Spoilers
Boy, did I ever have trouble writing a review for UP. This is my third attempt and hopefully my last one. Having seen every Russ Meyer film now, I can say without a doubt that UP is Meyer's most erratic film (and that's saying a lot!). So much so that I really believe everyone involved in the making of UP were either on drugs or drunk, because the film simply doesn't make any sense whatsoever. They were obviously winging it as they went along. The dialogue, though at times brilliantly funny (screenplay was co-written by film critic Roger Ebert!), is totally nonsensical. The characters and their motives don't make any sense and the use of a one-woman Greek chorus (played by Kitten Natividad) is repetitive and quickly becomes annoying. How many times did have to be remimded of who killed Adolph Schwartz? According to an article, Russ had to shoot the one-woman Greek chorus bits because nothing made any sense and she was included to tie-up all the characters and actions. Oddly enough, even with the one-woman Greek chorus, UP still doesn't make any sense: Paul dressed as a Pilgrim; the time at the bottom of the screen (why?!?!); Margo who starts talking like Mae West; the one-woman Greek chorus naming suspects of people who obviously have nothing to do with the killing of the Adolph Hitler look-alike Adolph Schwartz; after the chainsaw scene, Margo and Alice become "friends" but the next scene, Alice wants to kill Margo; the whole conversation between Margo and Alice when they run around in the forest at the end contradicts everything that we just saw in the film, like when Alice says Paul is into young boys and yet we saw Paul making out with her and Margo and a couple of other women throughout the entire movie; Margo's real "official" identity at the end, etc. It's all so disjointed, it's nearly impossible to follow. It looks like Russ and company forgot to shoot many scenes that would have given the film a more cohesive feel to the entire loony proceeding but as it is now, it's a near total mess. And it also looks like they ran out of money when they were shooting the last scene, when Margo, Alice and Paul confront each other, as it suddenly stops right then and there.
And to make things more hard to take, UP, like so many late Russ Meyer films, is an overindulgent and way too boisterous movie. Questionable moments in UP, like the rape scene at the bar, where Rafe, the big silent lumberjack rapes not one but two women at the same time, come to mind. At one point, as Rafe rapes Margo, men at the bar gather around him and cheer him on. One of the men in the crowd is Russ Meyer himself, eagerly slapping the big lumberjack's butt in agreement. This scene is oddly disturbing AND comical. Disturbing because it is rape. Comical because that scene, like the entire movie itself and like all Russ Meyer films made after BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, was made to look like a cartoon. Russ Meyer is to adult films what Tex Avery was to cartoons. All the women have big breasts. And all the men sport huge prosthetic phalluses. The whole thing is so animated and exuberant and over-the-top, with the loud ponderous music playing endlessly, that any semblance of reality is nonexistent. The rape scene is really filmed like a cartoon, with tons of screaming and men with axes in their stomachs that spew blood all over the place and yet they walk away like nothing had happened. So even if some scenes are sorta questionable, Russ makes them so unbelievable that they're not as shocking as they could have been (or should have been). Besides, after the opening scene, where we see Paul (with a fake wad) humping the Adolph Hitler look-alike (Hitler in a sex scene? Ick! And two men having sex. A first in a Russ Meyer flick!), everything that follows sorta looks quaint. But those overindulgent moments still leave a bitter after-taste.
But even with all the negative things going against UP, there are some moment of brilliance here and there, and the film is goofy, spirited and so contented in being a bad movie that it almost seems pointless to put it down. Russ has corraled a great cast of unknowns actors that are totally game. I particularly like Janet Wood, as Alice. She had great comic timing and is beautiful. She and Robert McLane, who plays her husband Paul, make a cute couple. Margo, played by Raven De La Croix, was okay and seems to have a lot of fun but she's not much of an actress.
Sex scenes are numerous in UP. More than any other Russ Meyer films, except for ULTRA-VIXENS. And there isn't a single impotent men in the entire picture (another Russ Meyer first), so everyone is having a good time. Some scenes are beautiful and sensual but they are hardly hot enough to be a turn-on. It's hard for me to believe anyone got turned on by any of the mostly cartoonish sex scenes.
So, to recap: half of UP is truly terrible, trashy and sloppy. But the other half is actually fun, spirited and at times quite original. Like I said, it's not easy to review this film.
