| Up! (1976) 80 min |
| Director Russ Meyer doesn't really break any new ground with Up!, but he works quite well within his formula here. The film fits well in content and tone as the second of his final three classics, also including Supervixens and Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens. Of the three, I would put this one in the middle in terms of quality too (very little can top Supervixens for me). The film has everything you could ask for from a Meyer film in abundance (in very much abundance as far as breasts are concerned). The groundwork that he laid down with classics like Vixen! are exploited much more explicitly here. More sex, more nudity, more violence, more action, and a more complex and wacky plot. |
| The plot is all over the place, having many subplots bounce around until finally most of them meet up in the climax. The story concerns a murder plot and a whole bunch of Meyer-esque suspects. The movie moves at the typical break neck pace jumping from story to story with reckless abandon. The film works well in that all the stories are pretty fun and interesting (Meyer's 'buxotics' ,or large chested beauties, don't hurt either) and we get Francesca 'Kitten' Natividad gyrating around in the buff as The Greek Chorus narrating the story. Now, the story isn't especially clear and neither is Natividad's narration, but they are both certainly good to look at! |
| The story opens with one of the more bizarre scenes I've seen with some guy Adolph Schwartz (looking suspiciously similar to one of the most infamous evil men of the 20th century) involved in some kinky sex acts. Meyer has a great visual approach for this kind of thing. After such an illustrious career, the man knows how to choreograph quite an amazing sex scene. I'm not so full of myself that I would use the word 'choreograph' for most exploitation style sex scenes, but with Meyer I would not consider that an exaggeration. This sex scene is truly a classic, culminating in what must surely be a pain in Mr. Schwartz's ass. |
| Before long, Schwartz is killed by a carnivorous little fish off all things. The mysterious killer sneaks up on him in the bath tub, dumps the vicious little bugger in and soon enough we're left with nothing but a soggy skeleton. Sure enough, just about everyone in the small town is a suspect. There are too many characters to go over in such a limited review, but I should at least mention the one outsider who arrives in the town about the same time as the murder investigation starts to heat up. Busty Raven De La Croix gives life one of my favorite Meyer creations, Margo Winchester. Before all is said and done, Margo has had some sort of interaction with just about everyone in town. Doing her best to clarify things periodically, Natividad pops up and shows us why she's one of the most beloved of Meyer's discoverier. She looks incredible here, and in my opionion, much better than she would a few years later in Ultravixen. |
| Throughout most of the film, any sort of investigation takes a back seat to sexy shenanigans. Thankfully, Natividad pops up to explain most of these for the sexually impaired. Meyer doesn't disappoint in other departments though. There's plenty of witty comedy, colorful and dimwitted characters, action scenes, and a heaping helping of gratuitous violence. There's an unforgettable scene included with an axe wielding dullard wreaking havok in a diner. While not a gore film by any stretch, there's enough blood flow to keep exploitation fans happy. |
| It's interesting to note that this is Meyer's second of three writing collaborations with respected film critic Roger Ebert (the other two being Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens). Their work together has always been creatively and financially successfull (expecially in the case of Dolls). As a huge fan of Meyer's body of work, I have to say that I find the two to be somewhat of an unlikely pair. I guess it makes sense in a way, Meyer was really one of the only exploitation film makers to garner some critical acclaim. For what it's worth, I think their output together has been fantastic. Not that I agree with much Ebert has said since he became a more recognized film critic. It's respectable that he was one of the few to give much deserved praise Last House on the Left, but his crusade against slasher films (Friday the 13th, in particular) and double standards lessen his credibility in my eyes. Regardless, I do respect him as an intelligent man and an important figure in contemporary film. He's also an amusing speaker and his ability to laugh at himself makes him a pretty likable guy. Enough on Ebert though, to sum it up: his contributions to this film are appreciated and he obviously has a good eye for humor. |
| I think any fan of Meyer's work will have a great time with this one. This wouldn't be my recommendation as an introduction to Meyer though. That would have to be Vixen!, Supervixens, or Cherry, Harry, and Raquel!. If you enjoy those like I do though, you probably won't be able to get enough Meyer. You might even do something crazy, like order his $200 three volume autobiography off of his website here! Whether your a casual sexploitation fan or a fanatic, you'll probably have a great time with Up!. All others I would suggest to procede with caution. |
| This is also one of the three films that are available as region 1 DVDs (the others being Mondo Topless and Cherry, Harry, and Raquel!) The prints on these DVDs are all pretty good, nothing amazing but still somewhat better than the imported region 2 DVDs that are floating around the net. Up! includes trailers for a few other Meyer films, that will hopefully be coming to domestic DVD sometime in the near future. |
| I give this one 4 man eating fish out of 5 |
| review by Joe Canistro 11/6/02 |
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