I could never and will never fully understand the craziness that was the swinging sixties. Woodstock, Andy Warhol, rock and roll, the Manson Family, and, transgressive movies like Midnight Cowboy. The New Hollywood movement as a whole. I understood that the hippy movement was a nuclear bomb that detonated and shifted the Hollywood universe from the old way of life and business to the new generation that represented the no-holds-barred, rebellious peace and love lifestyle that was running rampant in the sixties. Out of all of the crazy things to come out of the sixties, Russ Meyer might not be the most influential, but is definitely one of the more legendary figures from that era.
Russ Meyer, the godfather of mainstream sexploitation and softcore filmmaking, was a World War II veteran who served as a cameraman in the Army, then found his way to Hollywood where he would become a pioneering figure in the softcore sexploitation filmmaking landscape. The mixture of sex and violence in Meyer’s work is pretty jarring, but as crazy as it sounds, Meyer’s work is considered to be empowering to women. I’m sure many would oppose, considering the relentless amount of sexual violence and lack of sensitivity to anything and everything. I don’t necessarily think I would agree with Russ Meyer films being empowering to women at all, but I do enjoy the hell out of his movies for their unpredictability, comedic approach and downright breathtaking worlds filled with promiscuous sex.
Meyer’s work is consistently bizarre to watch, especially these days, and how these were movies being released wide with a big audience that were essentially softcore pornography is remarkable. God bless the sixties! Funniest thing of all being that Roger Ebert, of all people, was a staunch admirer and even collaborator of Meyer. There was an undeniable legitimacy to Meyer’s work, and considering the lurid subject matter, it took massive talent and confidence to have that mainstream success. One of Meyer’s most beloved pieces of work is the Vixen trilogy, which is a scandalous, audacious roller coaster trio of sexploitation cinema. So, with the occasion being the good folks over at Severin coming out with a Blu-ray release of the Vixen trilogy, let’s dive beak first into this cinematic three-way…
Vixen! (1968)
The first Vixen movie, titled Vixen!, was shot and released at the absolute height of the swinging sixties, in 1968. Vixen! stars Erica Gavin as the titular (and titillating) Vixen. Vixen is a sex-craven free spirit who spends her days perusing around this Canadian setting looking for guys (and gals) to have sex with. Vixen! is incredibly appalling on the surface as the themes explored are so far beyond what is commonplace, even in this genre. You don’t often see a movie exploring taboos like racism and incest, and then presenting it so bluntly.
Like I had mentioned, Vixen takes place in a Canadian mountain town that seems to only be populated by Vixen, her husband, Tom, who is a pilot and tour guide for the region, Judd, her brother, and Judd’s motorcycle friend, Niles, who is Black and an admitted Vietnam war deserter. How this setup seems to go is Tom, a bush pilot who takes tourists around the region for various nature adventures, is very down with Vixen’s nymphomaniac tendencies, and almost encourages it to an extent. So, when visitors arrive on location (a husband and wife) Vixen, the sex-fiend, makes her move, and at this point, the audience in the theater is trying not to pay attention to what is going on around them, as its probably nothing good. And speaking for myself at home, I had to make sure the shades were shut…
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I’m a massive fan of this movie and franchise, so I’m saying this with love, but Vixen! is just a porn movie. There’s hardly any difference between Vixen! and the hardcore pornography from that era, both presentation and story wise, other than there being minimal to no genitalia shown and a comedic energy. With that said, Meyer does such an amazing job with the presentation of this material by making it accessible for both men and women. The unseriousness of Vixen! saves it from being a truly dark and weird experience. I’ve watched this movie a few times now, and I’m stunned every time with how I’m not necessarily laughing at the jokes, but that weird buffoonery where each and every character, no matter what they say and do, especially Vixen, is likable to an extent. This energy allows for it to be fun, and not creepy. I believe this to be the greatest strength that Russ Meyer possesses.
