Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)

Director:

Russ Meyer

Writers:

Jack Moran (screenplay)
Russ Meyer (from an original story by)

Release Date:

6 August 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Russ Meyer's ode to the violence in women

Plot:

Three strippers seeking thrills encounter a young couple in the desert. After dispatching the boyfriend...

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Murder | Grindhouse | Repetition In Title | Buxom

Cast

Tura Satana	...	Varla
Haji	...	Rosie
Lori Williams	...	Billie
Ray Barlow	...	Tommy
Sue Bernard	...	Linda (as Susan Bernard)
Michael Finn	...	Gas Station Attendant (as Mickey Foxx)
Dennis Busch	...	The Vegetable
Stuart Lancaster	...	The Old Man
Paul Trinka	...	Kirk

Also Known As:

Faster Pussycat! Wham! Bang! (USA) (bowdlerized title)
Faster, Pussycat! Go! Go! (USA) (bowdlerized title)
Pussycat
The Leather Girls
The Mankillers
Die Satansweiber von Tittfield (West Germany) [de]
Faster Pussycat... Kill Kill (Finland) [fi]
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (France) [fr]
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (Spain) [es]
Faster, pussycat! Kill! Kill (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Oi agriogates (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | France:-12 (DVD rating) | France:-18 (1985 release) | Finland:K-15 (2006) | West Germany:18 | USA:TV-14 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | France:-16 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated (unrated version)

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Eve Productions

Trivia:

Lead actress Tura Satana, legally owns her likeness and image. So, whenever Russ Meyer wanted to change the artwork or re-release the project, he had to get her permission and sometimes pay her all over again.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the beginning of the movie, when Billie detours to go to the lake, the front driver's side wheel cover is missing, and looks like some minor front end damage in the same area, which can be seen when she pulls up and stops next to the bush at the lake. Later on in the film, the wheel cover is present and there is no damage to the car.

Quotes:

Varla: [to Rosie as she fumbles with a lighter] Easy, baby, you're almost a fire hazard!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Severance (2006)

Soundtrack:

Faster Pussycat

Repeated Viewings Recommended

The tendency to dismiss Russ Meyer's "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" (1965) as just a cult classic is probably due to the most memorable feature of the film, the girls. First there are the two quintessential Meyer women, Tura Satana and Haji, towering brunettes with enormous breasts who dominate all the men around them; or at least Satana does, Haji's character (with a strange Italian-Mexican accent?) is more focused on Satana than on men. They actually come across as a feminist empowerment fantasy, which is consistent with Meyer's almost exclusive career focus on situations in which women wreak their will upon men.

If they are too extreme for your tastes there is blonde free spirit Lori Williams and air-headed sweet young thing Susan Bernard. While arguably the two prettiest women to have ever graced a film, there is no argument that William's character is the sexiest of all time. Interestingly, it was the sweet-faced Bernard who became a Playboy centerfold just a few months after the movie (December 1966).

But "Pussycat's" greatness comes from the visceral power of Meyer's unusual images (can you say Fellini). Add to this abundant humor, inventive camera angles, fast pacing, clever editing, violence, and a generally amoral cast of characters.

The film gets even better with subsequent viewings, you connect better with the twisted dialogue and the wry humor.