Week 9 (Aug 16 – 22) – Cinema of Transgression: “none shall emerge unscathed” -Nick Zedd
Directed by David Markey, Lovedolls Superstar is the wild, anarchic 1986 sequel to the underground cult classic Desperate Teenage Lovedolls. Running nearly half an hour longer than its predecessor, this Super 8 punk-rock epic trades quick-and-dirty vignettes for a full-blown, Manson-inspired swipe at the Religious Right, celebrity culture and the music industry. Featuring a legendary soundtrack stacked with contributions from Sonic Youth, Redd Kross, Meat Puppets and the Dead Kennedys, it stands as an absolute high-water mark for American independent trash cinema.
The story picks up with the Lovedolls shattered and scattered. Kitty Carryall (Jennifer Schwartz) has hit rock bottom, wallowing as a boozy has-been in a Venice sewer-water spa. Patch Kelly (Janet Housden) has reinvented herself as Patch Christ, the ruthless leader of an acid-damaged religious cult of ex-fans who steal and kill on command. And Alexandria (Kim Pilkington) is scraping by as a Hollywood Boulevard hooker. When Patch rescues Kitty, the pair set out to put the band back together, recruiting Alexandria on guitar. But their road to galactic superstardom is hilariously perilous. They find themselves dodging and fighting a ridiculous gallery of antagonists, including Rainbow Tremaine (Steve McDonald), the wide-eyed, peace-and-love twin brother of their murdered ex-manager, fresh off a New Mexico commune; Patricia Anne Cloverfield (Tracy Marshak-Nash), a vengeance-seeking mother armed with Ritz crackers and a gun; and Carl Celery (Jeffrey McDonald), an unhinged super-fan sent on a delusional mission to assassinate Bruce Springsteen.
Along the way, the film mercilessly skewers everything in its path, from brutalizing a sleazy record executive to staging a Jonestown-style cult massacre, crashing a feminist talk show (Women On Women), and staging an unforgettable parody of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” video. I also like the idea of Jello Biafra as President of our country.
You can watch this on Tubi.
