My review is based on the Criterion Collection DVD released in 2016. The two DVD set includes commentary by Roger Ebert, who wrote the screenplay and co-wrote the story with director Russ Meyer. He contends that the filmmakers' intentions, mainly consisting of Meyer and himself, were to create nothing less than an exploitation, satire, horror, rock musical. This may or may not have been the actual original intentions. Mr. Ebert's comments were recorded some 34 – 37 years after this film was produced. Therefore due to the passage of time alone I feel one must take his comments with the proverbial grain of salt. Attempting to make a successful picture combining all of these elements would be a daunting task indeed, for anyone. At any rate, regardless of what the intentions may have been one can only assess the final result; that is, what actually appears on the screen. I do not find a genuine or effective satire, horror picture or musical. I feel the exploitation elements, which were probably the easiest to bring to the fore especially in view of Meyer's film experiences, were moderately successful during relatively small portions of the film's 109 minute length.As at least one other reviewer has pointed out, merely presenting clichéd, hackneyed or ludicrously exaggerated and over-the-top situations does not constitute legitimate satire. The latter requires wit, intelligence, intuitiveness, as well as a certain degree of restraint and subtlety. Meyer's general approach is ham-fisted; the equivalent of hitting the viewer's head several times with a sledgehammerThe basic plot element was of course a well-worn cliché even when this movie was filmed back in 1969-1970. Three young and very attractive women leave their small town existence to seek fame and fortune as aspiring rock musicians in Los Angeles, accompanied by their male manager who is also the boyfriend of the lead singer. The central characters are depicted as relative innocents at the beginning but in no time they succumb to or are overwhelmed by the moral turpitude which is L. A. Their encounters or relationships with numerous morally corrupt, depraved and or insane characters provides the essence of the film. Naturally a fair amount of casual sex with attendant nudity and liberal drug use is depicted. In retrospect one can see this film as very much of its time: when Hollywood was trying to "get with it" so to speak. There really were no limits as far as what could be depicted on screen once the rating system was implemented in 1968, provided the studio was willing to acquiesce to an X rating, as 20th Century Fox did in this instance. On the other hand, those that are expecting a very raunchy skin fest will probably be greatly disappointed. By present standards the nudity is fairly limited. For the most part it consists of a number of very brief glimpses of female breasts. A lot of this has to do with Meyer's frequent quick cutting editing style. There is nothing that could truly be considered sexually explicit or graphic, however there are several doses of very graphic, gratuitous and repugnant violence towards the end. The latter sequence almost seems to be tacked on from another film and is presumably yet another attempt to "shock" the typical viewer of 1970.Had the filmmakers chosen to let the relatively light and comedic sexual exploitation elements of the film to predominate, I feel they would have been much more successful insofar as producing an enjoyable film. Instead they felt the need to clumsily tack on some sort of half baked moral message at the very end ludicrously intoned by a voice-over narrator. My initial impression was that this was intended as satire but Ebert's comments indicate that it actually represented Russ Meyer's sincere sentiments.I will say that this film, while a big failure, would be worth seeing at least once as a curio. It does look good; it's generally well photographed with fine color. I don't know if the film was restored for DVD release but the quality is quite good especially for a film this old. There's no question that Meyer has a strong and unique visual style that is well represented here. The amount of female pulchritude on display is considerable. The lead performers don't display much in the way of acting ability and none of them went on to have successful careers. In fairness to the performers the characters they portray are not exactly well developed.

