1962 Herschel Gordon Lewis as a Nudie-cutie film This is the case when everything is so bad that it turns out quite well. Herschel Gordon promotes nudism. He sees only good in it. However, how cleverly he makes the film. Either seriously or jokingly, we are looking for a missing husband. A private detective and his assistant will tour all the nudist beaches, at the same time imbued with subculture. It is a skillful play on the classical design of noir. And that makes me smile.
There's a nuance. Herschel Gordon makes films that are independent and free of studio restrictions. And without caustic sarcasm can not do: what is happening may well correspond to the fashionable then in Europe “new wave”. The structure of the film is constantly confused into an ordinary, boring narrative that captures existence. And all pauses without measure are filled with naked nature. Such hooliganism would have been quite understandable for Europe of those years, but in Puritan America it was a clear challenge.
In terms of erotic issues, the film is also unusual. The most ordinary and ordinary people rush before us. They're far from the Playboy gloss. It's like they're challenging the system.
So, for all its mediocrity, there's a lot of fluffy bravado and a real challenge in this film. Herschel Gordon Lewis made a bad, weak movie, a sample of bad taste. But, at the same time, his work is quite consistent with paintings by Russ Meyer and John Waters. And that’s even difficult to think – if the banter, then the film is a huge success. But if he is serious about all this, then of course it is very strange.
But the Americans do not even bother to draw analogies with the new wave. It’s a nudie-cutie movie. The forerunner of what we now collectively call "sexploitation."
So it's not easy for me to judge. From the point of view of the tape itself, the film is not interesting, but if you try to see an action, a challenge, a mockery of the mainstream. That was a very, very good thing. So - neutral
4 out of 10