Desperate Living (1977)

Strong and Moving!

I'll tell you why so serious

A lot of fun.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This film is about two idiots who kill a man and run away to hide in a hell on earth called "Mortville". This town is ruled by a gross and insane queen (Edith Massey) and all the residents are depraved losers living in a squalid shantytown. While there are tons of sick freaks inhabiting the town, Divine was unavailable due to another acting commitment and David Lochary recently died due to drug use and their presence was sorely missed.While all of John Waters' previous films received X-ratings, this one oddly did not and I really can't understand why. This film is jam-packed full of full frontal nudity--much more than you'd find in PINK FLAMINGOS and FEMALE TROUBLE (Waters' two previous films) combined. Now if you are looking for anything remotely sexy, I advise you to look elsewhere, as these people make up the ugliest nude and sex scenes in film history. For example, you get to see a 400 pound woman having sex, a castration as well as a crotch shot of (ugghh!) Edith Massey!! My advice is do NOT watch this film on a full stomach! Also, unless you are planning on living a celibate life, I also advise you not to watch as it might just permanently kill your sex drive--it's THAT bad. Yuck!!Despite all the depravity and copious nudity, the film is actually better than PINK FLAMINGOS because there actually a few funny and inspired moments--whereas FLAMINGOS seemed only designed to offend. My favorite scenes included the great wrestling match as well as the first 10 minutes of the film (some of the funniest in film history).Amazing because it was poorly made and offensive, I think this film is a step backwards for John Waters' fans, as the previous film (FEMALE TROUBLE) is much funnier and insightful regarding modern society. DESPERATE LIVING is just nasty and occasionally funny....but mostly nasty. It doesn't really seem to have much relevance or parody--just lots and lots of shocks spread among the humor. I only recommend it to die-hard Waters fans and the very, very curious.

John Waters disgusted the world in 1972 with the holy grail of trash PINK FLAMINGOS, starring the voluptuous Divine, and continued to offend and entertain two years later with FEMALE TROUBLE. When the final climatic piece of his trash trio DESPERATE LIVING came to pass, it was not as widely accepted as it was missing his muse Divine, instead casting resident villain Mink Stole (the fire crotched Connie Marble in PINK FLAMINGOS and ungrateful illegitimate delinquent child Taffy Davenport in FEMALE TROUBLE) as the lead character, neurotic and paranoid housewife Peggy Gravel. While Stole doesn't possess the outrageous act and memorable costume and attitude of the late Divine, her portrayal of Gravel was equally lively and insane as Divine's roles.Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) is an abusive housewife fresh out of the sanitarium after suffering from EXTREME paranoia and psychotic breakdowns. When her sweet-natured husband Bosley (George Stover) tries to medicate her after a round of abuse at her two innocent children, she and her obese black maid Grizelda (Jean Hill) kill him and go on the run from the law. After a narrow escape from a perverted motorcycle cop, they seek refuge in a scummy town for runaways called Mortville. The runaway partners in crime stay with lesbian lovers Mole (Susan Lowe) and Muffy (Liz Renay), owners of a boarding house, Mole being a woman trapped in a mans body, and Muffy as the most beautiful woman in Mortville. The sleazy town is run by kinky and sadistic Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey), a fascist leader whose punishment for ANY crime is death by firing squad. When her wayward daughter Princess Coo-Coo (Mary Vivian Pierce) runs off with a nudist garbage man, all hell breaks loose. DESPERATE LIVING is my favourite John Waters film, and one of my favourite films period. I'm relatively new to Waters, but his outrageous sense of humor and strong satirical slander is particularly evident in DESPERATE LIVING. He mocks the fascist political view, with paintings of Hitler and Idi Armin lining Queen Carlotta's walls, and the most trivial things being contraband (such as newspapers etc.). It is also a strong feminist film, which copped a lot of flack in its release as it was made by a man! And the performances are golden, Mink Stole makes the opening scene magical, Jean Hill is the perfect addition to the Dreamlanders as she goes all-out, and Edith Massey is adorable and strong as always. Mary Vivian Pierce is also delightful, and I don't know if this was intentional, but bears a strong resemblance to Bette Davis' Baby Jane Hudson from WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE.DESPERTE LIVING is one of the funniest films I've ever seen, the dialogue is fantastic. There are charming and original costumes, and the set design of the town and Queen Carlotta's kingdom is great.While John Waters' DVD commentary is hilarious as usual, Liz Renay contributes a less insightful, but still relatively entertaining accompaniment. You could tell she really enjoyed working with John, and she looked divine (no pun intended) for her age (51 at the time). R.I.P. Liz, while your contribution to the commentary was slight, your energetic performance will live on in my DVD player.Overall, DESPERATE LIVING is one for fans of trash and Waters alike, but with a strong political satire. 10/10, don't take the humor too seriously or you will want Waters castrated.

"Desperate Living" is about as disgusting as "Pink Flamingos" and at times worse. Mink Stole plays Peggy Gravel, a paranoid schizo housewife. Her and her maid Grizelda, who's a 400 lb. black woman, kill Peggy's husband. They flee in guilt and are stopped by a cop with an underwear fetish before driving to Mortville. Mortville is a town made up of all garbage. The evil queen Carlotta (Edith Masey) presides over the town in a fascist manner, her guards are forced to fulfill her bizarre sexual needs. The queen disowns her daughter princess Coo-Coo for wanting to marry Herbert, a nudist garbage man. We are treated to strange bright colored costumes and trash art galore. Delirious Peggy continues to bicker. Her and Grizela reside in an trashy apartment with a lesbian couple. The mean butchy Moe, longs to be a man and her lover Muffy is the the pretty one; blond and big breasted. In the films most hilarious and morbid flashback, we learn how Muffy had to flee to Mortville as a criminal. She gets upset at her stoned babysitter; not only for having a party while while she was away, but for leaving her baby in the refrigerator. She shoves the babysitter's face in dog food and screams "Eat dog food Bitch! Try and stick my baby in the refrigerator!" The sitter ends up suffocating in the dog food. Then Muffy kills her alcoholic husband, when his head gets caught in the car window. Although "Desperate Living" is missing drag actor Devine, it still is disgusting, depraved and hilarious as ever. With raunchy sex, nudity, perverse humor and low budget gore; it's in a town of its own.

Possibly more depraved than "Pink Flamingos", if that's possible, "Desperate Living" is a paradox for the senses. Although tasteless and shocking, it is ultimately warm hearted and uproariously hilarious. Those familiar with John's style know that these contradictions work splendidly within the context that he intended them to. Never mean spirited, the outrageousness lends itself to an overall statement on the callousness of society itself. Mink Stole is simply incredible as Peggy Gravel. Her ranting and raving throughout the film is side splitting. Special mention to Jean Hill as Grizelda, Liz Renay as Muffy, and of course the ever demure (ha!) Edith Massey as Queen Carlotta. Leave all inhibitions at the door and enjoy this twisted fairy tale roller coaster ride of a good time! A definite 9/10!!