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Pink Flamingos

A 1972 film directed by John Waters

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Pink Flamingos Goes!!!

Dec 1, 2009

by cenobite7
posted in Movie Hype

Rating:

John Waters will forever be remembered for his classics of dark comedy & crude satire but no film of his shall ever hold a candle so bright to the infamous Pink Flamingos. Never before have such revolting images displayed evoke such gleefulness nor has any director before or after Waters captured the true spirit of bad taste on such a micro budget.

Pink Flamingos basically revolves around the twisted lives of two families in Baltimore who pride themselves on being the most filthy people in the world & that's a tough act to follow. Waters is not unlike world renowned artist Andy Warhol in the respect that he wishes to throw pop-culture right back in America's face. Well, except Waters takes it all much further in the annals of putrid comedy as if Warhol's contributions were a tad meager. Welcome to the world of sleaziness, trashy conspirators, & evil doers run amok in this delightful film of America's rejects.

Divine has been branded the most filthiest person alive. Having been forced underground, she lives in a trailer somewhere off the beaten path with her egg-obsessed mom, a voyeuristic travel companion, & her dirty son Crackers. Although Divine prides herself as being a figure of repulsion, she has taken the pseudonym Babs Johnson just to keep everyone safe from society. Babs is a bonafied criminal guilty of numerous charges which could include cannibalism, murder & possibly sex crimes of every variety.

Raymond & Connie live in a more well-to-do section of Maryland & are actually quite envious of Divine. Wishing to claim that title of being the filthiest people alive, they are determined to run Divine clear out of town. The notorious couple are known for capturing young females which serve as slaves in their filthy basement to copulate with their gay servant. The babies are then sold to lesbians for about $5,000 a child & the proceeds are used to finance stores of pornography or front drug dealers. The gay servant not only impregnates these poor girls but then is required to dispose of their corpses after they die in child birth.

Our lovely couple even hires a spy by the name of Cookie to seduce Divine's son Crackers in hopes of attaining more information on the filthy family such as an address so they can torture her & send policeman who will put an end to Bab's birthday bash. Policeman do show up at the party, of course, but they meet an untimely demise & then the motley crew proceeds to feast on their human remains. Again, it's a gruesome site for sure but it's all in good fun.

After learning of the couple's plans to thwart Divine's operation of being the most repulsive woman alive, Crackers & Divine decide it's time to take revenge & pay the couple a visit in which more sleaziness ensues. Note: There is the infamous scene in which Divine bequeaths her motherly love to Crackers which will either generate much unprecedented laughter or upset stomachs. John Waters knows how to have a good time with his audience & the fun doesn't stop here.

Pink Flamingos is perhaps of my all-time favorite examples of guerrilla film-making or indie cinema done correctly with only a micro budget of $10,000. Sadly, films like this are often dismissed as utter trash & are robbed of Oscars. Thank you John Waters & Divine!!!

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Count_Orlok_22 December 01, 2009

Great review, Divine-o-bite! One man's trash is truly another man's treasure and this film is the proof. I don't even think I could give this film an adequate or appropriate rating. It's weird, disgusting (more so than can be explained in mere words), disturbing, and sickly hilarious. The artistic quality isn't actually low, it's just that Waters wanted to go for a very pulpy, offensive style, so it can't be said to be without artistic merit. One could complain about its technical merits, but it wouldn't be possible to dismiss the film on those grounds alone. So, how does one rate a film like this? My rating, much like my rating for RHPS, would be somewhere between a 0 and a 5... so I'm not sure how I could ever review this myself.

cenobite7 December 01, 2009

It is what it is. One can't expect Citizen Kane or Gone With The Wind necessarily on a mere budget of $10k but I don't think it gets any better. Waters is pretty much in a class all by himself & to draw any comparisons to other greats in the industry would be futile. I think there are other films out there which are just as disgusting if not more so but very few are as humorous in their attempts as Pink Flamingos. Although this one stands beside RHPS as perhaps a midnight movie classic, I don't think I could put the two in a single sentence together. When it comes to pure trash, Divine & John Waters were the perfect team. I was actually surprised no one here reviewed this one before me. LOL Thanks Orlok for stopping by! By the way, Woo fired me.

Count_Orlok_22 December 01, 2009

Yeah, I know. I let him think it means something so he feels powerful and authoritative, but really it's more of a slap on the wrist. LOL!

cenobite7 December 01, 2009

Haha! I think I told him that I'm now just writing trash online here at Lunch for free just to entertain my fellow readers.

woopak_the_thrill December 02, 2009

Orlok, is it you making me you think that you are making me think I am authoritative or me making you think that you are making me think that I am authoritative? LOL! I dunno, I got lost myself...;-P Ceno, Bay makes bad movies for a living, of course we can write trash here if we want LMAO.

cenobite7 December 02, 2009

Will do sir. Of course, money always works. If anyone wants to throw me a few bucks for writing garbage, then so be it. LOL

Count_Orlok_22 December 02, 2009

Oh, are we getting paid per review now? Will that be based on word count (I hope)?!

cenobite7 December 02, 2009

Oh, don't I wish? If that were the case, I'd crank them out a little quicker perhaps but I'd be drained mentally. Nope, I just write in hopes someone will get some degree of joy at my expense by reading my trash.

Count_Orlok_22 December 02, 2009

You mean your treasure about other people's trash? LOL!

cenobite7 December 02, 2009

Trash is trash but I prefer to let others indulge themselves in my filth. LMAO

Count_Orlok_22 December 02, 2009

So, would that make your readers "ceno-piggies" then? Not the best name for your fan club. LMAO! I prefer my "Orlokians".

cenobite7 December 02, 2009

Hmm, never really thought about that. I guess they're angels to some & demons to others. LOL Er, cenobite-lites? LMAO

woopak_the_thrill December 03, 2009

Orlokians....ceno-piggies (how about ceno-biters?)....woopakolytes...trashcanmania...Christyans...oh well.

cenobite7 December 03, 2009

I suppose any of those might work. LOL

Count_Orlok_22 December 03, 2009

Ooh, who will head up our fan clubs? LMAO!

woopak_the_thrill December 03, 2009

Not sure who'd be willing LOL. But I think Karen may head up yours, Orlok...

cenobite7 December 03, 2009

Or we could just call my fans & readers ceno-bitches. LMAO Haha! Only kidding.

Count_Orlok_22 December 03, 2009

Yeah, I thought of that one but it just didn't sound like a very nice thing to call your acolytes. Sort of like Godsmack's original fan club name: Shit hit the Fan Club. Why wouldn't anyone want to get hit with shit (especially their shit)?

cenobite7 December 03, 2009

Meh, I'd heard about that one. No, I don't think I'd want to throw the word shit onto the title of my fan club. LOL

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woopak_the_thrill December 01, 2009

best way to begin my day....coffee, punk rock and this review! Dang, I think I just woke up! I give up my crown of dirtiest reviewer in the site LOL! this movie showed just how evil and deviant humans can be.

cenobite7 December 01, 2009

I've never been so amused at how deviant humans can be but this movie kept me in stitches. Thnks Woo! Glad I was able to assist in making your morning a memorable one & I'm thrilled you were able to wake up with a smile on your face.

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About the reviewer

Brian (cenobite7)
Ranked #32

I've spent years trying to make others happy & not really focusing on what's most important in my own life. Having said that, my own health & security are paramount so now I'm more … more