# Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)

### reviewed by
Shane Burridge

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979) 93m

If this manic, lurid, plotless sex romp had been the only thing ever made by writer-director-producer-editor Russ Meyer, it would no doubt have become an instant classic. It still has, as far as its fans are concerned. It turned out to be my introduction to Meyer, double-billed with SUPERVIXENS (talk about being thrown off the deep end) so I was able to enjoy it more than Meyer devotees who had already seen better films like MUDHONEY and FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! Here's the story: a narrator (Stuart Lancaster) introduces us to diverse characters populating Small Town, USA, who spend the next hour and a half jumping into bed (and rivers, and bathtubs, et al) with each other. Most of the 'action' revolves around sexually frustrated Ken Kerr and unsatisfied wife Kitten Natividad (Meyer's girlfriend at the time) getting it on with a variety of partners.

What makes Meyer's films unique among other skin flicks is his dexterity as a film-maker, most notably his energetic editing which inserts flash-forwards and cross-cutting to humorous effect. His characters are larger than life - oversexed, fervent, bitchy, and (if they're female) astonishingly proportioned. He fills his frame with hicks and white trash and then films them at tilted angles against bright cartoony colors. When Meyer first attracted a following, movie buffs figured that he was too smart a talent to be involved with grindhouse material. However when he strayed from the independent scene and worked on the studio projects FANNY HILL, THE SEVEN MINUTES and BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, the results fell short of expectations. Meyer returned to indie adult fare, eventually calling it a day with BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRA VIXENS (even though a further 'Vixens' episode was promised in the final credits). To compare ULTRA VIXENS with a much earlier Meyer film, WILD GALS OF THE NAKED WEST, is to see a lack of stylistic development despite the gulf of years and experience. Both are a series of lewd, comic vignettes filmed in the trademark Meyer fashion - the main difference is that ULTRA VIXENS is a lot more graphic. Not only does Meyer up the ante on the sexual couplings but the breasts of the heroines are even bigger than in his previous films. In his early days, Meyer was spoofing the genre; in ULTRA VIXENS he is spoofing himself (he even dubs in his own flatulence for the sex scenes!). It's an amplification of everything that has gone before, but at least this time Meyer backs off from the rape and violence that was beginning to infuse his work (in BLACKSNAKE it had become so over-the-top it was more ludicrous than offensive). In ULTRA-VIXENS the hot-tempered characters still have fistfights, but instead of blood they spill brightly colored paint.

Is ULTRA VIXENS worth seeing? Yes: it is deliciously crude and well-made cinema. But it's probably a good thing that Meyer quit when he did. There's a telling moment when he appears at the film's end, toting his camera about and wondering where his crew has gotten to. Perhaps he knew he couldn't really top ULTRA VIXENS without descending straight into porn, which was fast becoming big business with the advent of home video technology. Or maybe there's an even more insidious reason - with the proliferation of breast implants, every actress was becoming a potential Meyer performer, and the 'King of the Nudies' no doubt had too much of an eye for natural beauty to accept substitutes (the talents on display in the opening scene are highly suspect!). In the meantime stacked women appeared in everything from teen comedies to music videos. It wasn't censorship or economics that killed Russ Meyer. It was silicone.

    sburridge@hotmail.com

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