MisterWhiplash Russ Meyer makes his films, when they're at their best or most brilliantly deranged, like the dream of some sexually charged sixteen year old who's seen his share of pornos and 70's era exploitation films. They're crazy visions of women with (usually) nothing lower than 36-C cups, men with third legs (wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more), and enough fornication to blow the head gasket of any puritan viewer. That being said, Meyer isn't exactly a real porno director. He makes sex films in the same way that Robert Rodriguez makes wild action or horror or kids films: as a do-it-yourself-auteur (i.e. writes, directs, produces, edits, DP's, even camera operates), he's all about getting a pulpy sensibility of what would otherwise be typical trashy material. Meyer also is gifted with a wonderfully cringe-worthy sense of humor. To give just a brief example- and maybe as one of the quintessential scenes in any exploitation flick- the scene where two completely naked women, one Eva Braun Jr with a knife and screaming maniacally about the fall of Nazism and the plight of his 'father', run after one another trying to kill each other in the woods.So Up! is in another in a whole body of works where Meyer turns the conventions of the usual in movie-making, like a kooky member of National Lampoon, but at the same time I'm not sure it's one of his very best. It's a little scatter-shot in the story, if there is one closely to even follow with the Greek Chrous (Kitten Navidad) where in every time whatever semblance of a story is taking shape we're led off by this narrator and Meyers's editing which takes us into a strange loop of sequencing of events and images (which in and of themselves are good, but distracting). But when Up! does click, it works very well. Mostly this involves the early scenes with Adolph Schwartz (ho-ho), who gets masochistic sex from a dominatrix and a man with a huge thing, and then gets killed mysteriously in his bathtub. Then we're thrust into some backwoods group, including a shifty but well-intentioned sheriff (Monty Bane), a big, uproarious homunculus in Rafe (Bob Schott), and of course Meyer's 'harem' of girls.It's fun, in all basic intentions, to see these girls have fun and go into exuberant glee doing their scenes, as opposed to the more degrading XXX features that get pretty boring after a while. This is where the dream facet comes in, where everything is just so surreal (the frolicking sex out in the open, wherever it is, the Nazi stuff right out of a typical exploitation flick from Europe, the double-climax that combines sex AND violence), that you just have to go along for the ride and laugh with all the craziness. What helps is Meyer's great cinematic eye- yes, great- as he shoots and edits as though every image has to be just next to perfect. While the actual content is sometimes all over the place, like with Rafe's rape scenes, where he turns into a true drunken gorilla, the actual quality of the film-making is nearly flawless. Which is to Meyers's credit, as what is in Up! could be the makings of a much more lewd and crude effort.Hard to find (had to look deep on line) and not without little dips in real strength in the comedy, Up! demonstrates some great Meyers' product: beautiful, voluptuous, and mostly funny women (loved the one woman who's voice sounded out of femme fatale noir), total horn-dogs and beasts in men, and a bit of vicious satire to boot. More beer!

feastorafamine I should preface this review by pointing out that Russ Meyer films are loved by many and berated by an equal amount. The themes of violence, sexual exploitation and taboo content either delight some, or greatly offend others.I encourage you to develop your own take on Russ's unusual films.The film opens with an S&M session involving Paul, the Nazi Adolf Schwartz (who bears a striking resemblance to another famous Adolf) and several concubines. Paul is whipping Adolph as he ravishes the women. Adolph then pays Paul a "bonus" for Paul pleasuring him in two unmentionable varieties.