Sunday's Movie: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

I first chanced upon this gem one night on IFC. This movie follows the formula of "The Valley of the Dolls": young women thrown into sex, drugs, violence, and emotional turmoil. However, this is not a "sequel" and unlike the aforementioned film, it's not all very serious. In fact, it's bizarre and comical.

Interestingly, Robert Ebert wrote the script. He was partly inspired by the Manson Family murders. "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" follows Kelly, Casey, and Petronella, three ass-kicking musicians, and their rise to fame. They are chaperoned into success by a weird music producer who changes the band's named from The Kelly Affair to The Carrie Nations.

This movie is weird. Delightfully so. For one, you get a whole shebang of flamboyant druggies set against the 60's culture. That's fun stuff. The party scenes are awesome. The camera cuts from one freak to the next, all talking in oftentimes cryptic 60's speech ("I'd like to strap you on sometime!" or "Hey, don't boggart the joint!") Somehow, this never gets boring. It's a colorfully crafted collage of everything that made the 60's so "revolutionary."

For another, the soundtrack rocks. Real life band, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, cameoed and contributed to the music. If you don't know who they are, they did "Incense, Peppermints." However, the real star here is Lynn Carey, who provided the vocals for The Carrie Nations, and she can BELT it. I love this soundtrack, I own it.

Alas, there are elements of horror and drama. Z-Man, the band's producer, loses it and ends up going on a murderous rampage (during which "Deutschland Uber Alles" plays), and the girls all endure personal crises, such as adultery and abortion. I'm not sure if I approve of some of the film's messages. For example, the only female murder victims are lesbian lovers. In fact, they have just been intimate and are in a state of undress when they are murdered. While this might not necessarily indicate any judgement of homosexuals on Ebert's part, the environment and tone of the final scenes suggests otherwise. For another, a main character is guilted into entering into a relationship with a man she feels sorry for, which is validated as "being right" during a preachy voiceover.

The film has its flaws (probably like this review, as I'm extremely tired), but it remains one of my favorites. I've never seen anything like it.