User Reviews

OK, here's what happens in the first few minutes:

Adolf "Schwartz", a wrinkled, perverted old resident of the American Midwest, still wearing his trademark moustache & cowlick, is pleasured in the dungeon of his Germanic castle by his servants, finally submitting to sodomy from his favourite, 'The Pilgrim', who steals all the money out of his wallet. Adolf then takes a nice, relaxing bath, reads the paper, & gets eaten alive by a piranha called The Nimrod.

Summarising the story would be an idiotic exercise - it involves a young couple, Paul & Sweet Li'l Alice (Paul is the previously mentioned Pilgrim, & Sweet Li'l Alice is a nymphomaniac, surprise surprise), a stranger in town called Margo (also, presumably, a nymphomaniac), a corrupt cop called Homer (I guess you could call him a nymphomaniac, except he's a guy), & loads of drooling, sex-starved hillbillies. Get the picture?

Plus, the plot (ho, ho, ho) is helped along by the Greek chorus of a romping, naked wood-nymph who keeps reminding the audience of the ongoing investigation into Adolf Schwartz's murder. Apparently this film is a murder mystery.

What separates Russ Meyer's films from normal smut or porn is the sheer deranged energy that fuels them, a warped sense of humour & a genuine cinematic skill. 'Up' is no exception, but unfortunately, it's one of his later films, which tend to display a much nastier, truly misogynistic bent, & contains two of the most offensive scenes I've seen in a Meyer film.

The first involves Margo being beaten almost to death & then raped while unconscious. An extremely violent, graphic & gratuitous scene which seems totally at odds with the comic atmosphere that the film is really trying to achieve.

The second is even worse in its own way - Margo is gang-raped in a bar, with Russ Meyer himself in the crowd, egging it all on. What makes this scene particularly nasty is that it's shot in a strangely comic fashion. Not aiming for high laughs, but making it out to be somehow absurd, as opposed to horrifying. Things go really crazy when the giant lumberjack raping Margo grabs Sweet Li'l Alice & tries to rape them both at the same time. Doesn't make much sense on any level, but little does in this film.

Meanwhile, the murder investigation continues, & the resolution involves the offspring of Adolf Hitler & Eva Braun...

Meyer fans will find a few laughs in 'Up!', as he seems to be going for insanity over titillation, but anyone else will be baffled, offended, or both.

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.

I should preface this review by pointing out that Russ Meyer films are loved by many and berated by an equal amount. The themes of violence, sexual exploitation and taboo content either delight some, or greatly offend others.I encourage you to develop your own take on Russ's unusual films.

The film opens with an S&M session involving Paul, the Nazi Adolf Schwartz (who bears a striking resemblance to another famous Adolf) and several concubines. Paul is whipping Adolph as he ravishes the women. Adolph then pays Paul a "bonus" for Paul pleasuring him in two unmentionable varieties.(shown discretely) Cut to the murder of Nazi AdolfSchwartz at his home by placing a ravenous piranha fish in his bubble bath. The identity of the black glove wearing murderer is a mystery.

The story then veers course to show super sexy Margot Winchester hitchhiking into town. A police patrolman attempts to give Margo a lift which she refuses. However she is picked up by a man a few moments later, who then drives her to a wooded location, and struggle ensues as he tries to rape her. He beats her violently unconscious at the edge of a lake and then rapes her. When Margo comes to and discovers him still on top of her she goes berserk and flings him tumbling over backwards breaking his back and killing him. The police officer sees the incident and then bribes Margo. In exchange for a different story about the rapists "accidental" death Margo agrees to "please" the cop. Margo then gets a job where Paul works at Alice's restaurant. Alice the owner and wife of Paul, knows a good thing when she sees one and realizes that Margo's beauty will attract customers. Sure enough it does and things get busy very fast. Things go so well in fact that Alice opens a second café and opening night is especially crowded.

A large yellow haired lumberjack named Rafe goes on a drinking binge and becomes more and more unhinged. Margot gives the patrons a burlesque show and it sets Rafe over the edge. Like a caveman he throws Margo onto a table and proceeds to rape her. Paul tries to stop him but he is knocked unconscious. Alice races to a nearby phone to call the law. Meanwhile while Margo is being raped the other male patrons hold her down and even cheer Rafe on. The other bar patrons hear the cop arriving and flee leaving only Alice, Rafe and Margo inside. As Rafe continues to rape Margo, Alice jumps on his back attempting to end his barbaric assault. Rafe throws her down on top of Margo and starts to rape her as well. The cop arrives and after several painful attempts to stop Rafe he picks up an hatchet mounted on the bar wall and chops into Rafe's back. Rafe stands upright screaming in agony. The patrolman attempts to comfort the girls thinking Rafe has been stopped. But instead Rafe pulls the hatchet from his back and chops the patrolman with it into his chest. He picks up the girls, one under each arm and carries them screaming into the woods. He reminds me of King Kong here. Somehow the cop manages to pull out the hatchet and get to his feet. He sees a chainsaw on he bar wall near where the hatchet once was once mounted. He follows the screaming into the woods. When Rafe flings the two women to the ground the cops lunges and drives the whirling chainsaw into Rafe's abdomen. In a torrent of splashing gory blood Rafe is torn to shreds with the chainsaw.

