Multiple Maniacs (1970)

I have been a John Waters fan since the 70's. I remember seeing this one in the early 80's and was not impressed with it then, but decided to watch it again recently. Well, the years haven't been kind to the film. I could barely get thru it. From the meandering screenplay, subpar acting and directionless direction--it's all an amateurish affair. Fortunately, John Waters (Divine & Mink Stole) got so much better with each film. I would say bypass this unless you are a die-hard Waters fan.

Multiple Maniacs is on par with John Waters' Pink Flamingos when it comes to sleaziness and filth, though not quite as polished. The black-and-white cinematography gives the film a certain raw and crude quality, but that outrageous, hilarious Waters' dialogue, though in its infancy stages here, is already wielding an undeniable power over those of us who love trash cinema. Some scenes drag on a little longer than necessary, such as David and Bonnie lounging around in bed, or Cookie and Steve talking about riots but there are others, such as the opening in the circus tent, and the "rosary job" that more than make up for it. Be sure to look and listen for Divine and Cookie flubbing their lines, Divine's wig almost falling off as he is being violated by Lobstora, and Mink Stole trying not to laugh as a male pedestrian walks by when she and Divine are discussing the murder of Mr. David and Bonnie. All in all, I recommend watching this only AFTER you have seen Hairspray, Polyester, Female Trouble, Pink Flamingos, and Desperate Living, in THAT order. By that time you will have decided if you are a true John Waters fan or not.

I'm not some nut who will throw himself off a building for Waters or lick shoe polish from the Master's boots. I have rather fixed opinion on the different stages of the director's career. The early Super-8's (the few I've seen) are short, crude and original; the first features, including "Multiple Maniacs", "Mondo Trasho", "Pink Flamingos", "Female Trouble" and "Desperate Living" are all very interesting, though not all classics; the films that followed from "Polyester" are Waters Lite, strange birds documenting Waters' struggle to please the mainstream financiers and broaden his own creative output. Naturally, I like the middle period.When I think of "Multiple Maniacs", I think of David Lochary inviting conservative punters to come and seeing the most disgusting show of their lives. "See Puke Eater!" he screams with pride, and in that solitary invitation, he sums up why we loved the 70's and early 80's John Waters. Waters showed us filth without the sermon, without the hypocrisy. He acknowledge our love of sleaze, our passion for the putrid, and our lust for freaks. He came across as honest, as a misfit himself, an artist determined to rub our noses in the dirt we secretly craved.Well, some of us did.I prefaced this review with my declaration that I'm not a Waters brown-noser. Far from it. Despite its admirable desire to shock and sicken, "Multiple Maniacs" is also very boring at times and in dire need of a ruthless edit. The Lobster scene goes on forever and the trek to Calvary is almost as long as Gibson's "Passion of the Christ".The beauty of "Multiple Maniacs" is its pus-filled heart, not its aesthetics. The aesthetics would come later with "Female Trouble" and "Desperate Living" and seem counterfeit with truly awful trash such as "Cecil B. Demented", a film I want to murder.

I love the grainy, inky black and white look of this movie, the bad cuts and scratches and even all the jumps in sound. It's just so gorgeous and couldn't be duplicated today...just a strange feeling is captured here, amplified because it's populated with so many hedonistic weirdos and perverts. Of course, these perks only exist because Waters and his crew were completely inept in the technical ways of cinema, but hey, I'll take what I can get.Content wise...this has at least a flash or two of brilliance, which is impressive for a film that cost around "5000" bucks. The opening at the Calvacade of Perversions is great ("She is an auto-erotica copraphrasiac and a gerontophiliac!"), but modern audiences might not know what to make out of all the dated cultural references (too much Manson/Tate stuff)...then there's an incredibly tedious and overlong delusion with Divine narrating her version of Christ. Even more time is padded with endless scenes of characters sitting and/or lying in bed talking (and often forgetting their lines), plus topless jitterbugging from Cookie Mueller, people riding around in cars and Mink Stole ("the religious whore") and Divine walking down the street.Despite all that, the closing sequences (starting with Lobstra) make up for it and are just priceless. Best use of the song "God Bless America" right here folks! And the film is still completely unique and original 30+ years later, so you really have to admire it on that front as well.