(shown discretely) Cut to the murder of Nazi AdolfSchwartz at his home by placing a ravenous piranha fish in his bubble bath. The identity of the black glove wearing murderer is a mystery.The story then veers course to show super sexy Margot Winchester hitchhiking into town. A police patrolman attempts to give Margo a lift which she refuses. However she is picked up by a man a few moments later, who then drives her to a wooded location, and struggle ensues as he tries to rape her. He beats her violently unconscious at the edge of a lake and then rapes her. When Margo comes to and discovers him still on top of her she goes berserk and flings him tumbling over backwards breaking his back and killing him. The police officer sees the incident and then bribes Margo. In exchange for a different story about the rapists "accidental" death Margo agrees to "please" the cop. Margo then gets a job where Paul works at Alice's restaurant. Alice the owner and wife of Paul, knows a good thing when she sees one and realizes that Margo's beauty will attract customers. Sure enough it does and things get busy very fast. Things go so well in fact that Alice opens a second café and opening night is especially crowded.A large yellow haired lumberjack named Rafe goes on a drinking binge and becomes more and more unhinged. Margot gives the patrons a burlesque show and it sets Rafe over the edge. Like a caveman he throws Margo onto a table and proceeds to rape her. Paul tries to stop him but he is knocked unconscious. Alice races to a nearby phone to call the law. Meanwhile while Margo is being raped the other male patrons hold her down and even cheer Rafe on. The other bar patrons hear the cop arriving and flee leaving only Alice, Rafe and Margo inside. As Rafe continues to rape Margo, Alice jumps on his back attempting to end his barbaric assault. Rafe throws her down on top of Margo and starts to rape her as well. The cop arrives and after several painful attempts to stop Rafe he picks up an hatchet mounted on the bar wall and chops into Rafe's back. Rafe stands upright screaming in agony. The patrolman attempts to comfort the girls thinking Rafe has been stopped. But instead Rafe pulls the hatchet from his back and chops the patrolman with it into his chest. He picks up the girls, one under each arm and carries them screaming into the woods. He reminds me of King Kong here. Somehow the cop manages to pull out the hatchet and get to his feet. He sees a chainsaw on he bar wall near where the hatchet once was once mounted. He follows the screaming into the woods. When Rafe flings the two women to the ground the cops lunges and drives the whirling chainsaw into Rafe's abdomen. In a torrent of splashing gory blood Rafe is torn to shreds with the chainsaw.The movie then cuts to Margo making a phone call at a phone booth near the woods. She drives to a cabin all the while being followed by a mysterious stranger in a car. She enters a cabin and starts to take a shower. The mysterious figure approaches and attempts to kill Margo with a knife ala Hitchcock's Psycho. Margo manages to flee into the woods. When she turns to confront her attacker we see to our surprise that it is sweet little Alice. In a sequence where Alice chases Margo with a knife it is revealed that Margo killed Adolph out of jealousy for his sexual dealings with Paul. It is also revealed that Adolph is Alice's true father and that they had an incestuous relationship. Just when it seems as if Alice is ready to kill Margo things shift gears and it seems they will make love instead. Alice walks Margo over to an abandoned spring mattress in the woods and they are about to start fooling around when surprise! Paul appears wielding a gun and wounds his wife Alice with a single shot. Paul confesses his love for Adolph and the Nazi philosophy. He resents his wife Alice for killing Adolf. Margo times a defensive attack and knocks the gun from Paul's hand.In a strange twist the film cuts to epilogue #1 where we see Margo inside the police commissioner's office. She's a cop! And she is commended for her great service. And if all this gets too confusing, Russ Meyer helpfully arranges for a one- woman nude Greek chorus (Kitten Natividad) to pop up at intervals to explain what's going on, even if she fails to entirely do so. This is one of RM's more surreal films and often the plot at the end gets very messy and not all the loose ends are tied up. Also reoccurring in this title is RM's obsession with Nazi's which he has stated he developed during his time in the service during WW2. This film contains more nudity and sexual situations than some of his other endeavors. Its typical delightful Russ Meyers campy world of sex, violence, suspense and hot girls with ridiculously huge knockers. Once again its fun to watch even if its crude, convoluted at times, and downright taboo at others.