With my Russ Meyer marathon having unintentionally stopped in its tracks after viewing writer/directing auteur Russ Meyer's over looked title Black Snake for the IMDb boards Horror Challenge last year,I decided to celebrate my 9th year of being on IMDb,by taking a look at Meyer's ample epic.The plot:Visiting her aunt Susan Lake after manager Harris Allsworth has sent fledging all-girl Rock band The Kelly Affair up to LA,lead singer Kelly MacNamara is shocked to discover that Lake is planning to give her a third of her inheritance in a will.Fearing that he is about to lose out on a huge piece of cash,Lake's financial adviser Porter Hall attempts to stop Lake's plans by calling MacNamara and her band a bunch of 'dirty hippies'.Ignoring Hall's less than helpful advice,Lake tells MacNamara that along with the inheritance,she is also going to try and get The Kelly Affair to reach the top of LA's Rock scene.Getting introduced to a wild and extremely flamboyant manager/Rock producer called Ronnie 'Z-Man' Barzell,the band dump Allsworth as they set out to use all of Barzell's links in the industry.Renaming themselves The Carrie Nations,the band find their rise to fame to be matched by an increasing prescience of 'hangers-on' which leads to the group finding out how low the highs can go,as they go beyond the valley of the dolls.View on the film:Making his major studio debut,co-writer/ (along with Roger Ebert)director Russ Meyer shows an amazing determination to not soften his distinctive style for a major studio.For the film's eye-catching appearance,Meyer creates an irresistible fizzy atmosphere,with Meyer making the surprisingly good Rock songs (written by Stu Philips) scatter across the screen as Meyer brilliantly using dazzling colours,whip-pans and razor sharp editing to show the dizzy good times that the band experience.Bringing The Carrie Nation down to earth,Meyer uses muted colours to show the darkening of the bands lives,with Meyer entering into some unexpected proto-Slasher regions,which are met by Meyer breaking a large number of taboo's during the Nation's down with large dollops of overly- exaggerated charm .Whilst he appeared to be far too up-tight in his reviews for other movies which took a wonderful overly exaggerated approach to serious subjects,writers Roger Ebert and Russ Meyer reveal themselves to be a winning combo who are able to perfectly mix super sweet melodrama with off-beat 'women's pictures' shavings and delightfully bonkers slices of Slasher Horror. Making very good thumb nail impressions of each of the band members,the writers take a great kaleidoscope approach with the bands rise to fame,as Meyer & Ebert showing all of the wild and deranged frolics to be something which leads the band dazed,and very confused.Crashing down to earth,Meyer and Ebert pair up The Carrie Nations moments of doom with hilarious whip-smart one liners,which gives even the title's most dramatic moments a real Pop sensation.Shown as a group who has travelled up and down every dusty road,each of the beautiful Carrie Nations members give superb performances which compliments each of the different elements the other band members bring to the film.Taking on lead singer duties, the very pretty Dolly Reed gives a tantalising performance as MacNamara,with Reed giving hitting high-kicks as the band reach their heights,which are countered by Reed showing MacNamara's real unease at how to pull the band out of the doom that they are sinking into.Joining Reed,the stunning Marcia McBroom gives a fantastic performance as Petronella 'Pet' Danforth,with McBroom showing the joy fade away from 'Pet's' face,as the band start to relies the valley that they have entered.

I started off hating this film. An exploration of male/female relationships set during the 1960s party scene, I found it alternating between bouts of cheesy singing and dull conversation. The characters irritated me and the script (by none other than film critic Roger Ebert) felt outlandish.But nonetheless I kept watching. Or rather, something kept me watching. I started getting to know the intriguing characters, and then I realised I was hooked. It's barely reminiscent of a Russ Meyer movie - despite focusing on sexual relationships there's little smut or nudity - but it has style to spare. The ending is both shocking and hilarious and comes totally out of left field. Odd, yes, but compelling with it.

Wow. I have always wanted to see this but I didn't expect to like it so much! Definitely a new favorite of mine. With a cast full of unbelievably attractive people, this is the greatest psychedelic period piece from my favorite era of the 20th century. Things don't get much better than this - a 1970 film constantly weaving in and out through over a dozen characters. When a group of hotties move to L.A. to pursue their dream of making it big as a rock band - they get caught up in money, power, and of course SEX! Watch them all transform. The plot seems cliché and shallow - BUT it is anything but - the characters are so interesting you never get bored. Plus, I'll say it again - THEY ARE ALL SO EASY ON THE EYES! The movie would be entertaining enough just staring at this perfect human beings - but no, they have to mix in debauchery, sick editing, unexpected freakouts, hallucinogens, pornstars, suicide, dance parties, dudes with tits, and more! I can't praise this movie enough! See it!