It's difficult to make out what exactly this 1970 movie is trying to achieve. While not quite the brilliant showbiz parody that co-screenwriter Roger Ebert (yes, the film critic) will have you believe it is (perhaps to save his reputation), this wild blend of sex, booze, psychedelic mind-benders and rock n' roll is really more an exploitative re-do of the first "Valley of the Dolls" reset in the music business. Granted it's an amusing take of the first film with journeyman actors delivering the often ludicrous lines with straight faces. On the brink of bankruptcy, the executives at 20th Century Fox hired renowned sexploitation director Russ Meyer to helm the film, and his campy, porno-level imprint is most predominant here. What's also present is an amusing black comedy that makes every plot turn seems excessive yet oddly relevant at the same time.
Written by Ebert and Meyer, the loose structure of a plot focuses on a girl rock band, the Carrie Nations, comprised of sexually voracious redhead Kelly, frigid guitarist Casey and soul sister drummer Pet. They're managed by Kelly's innocuous boyfriend Harris, who takes them to LA where Kelly suddenly receives a share of her Aunt Susan's recent million-dollar inheritance. In Susan's circle of friends is a faux-Shakespeare-spouting, Phil Spector-like record producer named Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell, who turns the Carrie Nations into big stars. Each girl becomes a victim of their success, leading to drugs, bisexuality, embezzlement, lesbianism, amoral men and a Manson-style murder spree. That it manages to tweak the reigning counterculture is just an added bonus of the story.
The performances are hardly worth discussing as the actors are often called upon to say or do the most humiliating things. With his penchant for large breasts, Meyer cast two former Playboy playmates, Dolly Read (comedian Dick Martin's longtime wife and Match Game semi-regular) as Kelly and Cynthia Myers as Casey. Black model Marcia McBroom plays Pet. None makes that much of an impression except when they take their clothes off. David Gurian makes even less of an impression as Harris. There are, however, a few scenery chewers of note John LaZar as the out-of-control Z-Man, especially during a decapitation scene that has to be seen to be believed; perennial in-joke starlet Edy Williams as sex film queen Ashley St. Ives; and preening Michael Blodgett as greedy gigolo Lance Rocke, who gets to play his final scene in just a loincloth.
The Carrie Nations' rock song performances are actually pretty good for the period, and veteran TV composer Stu Phillips. Even though there are a few sex scenes and plenty of gratuitous nudity, it actually doesn't come across as all that titillating. I honestly believe it's the satirical edge is what keeps up interest in the film. Unbelievably, the film has been re-released as a two-disc set in 2006, and surprisingly, it is actually quite a solid package. First of all, the print transfer is amazingly pristine for a film of this age, something that strikes you immediately when you see it.
There are two commentary tracks one with Ebert which is actually quite academic and insightful in an almost Criterion-like manner, the other is a free-for-all trip down memory lane for stars Read, Myers, LaZar and two other actors in the cast, Harrison Page (who played Pet's earnest law student boyfriend Emerson) and Erica Gavin (who played Casey's Sapphic fashion designer lover Roxanne). The second disc has five featurettes on various aspects of the film, the best being "Above, Beneath and Beyond the Valley", which focuses on the cast's remembrances of Meyer, and "Best of the Beyond", which spotlight the actors, who for the most part, look great 36 years later (Read, Myers and McBroom, in particular). There is some screen test footage, theatrical trailers and a photo gallery as well.
Written by Ebert and Meyer, the loose structure of a plot focuses on a girl rock band, the Carrie Nations, comprised of sexually voracious redhead Kelly, frigid guitarist Casey and soul sister drummer Pet. They're managed by Kelly's innocuous boyfriend Harris, who takes them to LA where Kelly suddenly receives a share of her Aunt Susan's recent million-dollar inheritance. In Susan's circle of friends is a faux-Shakespeare-spouting, Phil Spector-like record producer named Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell, who turns the Carrie Nations into big stars. Each girl becomes a victim of their success, leading to drugs, bisexuality, embezzlement, lesbianism, amoral men and a Manson-style murder spree. That it manages to tweak the reigning counterculture is just an added bonus of the story.
The performances are hardly worth discussing as the actors are often called upon to say or do the most humiliating things. With his penchant for large breasts, Meyer cast two former Playboy playmates, Dolly Read (comedian Dick Martin's longtime wife and Match Game semi-regular) as Kelly and Cynthia Myers as Casey. Black model Marcia McBroom plays Pet. None makes that much of an impression except when they take their clothes off. David Gurian makes even less of an impression as Harris. There are, however, a few scenery chewers of note John LaZar as the out-of-control Z-Man, especially during a decapitation scene that has to be seen to be believed; perennial in-joke starlet Edy Williams as sex film queen Ashley St. Ives; and preening Michael Blodgett as greedy gigolo Lance Rocke, who gets to play his final scene in just a loincloth.
The Carrie Nations' rock song performances are actually pretty good for the period, and veteran TV composer Stu Phillips. Even though there are a few sex scenes and plenty of gratuitous nudity, it actually doesn't come across as all that titillating. I honestly believe it's the satirical edge is what keeps up interest in the film. Unbelievably, the film has been re-released as a two-disc set in 2006, and surprisingly, it is actually quite a solid package. First of all, the print transfer is amazingly pristine for a film of this age, something that strikes you immediately when you see it.
There are two commentary tracks one with Ebert which is actually quite academic and insightful in an almost Criterion-like manner, the other is a free-for-all trip down memory lane for stars Read, Myers, LaZar and two other actors in the cast, Harrison Page (who played Pet's earnest law student boyfriend Emerson) and Erica Gavin (who played Casey's Sapphic fashion designer lover Roxanne). The second disc has five featurettes on various aspects of the film, the best being "Above, Beneath and Beyond the Valley", which focuses on the cast's remembrances of Meyer, and "Best of the Beyond", which spotlight the actors, who for the most part, look great 36 years later (Read, Myers and McBroom, in particular). There is some screen test footage, theatrical trailers and a photo gallery as well.