stevedea

Desperate Living (1977)

I Still Laugh Every Time

John Water's Lesbian Tour de Force. Edith Massey is at the peak of her career in this film as the incorrigible Queen Carlotta, a diminutive monarch who leads a group of leather-clad henchmen into subjugating and terrorizing the town of Mortville. Mink Stole and her companion, the buxom Jean Hill are riotous as newcomers to this edgy, trashy community inhabited by people `who are so ashamed at what they've done.' Susan Lowe and Liz Renay steal the show as the lesbian couple who rent `the room out back' to Mink and Jean. This film has many memorable scenes and unforgettable characters, and Desperate Living is by far one of John Water's best films. Check out Mr. Paul, Flipper, Princess Cuckoo, the Baby in the Refrigerator, and Big Jimmy Dong, the Human Blockhead. It's raw, remorseless, and reprehensible. Only from the brain of Waters could this scandalous, imaginative and wildly unapologetic romp emanate.