otis von zipper They don't make 'em like this anymore.Private Parts was the first feature film for Paul (Eating Raoul) Bartel, and it is an odd little film combining elements of 70's exploitation, Bartel's usual luridness and dark humor, and some genuinely creepy situations.Acting slightly more naive than she actually is, Cheryl has become a resident of her aunt Martha's seedy and eccentric filled Los Angeles hotel. While most of the folk Cheryl meets seem harmless enough, someone is going around hacking up nosy visitors. The plot may be a familiar one, but this movie will take you places you could never imagine, mostly due to the strange relationship that emerges between Cheryl and George, a neighbor who is an avid photographer.For a 70's cheapie, the film looks great, and it completely captures the grimy feel of its hotel setting. As Cheryl playfully makes her way through the locked doors of her neighbors, it's easy to become anxious wondering what she may encounter. The cast on a whole is also exceptional with Lucille Benson as Aunt Martha a particular stand out. Lucille Benson's portrayal is an expert mix of sweetness and an unsettling sternness.Saying much more would give away too much. Suffice to say, this is a fun and unusual little 70's thriller. Anyone who enjoyed "Eating Raoul" or "Death Race 2000" would probably get a big kick out of this one too.

GroovyDoom In the 1970s there was a genre I like to refer to as the "70s doom" film. I'm not sure if "Private Parts" qualifies, as it's much wilder than most of the ones I hold most dear (like "The Pyx" and "Don't Look In The Basement"). But it's definitely got the aesthetics down pat, and if it seems a little too deliberate or *too* well made to be authentic, it's at least an unforgettable experience.Groovy 70s chick Cheryl (pronounced "CHAIR-ul") is on the run with her friend Judy, who freaks out on her when Cheryl spies on her having sex with a groovy L.A. hunk. Cheryl packs her suitcase and takes off, along with Judy's wallet, and heads out into the sleaziest part of L.A. looking for her long-lost Aunt Martha's hotel. Unfortunately for Cheryl, she finds it, and Aunt Martha takes her in.Aunt Martha is a stout, homely woman with no tolerance for worldly ways. She insists that Cheryl wash "that paint" off before joining her for dinner, and lectures her on the evils of sex. Cheryl plays along for a place to stay, but she soon finds out that the hotel is full of loonies of all types. There's a gay priest who has a thing for male bodybuilders, a drunk guy who doesn't do anything except pass out in his room, and an old lady who wanders around looking for a girl named "Alice". Oh, and don't forget the reclusive photographer, George, who shows his affection for Cheryl by spying on her through cracks in the wall, leaving her pornographic reading material in her room, and offering her fetish gear to wear for his amusement. Cheryl craves the attention, but she's not aware that people are being murdered in the hotel, or that someone may cut her head off with a machete one of these days. Is that what really happened to "Alice", anyway?Not all aspects of the movie work. I wasn't a big fan of the music, although others have raved about it and found it reminiscent of Bernard Hermann (!). It seemed too grandiose for this film, and I longed for the cheesy thriller cues from "Don't Look In The Basement". I also found the movie overall to be a little too polished. Paul Bartel has a great eye for detail here, many of which don't really mean much except to add an otherworldly quality to the movie, but it's almost too calculated. It also comes apart too soon at the conclusion, when outside authority figures come to the hotel and reveal themselves to be as weird as the residents there. It detracts from the notion of the hotel as being a microcosm of insanity.But there is a lot to love about it. Some of the strongest images in the film come as a shock to the first-time viewer, so make sure you don't watch the trailer included on the DVD (it's one of those that reveal all the twists in the film, including who lives, who dies, and who's doing all the machete chopping), but this movie will not make anybody jump out of their seat. Instead, it gets under your skin, particularly a see-through vinyl blow-up sex doll that George likes to dress as Cheryl, complete with an enlarged photograph of her face attached to it. George fills it with water, and never has vinyl looked so disturbing and bizarre as it does here while the doll slowly unravels, snake-like, taking human form gradually while still looking completely alien. It's a low-key chill, but something that I've never seen in a film before this one. What a shock some of this must have been back in 1972.Even today it's still bizarre. It's the kind of movie that infuriates some people for being too vague and meandering (and thus boring), while other people will read into it and find it fascinating. I'm one of the latter.

fertilecelluloid Bizarre, delightfully weird drama from Paul Bartel, the director of "Eating Raoul", "Lust in the Dust" and "Death Race 2000". These are all interesting films, but "Private Parts" is better -- it's fascinating, too.Little Cheryl, the cute Ayn Ruymen, turns up at her aunt's hotel, The King Edward, and discovers she's entered an urban catacomb of weirdos. Everybody is either a pervert or a raving nutcase. One character, George (John Ventantanio), a porno photographer, is both, and is central to the film's final revelation.The script is filled with intriguing ideas. For example, because George can't have a real woman, he fills a plastic one with water and makes love to her. When he's finished, just before he climaxes, he injects his own blood into her belly and watches it spread through her body.The film captures an authentic, skid-row ambiance that was LA in the early 70's. Ayn Ruymen's curious, naive, adventurous runaway from Cleveland even reminded me of Naomi Watts' character in Lynch's "Mulholland Drive". In fact, "Private Parts" is quite a Lynchian piece and may have been one of the director's cinematic influences.Lucille Benson's Aunt Martha is a wonderful creation, a fussing, fanatical, Shelley Winters type who brings enormous authority to her role and wears the very familiar skin of a typical Los Angeles native of the period.Bartel invents something unique in every scene and packs his story with wonderful and bizarre elements. A sudden beheading is a lovely, macabre surprise and the generous nudity is much appreciated.Entirely original and relentlessly odd. I loved it.

phillindholm "Private Parts", the directorial debut of Paul Bartel, is a wild and thoroughly engaging black comedy. Ayn Ruymen plays Cheryl, a young but not so innocent girl, who runs away from home and eventually ends up at the hotel of her Aunt Martha (Lucille Benson)in the skid row section of downtown Los Angeles. Although warned by her puritanical aunt to stay put, Cheryl explores the old place at every opportunity,soon becoming involved with George, a mysterious photographer. He is only one of the odd tenants in the establishment, but he's the one who fascinates her the most. With its lurid plot, beautiful color photography and great, brooding score, "Private Parts" is not to be missed! This October, Warner Home Video will release it in a widescreen DVD featuring the original trailer! It's not likely to be in print long, so grab it while you can!