BA_Harrison
Infamous underground figure Divine (played by fat drag queen Divine) prides herself as the filthiest person alive, but finds herself competing for the title against reprehensible baby-ring operators Connie and Raymond Marble (Mink Stole and David Lochary), who also revel in their repulsiveness.With Pink Flamingos, director John Waters and his merry band of reprobates go all out to offend and disgust, and in that they most definitely succeed. The plot is seriously dumb and the acting utterly atrocious, but Waters' unique brand of depravity most definitely hits the mark, with something guaranteed to upset even the most jaded of viewers.Even though I consider myself hardened to most cinematic filth, there were several moments that almost had me reaching for the off button, including a man doing very strange things with his ass-hole, Divine giving 'her' on screen son a blow-job, and the infamous dog turd scene (by which time the film was thankfully almost over). It's been forty-five years since Pink Flamingos first shocked audiences, but thank to scenes like those, it still ranks as one of the most repugnant movies ever made.I'm not sure how to rate a film like this, so, for the time being, I'm not going to.
Scott LeBrun
From the legendary John Waters comes this notorious exercise in camp and trash. It helped him to cement his reputation as a prime purveyor of purely sleazy and grimy material. The pacing isn't the greatest - some scenes really go on too long - but Waters comes up with some truly awe inspiring nuttiness. The viewer won't believe what they're seeing.The great drag performer Divine plays a character named Divine, now assuming the identity of "Babs Johnson" and living in an isolated trailer in Maryland. Divines' trailer mates include a son, Crackers (Danny Mills), a "travelling companion", Cotton (Mary Vivian Pearce), and an egg-loving mother, Edie (Edith Massey), who's confined to a playpen much of the time. Divine takes great pride in her status as "the filthiest person alive", but the uptight Connie Marble (Mink Stole) covets that title and will do anything to get it.Also among the sordid characters are Connies' perverted husband Raymond (David Lochary), put upon butler Channing (Channing Wilroy), who's employed to knock up the hapless ladies kept in the Marbles' basement, Cookie the spy (Cookie Mueller), and Edies' beloved egg delivery man (Paul Swift). All of these quirky freaks provide solid entertainment value - Connie sports red hair and Raymond sports blue hair - but Divine dominates them all with a knowingly hammy performance and an incredible "just go for it" attitude.The various disgusting things that Waters has his people do really shouldn't be spoiled here, so that potential viewers can experience them fresh. The director fills the soundtrack with many catchy golden oldies and gives us a final scene that we're pretty much guaranteed to remember.Waters did earn this viewers' respect for having the courage of his convictions. He succeeds at creating a cult comedy that is equal parts jaw dropping, offensive, and funny in the most appreciably offbeat way possible.Seven out of 10.
kevjfarrell
...enjoyable too in a freakish sort of way!! This is one of John Waters early works (and it shows). But he was starting out and learning his craft by trial and error. This was made back in the early 70's - it doesn't stand up to today's young movie makers starting out. But hey, times were so much different then!!! The facilities that were available to the likes of John Waters back then are comparatively prehistoric to what is available nowadays. John Waters bravely puts out his own personality and dark depths of his mind for anyone to see. There's plenty to be revolted by in this movie, but don' be too hasty to dismiss it as cheap, vile trash. It does have some merit...without it and future films, we wouldn't have the John Waters that we have today. Certainly not a movie for everyone.....but if you like some BAD taste, then you'll find something to amuse yourself in this. Most of his actors appear in his later productions too. Parts of the movie will gross you out!
p-stepien
John Water's ultimate cult classic "Pink Flamingos" was released in 1972 with disgustingly rave reviews and in an atmosphere of controversy, which quickly torpedoed the movie to a defining picture of his career. Albeit by far not his best.Starring Divine as the most disgusting person in the world and accompanied by chicken-fecking, peep-tomming, egg-slurping and police-canibalistic family she aims to do one thing and one thing only: shock! Back in the days "Pink Flamingo" was made to push all the wrong buttons on the conservative culture dominant in the USA. And it got desired results with some ecstatic reviews to boot given by the more progressive crowd.Life has gone on, but "Pink Flamingos" is way past it's expiration date. What used to shock and entertain now mostly bores and disappoints. We are left with horrendous acting, half-cooked dialogue, crappy amateurish cinematography and a very iffy script. Not even some mother-on-son penis-slurping action can help that.In the end I couldn't help but feel the comparison with early African movies. Back in the days they were revolutionary and pushed the boundaries of what was done. But nowadays in hindsight they remain mildly entertaining with a very high value from a anthropological point of view. In regards to "Pink Flamigoes" the questions the should be put forth to future anthropologists are: Why did this movie have such an influence back in the day? And what was it's relevance as social commentary? In the end you are left with only one thought after consuming this slightly smelly old movie: Did Divine flinch before she ate the dog turd or not?
AD
