Vixen - Dir. Russ Meyer - 1968

This is Russ Meyer film number two and this gets into, what I understand, is the feeling of most of his... films. I'm not sure film really works for this. Basically it is a soft-core porn with a crazy third act. For that reason, I totally love this film. As it is a porn with really great and well thought out characters.

The film is about Vixen. Her husband is gone a lot of the time as he is a charter pilot and she lives in the middle of nowhere. For this reason, she gets a little promiscuous. Promiscuous is the wrong way to put it. Will screw anything that moves, is the right way to put it. One weekend, her husband brings a couple back on a fishing trip and things get "fun." After the weekend concludes though, is when the movie starts getting really crazy.

Erica Palmer is great as Vixen, as tends to be the case with Russ Meyer's female characters. She is sexy, confident and an outright racist. This last part plays into the film throughout. This aspect of her performance is what really makes her all the more attractive because she is not likable at all. She cheats on her husband who remains completely faithful and never even second guesses her. This is played by Garth Pillsbury and he does a respectable job as the good natured husband who rarely thinks anything bad about people. In fact, he makes Vixen more likable in the fact that he isn't racist and is trying to keep her in line at parts. The person who really shines in this film is Niles, the black friend of Vixen's brother. Played by Harrison Page, he is a very likable actor. However, he does seem to be looking out for himself against all the racism that surrounds him. Even when he does things that are dispicable, after all the the abuse he has heaped on him you still like him a little bit.

It is strange to be talking about the acting in this film because for the first forty to fifty minutes, it is a soft core porn. Straight up. Very little plot. Basically Vixen seduces everyone, including the audience. Her introduction is her having sex with a man in the bushes and he isn't taking her clothes off fast enough, which tells us a lot about the character. Not in a perverted way, but all of it is rather erotic including the very effective lesbian scene. Unlike most porn, it makes sence on a human level why these people are having sex as long as you believe that Vixen is a nympho. There is a hilarious part where she seduces a man with a dead fish that is just to die for for you people looking to laugh at a movie. Really funny shit. However, Meyer shoots this like everything. Very low angles with great music blaring so damn is it kinetic. In fact, Meyer makes porn an artform with everything he does. The man has a definite style and it works so damn well that I can't help but love it.

However, the thing that makes me love the movie is none of this. The third act of this film takes this in a totally different direction and it is strange and jarring. It begins with incest which turns brutal. Almost to a game of Vixen's brother torturing her for her racism against his friend Niles and the fact she has tried to sleep with him for a long time. It is very weird to watch this film shift because it is as sudden as the sex in the first part. After this, it takes an extra turn as a communist shows up and convinces Niles to come with him to South America. They convince Vixen and her husband to fly them there. The scene in the plane is tense and a huge statement of anti-racism, pro-patriotism and anti-communism. It is so stark and strange but I love it. I love every minute of it. Truthfully, when it comes it doesn't feel like the film has led to his but at the same time feels like a perfect fit. The violence and the dialog crackles here and all of the actors get their chance to shine.

All in all, this is a very different beast from "Fast Pussycat Kill! Kill!" At the same time, it is just as satisfying and really fun to watch for all different reasons. Russ Meyer waits the entire film to unviel his newest hand and when it hits it is exciting and wild.