The movie then cuts to Margo making a phone call at a phone booth near the woods. She drives to a cabin all the while being followed by a mysterious stranger in a car. She enters a cabin and starts to take a shower. The mysterious figure approaches and attempts to kill Margo with a knife ala Hitchcock's Psycho. Margo manages to flee into the woods. When she turns to confront her attacker we see to our surprise that it is sweet little Alice. In a sequence where Alice chases Margo with a knife it is revealed that Margo killed Adolph out of jealousy for his sexual dealings with Paul. It is also revealed that Adolph is Alice's true father and that they had an incestuous relationship. Just when it seems as if Alice is ready to kill Margo things shift gears and it seems they will make love instead. Alice walks Margo over to an abandoned spring mattress in the woods and they are about to start fooling around when surprise! Paul appears wielding a gun and wounds his wife Alice with a single shot. Paul confesses his love for Adolph and the Nazi philosophy. He resents his wife Alice for killing Adolf. Margo times a defensive attack and knocks the gun from Paul's hand.

In a strange twist the film cuts to epilogue #1 where we see Margo inside the police commissioner's office. She's a cop! And she is commended for her great service. And if all this gets too confusing, Russ Meyer helpfully arranges for a one- woman nude Greek chorus (Kitten Natividad) to pop up at intervals to explain what's going on, even if she fails to entirely do so. This is one of RM's more surreal films and often the plot at the end gets very messy and not all the loose ends are tied up. Also reoccurring in this title is RM's obsession with Nazi's which he has stated he developed during his time in the service during WW2. This film contains more nudity and sexual situations than some of his other endeavors. Its typical delightful Russ Meyers campy world of sex, violence, suspense and hot girls with ridiculously huge knockers. Once again its fun to watch even if its crude, convoluted at times, and downright taboo at others.

This 1976 movie was co-written, produced, and directed by Russ Meyer. It's the middle of Meyer's masterpieces, preceded by "SuperVixens" (1975), and followed by "Beneath The Valley Of The Ultra-Vixens" (1979). The movie starts with Adolph Schwartz (Edward Schaaf), an old German guy who looks like Adolph Hitler, being killed, when a hungry piranha is dropped into his bathtub. Early in the action, the legendary Candy Samples briefly appears as the Headsperson. Later, the breathtakingly beautiful Margo Winchester (Raven De La Croix) hitch-hikes into town, gets a job at the local diner, and becomes romantically involved with the sheriff. Since Charles Napier had moved on to mainstream movies, Sheriff Homer Johnson is played by Monte Bane. To help keep track of the plot, we have the Greek Chorus, in the form of a naked Kitten Natividad. However, it's not Kitten's voice doing the narration. Near the end of the movie, Margo discovers who the murderer is. However, that's not as important as one would think, since this movie is not a whodunit, but a who did who!

when people talk Meyer films, I never hear Up! mentioned at all and I don't know why. I am constantly perplexed that Supervixens gets much acclaim yet nobody mentions Up!

Maybe it's just me.

This is the 11th Meyer film I saw and I really enjoyed it. A lot. Again, maybe it's just the fact that Raven is so ravishing that draws me in. She is indeed one of the top Meyer girls, and tis a shame she wasn't cast in any others. She's gorgeous, has such a cool face, and of course, her bustline is amazing.

I guess this one was made so much later in his career that it went under the radar. It came out in '76 and by then people were already experiencing more intense cinema like Star Wars and Jaw, the 'blockbuster' as it were....perhaps Russ was past his prime by then. Maybe it was too self-referential, too cartoon-ish, too zany, too sleazy, maybe it was bar rape scene, who knows.....whatever the reason, it's a shame.

Love the rednecks and hillbillies in Meyer films- they don't seen Hollywood. And since I suffer from the same malady as Meyer did- Bosomania- I'll never argue with his casting, especially with Raven, who stands up there with Tura, Erica Gavin, Ann Marie, and others as top Meyer gals.

Hope to attend a Meyer film fest someday to see this on the big screen.