Boy, did I ever have trouble writing a review for UP. This is my third attempt and hopefully my last one. Having seen every Russ Meyer film now, I can say without a doubt that UP is Meyer's most erratic film (and that's saying a lot!). So much so that I really believe everyone involved in the making of UP were either on drugs or drunk, because the film simply doesn't make any sense whatsoever. They were obviously winging it as they went along. The dialogue, though at times brilliantly funny (screenplay was co-written by film critic Roger Ebert!), is totally nonsensical. The characters and their motives don't make any sense and the use of a one-woman Greek chorus (played by Kitten Natividad) is repetitive and quickly becomes annoying. How many times did have to be remimded of who killed Adolph Schwartz? According to an article, Russ had to shoot the one-woman Greek chorus bits because nothing made any sense and she was included to tie-up all the characters and actions. Oddly enough, even with the one-woman Greek chorus, UP still doesn't make any sense: Paul dressed as a Pilgrim; the time at the bottom of the screen (why?!?!); Margo who starts talking like Mae West; the one-woman Greek chorus naming suspects of people who obviously have nothing to do with the killing of the Adolph Hitler look-alike Adolph Schwartz; after the chainsaw scene, Margo and Alice become "friends" but the next scene, Alice wants to kill Margo; the whole conversation between Margo and Alice when they run around in the forest at the end contradicts everything that we just saw in the film, like when Alice says Paul is into young boys and yet we saw Paul making out with her and Margo and a couple of other women throughout the entire movie; Margo's real "official" identity at the end, etc. It's all so disjointed, it's nearly impossible to follow. It looks like Russ and company forgot to shoot many scenes that would have given the film a more cohesive feel to the entire loony proceeding but as it is now, it's a near total mess. And it also looks like they ran out of money when they were shooting the last scene, when Margo, Alice and Paul confront each other, as it suddenly stops right then and there.
And to make things more hard to take, UP, like so many late Russ Meyer films, is an overindulgent and way too boisterous movie. Questionable moments in UP, like the rape scene at the bar, where Rafe, the big silent lumberjack rapes not one but two women at the same time, come to mind. At one point, as Rafe rapes Margo, men at the bar gather around him and cheer him on. One of the men in the crowd is Russ Meyer himself, eagerly slapping the big lumberjack's butt in agreement. This scene is oddly disturbing AND comical. Disturbing because it is rape. Comical because that scene, like the entire movie itself and like all Russ Meyer films made after BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, was made to look like a cartoon. Russ Meyer is to adult films what Tex Avery was to cartoons. All the women have big breasts. And all the men sport huge prosthetic phalluses. The whole thing is so animated and exuberant and over-the-top, with the loud ponderous music playing endlessly, that any semblance of reality is nonexistent. The rape scene is really filmed like a cartoon, with tons of screaming and men with axes in their stomachs that spew blood all over the place and yet they walk away like nothing had happened. So even if some scenes are sorta questionable, Russ makes them so unbelievable that they're not as shocking as they could have been (or should have been). Besides, after the opening scene, where we see Paul (with a fake wad) humping the Adolph Hitler look-alike (Hitler in a sex scene? Ick! And two men having sex. A first in a Russ Meyer flick!), everything that follows sorta looks quaint. But those overindulgent moments still leave a bitter after-taste.
But even with all the negative things going against UP, there are some moment of brilliance here and there, and the film is goofy, spirited and so contented in being a bad movie that it almost seems pointless to put it down. Russ has corraled a great cast of unknowns actors that are totally game. I particularly like Janet Wood, as Alice. She had great comic timing and is beautiful. She and Robert McLane, who plays her husband Paul, make a cute couple. Margo, played by Raven De La Croix, was okay and seems to have a lot of fun but she's not much of an actress.
Sex scenes are numerous in UP. More than any other Russ Meyer films, except for ULTRA-VIXENS. And there isn't a single impotent men in the entire picture (another Russ Meyer first), so everyone is having a good time. Some scenes are beautiful and sensual but they are hardly hot enough to be a turn-on. It's hard for me to believe anyone got turned on by any of the mostly cartoonish sex scenes.
So, to recap: half of UP is truly terrible, trashy and sloppy. But the other half is actually fun, spirited and at times quite original. Like I said, it's not easy to review this film.