6, 1965. Meyer later said: “When it first came out, it was not successful, people didn’t understand that women could have a relationship with other women.”
It was dismissed as an exploitative “skin flick” by the few critics who took any note of it at all.
In the years since, the film has been regarded more favorably, gaining both commercial and critical stature
The film’s over-the-top title has become iconic and is frequently referenced or played upon in other works of popular culture:
Cast
Tura Satana as Varla
Haji as Rosie
Lori Williams as Billie
Susan Bernard as Linda
Stuart Lancaster as the Old Man
Paul Trinka as Kirk
Dennis Busch as the Vegetable
Ray Barlow as Tommy
Mickey Foxx as the Gas Station Attendant
John Furlong as the Narrator
