SWITCHBLADE SISTERS
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 1996 David N. Butterworth/The Summer Pennsylvanian
Rating: **1/2 (Maltin scale)
"You can beat us, you can chain us, you can lock us up. But we'll be back!"
Prophetic words from Maggie (Joanne Nail) as she's bundled aboard the paddy wagon in the final scene of SWITCHBLADE SISTERS.
Who would have imagined that, twenty-one years later, Jack Hill's 1975 cult classic about a sexy street gang would have been given a second lease on life. And yet with our newly crowned prince of pulp Quentin Tarantino behind the reissue, the question is less "why?" and more "what next?" The answer won't be long in coming since SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is just one of a handful of cheapie exploitation films being re-released by Tarantino's Rolling Thunder distribution company.
The meanest thing one can say about SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is that it plays like a Tarantino movie--all swagger and little substance, with the lousiest acting since Tarantino started putting himself in front of the camera. But this isn't Masterpiece Theater--SWITCHBLADE SISTERS might contain awful performances and awful dialogue but it's awfully good fun. Of course it helps if you're more in the mood for Russ Meyer than Merchant-Ivory.
Robbie Lee plays Lace, the leader of the Dagger Debs. Lee looks and acts like Pia Zadora, and it's easy to see why her career has nose-dived into Smurftastic voice parts for Saturday morning cartoons.
In the opening scene, Lace and the rest of the Debs--Patch, Donut, Bunny et al.--ridicule and rough up a slimy bill collector. It's a nicely done role reversal with the lone man in the elevator finally the object of some menacing harrassment. Although certainly no homage to feminism, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is refreshing in its entertaining depiction of men as victims of leather-clad teen girls and in its sparing reliance on T&A.
Early in the film, the Debs congregate at the Burger Palace where Lace encounters a stranger, Maggie, occupying her usual booth. A fight breaks out and Maggie, a feisty, hotpants-sporting gutter cat, impresses Lace enough to be asked to join the gang--"people just stomp on you if you don't have any muscle behind you." However, the cops arrive and throw them all in the slammer, including Maggie. It's not until after a skirmish with the very un-P.C. butch dyke prison warden Mom Smackley (Kate Murtagh, in a scene destined to become a camp classic) that Lace and Maggie become friends, and Maggie agrees to join the Debs.
The Debs live and fight in a world dominated by all-boy gangs who run their high school's protection rackets, prostitution rings, and drug sales. The male gang members are a sight to see--there haven't been this many gold lame' jackets, huge pointy collars, flared jeans, and shiny nylon shirts since WELCOME BACK, KOTTER.
A new gang threatens to take over, led by Crabs (played with buffoon-laced dementia by the Jim Carrey-esque Chase Newhart; perhaps Tarantino should have considered a remake with Carrey and Zadora?). Add some intra-gang powerplays, new alliances with female African-American Maoist guerillas, shady switches of sexual allegiance, and a new name for the Debs... It all adds up to plenty of rumbles.
As logic goes, this film quickly runs out of steam. But as a crude, camp, fashion-conscious throwback to the mid-'70s, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is a gas.
-- David N. Butterworth, Director 898-9841 / 573-INFO dnb@mail.med.upenn.edu
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