VHS WEDNESDAY: John Waters' MULTIPLE MANIACS (1970)

Welcome to another new feature here at the ER Blog... VHS Wednesday! Since we're all so spoiled with Blu-Ray releases of everything from the latest mega-hit and neo-trash to lovingly restored versions of such dubious classics as DR. BUTCHER, MD, I felt like a regular feature such as this would give contributors and myself a chance to dip into our dusty VHS shelves – and justify plunking down a couple bucks on something at the thrift store. Fittingly, the debut column features a film from the director interviewed for the debut issue of ER some 30 years ago. Read on as Evan Romero dishes up John Waters' MULTIPLE MANIACS...

So let me set the scene for you: I'm in the movie section of Amoeba Music – specifically, the director's section. Passing John Waters' name I decide to take a gander. Lo and behold, what do I find? MULTIPLE MANIACS! Ten bucks! Not on DVD! Ho ho ho! You bet your sweet ass I'm gonna snatch it up – partly because I wanted to make a friend of mine, who's a huge John Waters fan, green with envy (I succeeded); partly because I enjoy Waters' early work like FEMALE TROUBLE and, especially, PINK FLAMINGOS. Once home, and with the proper amount of pomp and circumstance, I shove it into my VCR, adjust the tracking, and hit PLAY.

Come one, come all – to Lady Divine's Cavalcade of Perversions where "sluts, fags, dykes, and pimps" run amok! See a pornographer go about his trade! See two men kissing! See a heroin addict go through withdrawals! See Lady Divine (Divine, of course) herself rob your ass of money, valuables, and narcotics! Wait, Lady Divine's boyfriend, Mr. David (David Lochary) is sneaking around with Bonnie (Mary Vivian Pierce), an auto-erotic coprophagiac and gerontrophiliac!? Lady Divine will have Mr. David's head on a stick. Unless Mr. David and Bonnie are able to off Lady Divine first!

Those expecting the Waters' usual shtick are going to sprout wood: we've got the psychotic characters, the swingin' music, the atrocities and grotesqueries, the absurdity, the celebration of outsiderdom – all in glorious black-and-white. And on VHS no less! And while we don't get the level of sickness and absurdity that Waters would achieve in PINK FLAMINGOS, there's enough on display here to keep his fans happy and watching the screen. I mean, where else are you gonna see two women getting it on in a church in the presence of a heroin addict? Where else are you gonna see Divine get a rosary shoved up her ass? Where else are you gonna see a woman get raped by a transvestite AND a giant lobster? Nowhere else but this sick little film.

However, between these and other scenes of perversions, MULTIPLE MANIACS does hit a few lulls as some scenes go on for way longer than they should, resulting in sighs and thoughts of mowing the lawn. I mean, seriously, how long does a scene detailing Jesus' betrayal and crucifixion need to be? We all know the story, so please get on with the good stuff. Or, why does it need to drag out Divine's breakdown? It would be fine if it were actually comprised of interesting scenes, but just showing Divine wander about the streets and take a hammer to a car isn't anywhere near exciting. Or, how long does it take for two people to profess their love for one another and decide to kill someone? One line will suffice: "I love you, let's kill her, then fuck upon her corpse." (However, that last bit DOES have the best line of dialogue in the movie: "I love you so fucking much I could SHIT." Priceless. I'm gonna have to keep that one in mind.) If 20-30 minutes were chopped from this flick, we'd be looking at a classic. But at 90 minutes, the whole affair doesn't have quite enough momentum to keep viewers from getting a little bored.

At the end of the day though, MULTIPLE MANIACS is still sick and twisted enough to delight fans of Waters, or lovers of off-kilter cinema. Worth checking out at least once, especially those who think Waters only does rubbish like CRY BABY. – Evan Romero

Evan Romero is a regular contributor to the pages of ER and spends much of his time reading morally-questionable books and watching movies no sane person would touch. He is the vocalist/bassist for the punk band Porno Holocaust (you can find them on Facebook and listen to some demos if you’re inclined). You can read more of his reviews at ReelAtrocities.com or at PopHorror.com. He last wrote about TROMA'S WAR for the ER blog's Troma Tuesday feature.

This is Almost Enough to Make Me Subscribe to the PLAYBOY Channel!

Did you love John Waters' commentary track on the CHRISTMAS EVIL DVD and Blu-Ray?

Wouldn't you love to sit down and watch a bunch of movies with the PINK FLAMINGOS director and get his take on them?

The PLAYBOY Channel – which I didn't know still existed – is going one better and has hired Waters to host screenings of a series of vintage porn films that will air on Saturday nights beginning this month. (Unfortunately, this received so little press that we've already missed the first week!)