Maciste_Brother SpoilersBoy, did I ever have trouble writing a review for UP. This is my third attempt and hopefully my last one. Having seen every Russ Meyer film now, I can say without a doubt that UP is Meyer's most erratic film (and that's saying a lot!). So much so that I really believe everyone involved in the making of UP were either on drugs or drunk, because the film simply doesn't make any sense whatsoever. They were obviously winging it as they went along. The dialogue, though at times brilliantly funny (screenplay was co-written by film critic Roger Ebert!), is totally nonsensical. The characters and their motives don't make any sense and the use of a one-woman Greek chorus (played by Kitten Natividad) is repetitive and quickly becomes annoying. How many times did have to be remimded of who killed Adolph Schwartz? According to an article, Russ had to shoot the one-woman Greek chorus bits because nothing made any sense and she was included to tie-up all the characters and actions. Oddly enough, even with the one-woman Greek chorus, UP still doesn't make any sense: Paul dressed as a Pilgrim; the time at the bottom of the screen (why?!?!); Margo who starts talking like Mae West; the one-woman Greek chorus naming suspects of people who obviously have nothing to do with the killing of the Adolph Hitler look-alike Adolph Schwartz; after the chainsaw scene, Margo and Alice become "friends" but the next scene, Alice wants to kill Margo; the whole conversation between Margo and Alice when they run around in the forest at the end contradicts everything that we just saw in the film, like when Alice says Paul is into young boys and yet we saw Paul making out with her and Margo and a couple of other women throughout the entire movie; Margo's real "official" identity at the end, etc. It's all so disjointed, it's nearly impossible to follow. It looks like Russ and company forgot to shoot many scenes that would have given the film a more cohesive feel to the entire loony proceeding but as it is now, it's a near total mess. And it also looks like they ran out of money when they were shooting the last scene, when Margo, Alice and Paul confront each other, as it suddenly stops right then and there. And to make things more hard to take, UP, like so many late Russ Meyer films, is an overindulgent and way too boisterous movie. Questionable moments in UP, like the rape scene at the bar, where Rafe, the big silent lumberjack rapes not one but two women at the same time, come to mind. At one point, as Rafe rapes Margo, men at the bar gather around him and cheer him on. One of the men in the crowd is Russ Meyer himself, eagerly slapping the big lumberjack's butt in agreement. This scene is oddly disturbing AND comical. Disturbing because it is rape. Comical because that scene, like the entire movie itself and like all Russ Meyer films made after BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, was made to look like a cartoon. Russ Meyer is to adult films what Tex Avery was to cartoons. All the women have big breasts. And all the men sport huge prosthetic phalluses. The whole thing is so animated and exuberant and over-the-top, with the loud ponderous music playing endlessly, that any semblance of reality is nonexistent. The rape scene is really filmed like a cartoon, with tons of screaming and men with axes in their stomachs that spew blood all over the place and yet they walk away like nothing had happened. So even if some scenes are sorta questionable, Russ makes them so unbelievable that they're not as shocking as they could have been (or should have been). Besides, after the opening scene, where we see Paul (with a fake wad) humping the Adolph Hitler look-alike (Hitler in a sex scene? Ick! And two men having sex. A first in a Russ Meyer flick!), everything that follows sorta looks quaint. But those overindulgent moments still leave a bitter after-taste.But even with all the negative things going against UP, there are some moment of brilliance here and there, and the film is goofy, spirited and so contented in being a bad movie that it almost seems pointless to put it down. Russ has corraled a great cast of unknowns actors that are totally game. I particularly like Janet Wood, as Alice. She had great comic timing and is beautiful. She and Robert McLane, who plays her husband Paul, make a cute couple. Margo, played by Raven De La Croix, was okay and seems to have a lot of fun but she's not much of an actress. Sex scenes are numerous in UP. More than any other Russ Meyer films, except for ULTRA-VIXENS. And there isn't a single impotent men in the entire picture (another Russ Meyer first), so everyone is having a good time. Some scenes are beautiful and sensual but they are hardly hot enough to be a turn-on. It's hard for me to believe anyone got turned on by any of the mostly cartoonish sex scenes.So, to recap: half of UP is truly terrible, trashy and sloppy. But the other half is actually fun, spirited and at times quite original. Like I said, it's not easy to review this film.

Sardony My personal favorite of Russ Meyer's films. The script, by Roger Ebert (!), is loaded with brilliant sexual dark humor. For example, the opening sequence finds an aging Adolph Hitler lookalike being whipped by a stud in a Pilgrim outfit; meanwhile, "Hitler" is tortured (erotically) by a variety of buxom ethnic babes ("Ah! Limehouse!"). Later, the Pilgrim really gives to Adolph what the rest of the world always wanted to give him - and sticks it to him good! And the ending wraps up a murder mystery by rising to outrageous absurdity. Along the way, our Greek Chorus narrator (Kitten Natividad) keeps us UP to date on the proceedings. Beautifully photographed (Meyer's best acheivement, I think). See what I call "The Indian Flip," and learn something new to do with a light socket. An absolute must for - as someone said - you know who you are...