A NOTE: I've decided to change things up a little bit, add some variety, if you will. I'm not always all about music (although music is a lifesource, like food, for me), and a big part of me is my love for obscure, weird, and sometimes just plain bad, movies, often of the direct-to-video or cult variety (Hong Kong, Thai, Korean, Mexican, foreign in general). Therefore, I've added three new categories to my usual music/live concert review format: SKIN FLICK DIARIES will cover the trashier, late night fare that inevitably goes with cult cinema- this will, in the coming weeks and months, probably focus mostly on my love of those old Maria Ford flicks. As I get more time, I will explore the genre here more in depth.
HONG KONG DANGEROUS allows me to delve into my favorite type of cinema: that from Hong Kong. I've grown up with Hong Kong movies since I was 8-9 years old, and have fond memories of hunting down obscure HK flicks @ video stores like I Luv Video, ordering from little dive video/fish stores in San Francisco's China town, and dragging my parents and friends to the local college's theater and weekly HK midnight showings @the local theater where I eventually worked, where HK films were shown regularly. Seeing 'Armour of God II', 'Police Story,' 'The Killer,' 'Wing Chun,' etc YEARS before Jackie came back to America with 'Rumble' (and movies like 'Crouching Tiger' and 'The Matrix' made HK film and its style Hollywood mainstream) left a permanent impression on me, and I hope that enthusiasm comes across in the reviews.
Finally, CyberPunk Babylon- originally intended to review the Nemesis films of Albert Pyun (which I will get around to doing some day), I am going to turn into a semi-regular thing as well, showcasing my love for dystopian sci-fi like, well, the 'Nemesis' films, Cyborg, and anything else I feel carries elements of the fictional millieu honed and perfected by William Gibson. But enough of my yappin', let's boogy.
'Showgirl Murders' is a tongue-in-cheek erotic thriller starring Maria Ford (Angel of Destruction, Strip Teaser, Ring of Fire II) as Jessica Cross, a sexy, mysterious stripper expert in the arts of manipulation, murder, and... Ummm, stripping. Although it comes with a pedestrian plot lifted straight out of a Lifetime tv movie, this is another of Roger Corman's trashy C grade gems.
The story is simple: black widow with a shady past walks into the lives of a married couple on the skids. Black widow starts out innocently enough as waitress, gradually becomes stripper, makes bar lots o' money. Black widow moves in on husband, taking advantage of wifey's huge alcohol problem. Conspiracies abound involving murder, insurance money, and badly lit sex scenes. Black widow's shady past catches up with her initiating more manipulation, murder, and badly lit sex scenes. C grade comedy gold is the result.
Maria Ford did great in this, as always. Back when I was a teenager, she was one of the IT girls for me in DTV land. She had this "skanky hot" quality that I just found irresistable. Out of the gate, it's off the chain. She poisons her boyfriend, hits the road, and a myriad of B cup strip action (along with a nice nipple ring Ford acquired somewhere) and over the top Ford diva faces are shown on screen, as our anti-heroine makes it to our hapless bar-owner couple on the rocks, Mitch and Carolyn.
The actors who play Mitch and Carolyn (Matt Preston and D.S. Case) I haven't seen anywhere else, and I can only guess this is the only movie they've done. The husband is a typical louse thinking with his piece and not his brain, and the booze hound wife provided many laughs. The film's explanation for why she's such a drunk is typical: she ran over a kid on her way to the bar's grand opening (!) I also enjoyed the scene where she got all drunk and tried to strip before falling off the stage and bashing her head on a table.
Speaking of the strip scenes, they're aplenty in here, so you won't be disappointed if that's what you're looking for.The strip scenes become increasingly darker and more S&M in feel as the movie progresses, I guess reflecting the dark underbelly Mitch is descending into with Jessica. I couldn't help chuckling through the opening credits, because they list the strip scenes as "choreographed and costumed by Maria Ford." Who is this lady? Jean Claude Van Damme or something? I guess the strip scenes here are akin to the fight scenes in a Van Damme movie now. In that case, 'Showgirl Murders' is the stripper equivalent to 'Kickboxer.'
The movie's title is obviously a cash-in on the notoriety (I wanted to say success, but was it?) of 'Showgirls,' an equally campy film that came out the same year. Both films feature chicks with a shady past, but I think Maria Ford definitely outdid Elizabeth Berkley in the camp department. The only drawback here is that there is no Gina Gershon equivalent for our anti-heroine to feud with.
I can't really recommend this unless you're a big fan of bad movies. If you're looking to watch another 'Slum Dog Millionaire' this ain't it. However, if you want to see Maria Ford do what she does best (strip, act badly), you can't do any better than this, or maybe 'Angel of Destruction.' I'd say this movie blows 'Showgirls' and 'Striptease' out of the water. But like I said, I like Brian Bosworth movies and my idea of great cinema begins and ends with 'American Ninja II.' Still, 'Showgirl Murders' is a fun movie for those willing to think outside the movie theater box.
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