Review of Beneath The Valley Of The Ultra Vixens

Introduction

Beneath The Valley Of The Ultravixens is Russ Meyer`s titular (ahem) tweak (double ahem) on his previous opus Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (which had nothing whatsoever to do with the 1967 adaptation of Jacqueline Susann`s novel Valley Of The Dolls) and diminishing-return series sequels such as Beneath The Planet Of The Apes. A semi-sequel of Supervixen and Vixen, "Beneath" was Meyer`s last fiction movie outing.

Made in 1979 and starring the magnificent Francesca "Kitten" Natividad as frustrated nymphomaniac Lavonia Shedd, "Beneath" is (like all Meyer`s movies) a twisted morality tale about small-town America. Married to junkyard worker Lamar (weaselly Ken Kerr), Lavonia`s active sex life is only spoiled by Lamar`s preference for the back passage, which does little for her and is otherwise just a pain in the ass. She hatches a plot to convert Lamar`s tastes by seducing him as stripper Lola Langusta.

Stuart Lancaster appears as the narrator of the piece. A regular in Meyer`s movies, his physical similarity to the director pegs him as the director`s voice in the story. The movie was co-written by Roger "Two-Thumbs-Up" Ebert the film critic, and only confirms the suspicions one has about critics. Glass Houses and Stones spring to mind.

The movie is full of wonderful grotesques, including Lamar`s junkyard workmates, a crazed gay dentist-cum-marriage counsellor (Robert Pearson) and a door-to-door salesman of incredibly disreputable aspect (Mickey Finn, aka Mickey Foxx). The Coen Brothers can only dream of such people. In counterpoint, there are the Amazonian women required of a Russ Meyer picture including "Kitten" Natividad, Anne-Marie (as the wonderfully named Eufaula Roop), Sharon Hill, June Mack, Candy Samples and Uschi Digard.

Video

Previously only available in Region Two as a French standards-conversion from an NTSC tape master, this edition while not pristine is a huge improvement on that. Presented in its original 4:3, the image is not as sharp as it might be, and showing signs of wear and tear. As with all the Russ Meyer pictures, this has never been treated with the loving reverence reserved for a movie like Casablanca, but being the most recent has suffered the least in comparison with its stablemates. If the original camera negative survives, I would be amazed, as parts of the print this was struck from look as if it has been round a couple of hundred drive-ins before being stored in somebody`s garage. As with all the other releases in the series, this is an open matte presentation (it would have been masked down for theatrical showing).

Audio

The original mono soundtrack is reproduced in Dolby Digital 2.0.

Features

Russ Meyer supplies a full-length audio commentary for the film that is as ever both enlightening and highly offensive to the easily shocked. There is also a 15 minute interview with Francesca "Kitten" Natividad (presented in 16:9 anamorphic) and the trailer reel that appears on all the releases in the set.

Conclusion

The last of the Meyer legacy and while not the best, it`s a personal favourite. Cheerfully riding roughshod over good taste and decency, this satire on the values of small-town America sometimes shows moments of sheer inspiration (the cartoon violence that was a little too straightforward in Supervixens is diluted by characters bleeding in a rainbow of colours other than red.)