Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) | dir. Russ Meyer

Beyond bizarre! Beyond outrageous! Beyond any film you’ve ever seen before! Today represents a landmark in cult cinema history: on this day fifty-five years ago (17 June 1970) Beyond the Valley of the Dolls – sexploitation maestro Russ Meyer’s twisted and berserk interpretation of sixties youth culture - had its world premiere at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. As the Los Angeles Herald Examiner declared, “Russ Meyer promised to make the wildest, craziest, funniest, the farthest out musical-horror-sex comedy ever released. He has succeeded.” All these decades later, many of us are still dropping snippets of its dialogue into everyday conversation (“You’re a groovy boy. I’d like to strap you on some time.” “This is my happening, and it freaks me out!” “You will drink the black sperm of my vengeance!”). I last screened Beyond at the Lobotomy Room film club (to a packed house) in January 2017. Maybe it’s due for a revisit! Pictured: John LaZar – unforgettable as Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell.

Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds | 1995

Wie bereits hier etwas unseriös angedacht, schaute ich einmal wieder Russ Meyers berüchtigte Nicht-Fortsetzung von Valley of the Dolls. Es ist einer der raren Fälle, wo der Film nicht so trashig geworden ist, wie sie es sich gewünscht hätten, weil die Filmemacher zu stilsicher waren.

An edit of Z-man from beyond the valley of the dolls. Been obsessed with him for a whole month