Exploitation Week: Switchblade Sisters

What’s happening?  We start Day 1 of Exploitation Week with a man that knows how to bring that very concept to the screen B-Movie style.  I speak of director/writer Jack Hill (Blood Bath, House of Evil, Fear Chamber The Big Doll House, The Big Bird Cage, Coffy, Foxy Brown and Sorceress) a man with his ear to what the people want.  Is that necessarily a good thing or is it appeasing the lowest common denominator?  Grab your denim jackets, a pair of high heel stiletto boots and pack a blade too.   This is Switchblade Sisters.

Playing hard to get ladies??

Muff: You know, sooner or later every woman’s bound to find out- the only thing a spoiler’s got below his belt is clay feet.

Maggie (Joanne Nail of The Gumball Rally, The Streets of San Francisco, The Visitor, Full Moon High, Midnight Lace and The Choice) is a kid with a bit of an attitude that catches some flack from Dominic (Asher Brauner of Judgment at Nuremberg, The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy, The Boss’ Son and Making Love), leader of the Silver Daggers and alongside these pigs are the Dagger Debs is one of the most ruthless, vicious gang of teenage girls this side of Detroit.  Due to doing in a repo man with a series of slashing all gang members including Maggie all get dropped into Juvenile detention.  Maggie meets with the warden who happens to be a large and evil lesbian that threatens her very life.  Maggie fights back and the Debs take her in as one of their own.

Such vile girls. Now they are slashing corned beef!

Lace (Robbie Lee of Big Bad Mama, Linda Lovelace for President, My Therapist, The Get Along Gang and It’s Your Birthday Party with Rainbow Brite and Friends) leader of the Debs takes a liking to Maggie and asks her to run a few letters to her boyfriend Dominic.  Being the gentle and timid soul that he is, he follows her home and violates her.  He’s a keeper, ladies.

Patch (Monica Gayle of The Harem Bunch, School of Love, The Stewardesses, Psychodrama, Dr. Dildo’s Secret and Taking It Out in Trade), second-in-command of the Dagger Debs feels Lace and Maggie’s friendship is too close and is most vexed by such.  A rival gang led by the notorious Crabs (Chase Newhart of Maggie’s Stiletto Sisters) moves in on the territory and gang desecrates a member of the Debs.  Can the Debs and the Daggers settle their differences and ready to rumble with Crabs’ gang?  Guess they are called the Snappers.

Roller Rink of Doom!!!

This film was captured 35mm Spherical and of course recorded in Mono.  In the re-release of the film in 1994 director Jack Hill stated he interviewed several gang girls trying to get realism attached to it but he could not conceive of young girls running around in hot pants terrorizing the neighborhood as a venue that would be taken seriously.  So he thought it best to make it more like a madcap fantasy…that has women in prison themes, battle of the sexes and generally unpleasantness that this writer refuses to go into graphic detail. 

Director Quentin Tarantino went on to say this was one of his favorite movies.  Yeah just keep wondering why you get looked at funny my friend.