(1974)
'Never Have I encountered such a morally bankrupt group of people'
Proto punk masterpiece - which towards the end of the film sees Divine go all out 'postcard punk' replete with full mohawk hair, years before Kings Road punks would adopt the same look. Although there may not be any dog shit eating here ala Pink Flamingos, Divine really does provide ample outrageousness in this follow up to his most infamous role. High expectations were placed on John Waters to deliver the goods again, after the runaway midnight movie success of Pink Flamingo's, maybe there never was such high expectation placed on such low trash in the history of cinema. Waters however does not disappoint in this epic melodramatic tale of fame hunger turned sickness, a theme which seems all the more prescient and relevant - now in the post reality TV and X Factor era. The laughs come thick and fast and the character creation/scripting/acting is superbly eccentric in that perfect John Waters 'collection of freaks' kind of way. This film really is 'punk before punk' and Divine of course is as punk as it gets, with a breathtaking display of outrageous originality, attitude, balls and a truly beautiful sense of the absurd.
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