Waters is slated to host screenings of such groundbreaking and legendary skin flicks as DEEP THROAT, THE DEVIL IN MISS JONES, CANDY STRIPERS, TELL THEM JOHNNY WADD IS HERE and DEBBIE DOES DALLAS.

Waters to Make LAST STALL ON THE LEFT?

One of the best things about living near Baltimore is the possibility that you could run into the great John Waters while walking around Hampden or hanging at one of the local art museums.

These days, Waters is on the road with his one-man show 'This Filthy World' and giving interviews about things like stuff you hear in Baltimore and his idea for a film about the Larry Craig airport bathroom scandal.

Of Waters and Zombies

After spending most of the day yesterday working on the house, it was nice to get out and head down to the MD Film Fest. I've always been underwhelmed by MD's three day event, which usually seems to rely too much on art house bullshit and experimental wanking with the odd documentary or horror flick thrown in to satisfy the curious. This year they were doing a "tribute" to area low-budget filmmaker Don Dohler, but said tribute appeared to be a single showing of one film, outdoors and a documentary made by a local film student.

Anyway, films weren't my reason for going. Atomic Books, a local indie book/comic/pop culture store that carries The Hungover Gourmet invited me down to hang at their booth in the fest's new "arts village" and sign copies of THG for lucky buyers. It turned out to be fun as some people actually did buy copies and had me sign them. I felt like such a celeb.

My signing was scheduled right before and during the festival's annual John Waters Presents screening, in which the local hero screens a favorite film of his selected just for the fest. This year it was Bobcat Goldthwait's new flick, SLEEPING DOGS LIE and the SHAKES THE CLOWN director was also joining Waters for the screening. Though I didn't get to attend the screening – I was busy dealing with my adoring public – it did my heart good that I talked to a half dozen or more teenaged kids who were there with their parents to attend the Waters event. I had to laugh because *my parents* had a bit of a coronary when a local newspaper profiled me when the first issue of Exploitation Retrospect came out and they mentioned my love for PINK FLAMINGOS, in which a fat transvestite ate dog excrement. Good times, good times.

Last but not least, I also picked up a copy of ZOMBIEMANIA: 80 MOVIES TO DIE FOR by Arnold Blumberg and Andrew Hershberger. Though both are Baltimore area residents, the book is published by Telos in the UK. The nearly 500 page work serves as a guide to the incredibly popular walking dead genre, with looks at everything from WHITE ZOMBIE and BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT to RE-ANIMATOR, THE BEYOND, NIGHT OF THE COMET, NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES and much more. From what I've read so far the book treads that fine line between reverential and tongue-in-cheek.

TV Chatter and Waters on 'Earl'

Starting this week, Monday will probably take over as my favorite night of TV viewing. It's pretty tough to beat the adrenaline rush triple shot of '24' (last week's nuke attack slapped the wuss right out of Jack Bauer and sucked him back into the war on everybody), 'Prison Break' (the show might be centered around Michael and Lincoln, but I'd watch a whole show of nothing but the amazing T-Bag), and 'Heroes' (simply the best show on television, network or cable, period).

But I have to hand it to NBC for finally getting back to basics with their Thursday night lineup. As recently as the start of this season their solid block of comedies -- 'My Name is Earl', 'The Office', 'Scrubs' and '30 Rock' -- were spread all over the schedule forcing me to timeshift my viewing habits to make my own comedy night. Now they've saved me the trouble by putting all of these shows back-to-back (squared) on one night.

And while 'Earl' and 'Scrubs' can be hit or miss and the latter's musical episode was far better than I anticipated, 'The Office' and '30 Rock' are in a class by themselves. Kudos to 'The Office' for integrating new characters and then figuring out a way to whittle them down over time so that we're left with the core members of the Dunder Mifflin team. (Jim's realization last night that he missed Dwight -- "Congratulations universe, you won" -- was both sweet and hysterical.)

As for '30 Rock', I'm just glad the whole world -- or at least the people who take the time to tune in each week -- are getting the chance to enjoy Alec Baldwin's brilliant turn as NBC honcho Jack Donaghy. I loved last night's episode, especially the scenes of Kenneth the page dealing with the Brian Williams aftermath, but it's Baldwin (and to an extent Tracy Morgan) who gives the show its comic zing.

Before I forget and get back to work, John Waters turned up on 'My Name is Earl' last night as a funeral home director. He's only in the show for a couple minutes but got the biggest laughs of the episode (at least in our house) thanks to delivering his lines in pure Waters fashion. You can watch the entire episode at NBC's web site. I think Waters turns up in the second segment.