The director has the ability to take transgressive material, that in absolutely no way should work on any level when measuring mainstream success, and turn it into something that turned out to be a massive success, both critically and commercially. Vixen! was made for just shy of $75k, and went on to make $8 million dollars, as an X-rated movie, first of its kind. That means, if Vixen! came out today, in 2025, it would be making roughly $72 million dollars at the box office. That’s a staggering amount for a skin flick. Of course, it was a different time, that would never happen now, but more on that later. To finish up with Vixen!, Erica Gavin is downright sensational in the lead, oozing so much sexual energy and likable charisma, even when saying heinous s–t and committing freakishly taboo acts, especially with her brother. By the end, there is a catharsis and growth in that character, making the wink-wink conclusion that much more effective. Just like the character, Vixen! is impossible to resist…
Supervixens (1975)
I believe Vixen! deserves tons of flowers for maintaining a coherent story, with a sensible conclusion, especially considering how farcical it is. With that said, the follow-up to Vixen!, Supervixens, takes an alternative route in regards to coherency. Supervixens was released seven years after Vixen!, and was written, directed, produced, and edited by Meyer. Not only that, but Meyer also wore the cinematographer hat here. Incredible amount of ownership over the making of a movie, maybe the most ever, that has been officially credited, as far as I know. According to the credits, Supervixens was essentially made by one person, per se, an incredible flex by Meyer, and I’ll tell you what, it sure looks and feels like it was made by one person.
Supervixens plays out like a nonsensical road trip movie, with attempted comedic elements, but instead comes across as a lot nastier and more uncomfortable than Vixen! did previously. Instead of just one hyper-sexual, Supervixens contains too many to count, beginning with SuperAngel, played by Shari Eubank, then ending with SuperVixen, again, played by Shari Eubank. The cast consists of Meyer repeat customers, like Charles Napier and Haji, hardcore porn actresses, performers who never acted again like Shari Eubank and of course, Henry Rowland playing Martin Bormann. Yes, that Martin Bormann, the Nazi. Why would Martin Bormann the Nazi be a character in Supervixens? As a gas station owner nonetheless? I don’t know, but Meyer clearly found it to be an amusing gag that would carry over in a few subsequent films…
The ladies in Supervixens are all hyper-sexualized, which is fun, but comparatively speaking to the original Vixen! movie, where it was just the one-of-a-kind hyper sexual, all of these women is too much. It’s hyper-sexual overload. Which is funny, because the men of Supervixens are hyper-impotent, and mostly unwilling to have sex at all. Supervixens still has a certain efficacy, but it’s chock-full of sexual assault and violence. Dirk Diggler said it best in Boogie Nights, “It’s just not sexy. I mean, it’s just not sexy like it should be”. That was my big takeaway coming out of Supervixens. It’s fun, kinda, and has that farcical Meyer energy that is impossible to not enjoy, but overall, Supervixens feels like the bastard step-sibling of the series. A child of incest per se???
Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens (1979)
Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens, the third film of this series released in 1979, is a return to form, in my opinion. Eleven years after the original film’s release, the landscape of Hollywood had drastically changed by this point. Skin flicks were leaving the theaters for the most part and moving over to videotape. Softcore was also becoming a thing of the past by this point, and by the eighties, hardcore pornography was in, just not being released theatrically and becoming more of an underground industry…
Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens is the horniest of the three movies, as weird as that sounds. That satirical and farcical charm is much more present here than it was in SuperVixens. Beneath is a far more enjoyable watch and maybe the most watchable of the three movies to be honest. The production quality is on point, considering they had $300k to work with, which was far more than they had previously.
Beneath takes place in Small Town, USA, literally, and doesn’t focus on just one character, but actually an ensemble cast of characters consisting of the most hyper-sexual townsfolk imaginable. Genitalia is much more present in Beneath, as is the frequent use of sex toys. Yes, it’s softcore pornography, bordering hardcore pornography, but still, it’s a really good skin flick for those who are into that sort of stuff…
I would say a large part of Beneath looking and sounding more like an actual movie than its predecessors, is the inclusion of Roger Ebert, famed movie critic, in the writing process. Ebert and Meyer were actually a really good duo, also collaborating on Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
The structure in Beneath is solid, and you can see Meyer’s technical growth from Vixen! to Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens. As far as a thematic focus, there is really nothing to be seen in Beneath, it’s just a simple skin flick. Vixen! has more of a late sixties counterculture vibe where the Vietnam war, racism, and incest were explored in a prescient way. Beneath is just a lot of good looking people having well choreographed sex.
Vixen might be the most transgressive, and according to Roger Ebert, the “quintessential Russ Meyer film,” while Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! might be the most beloved Meyer, but I believe that Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens is his magnum opus. Considering it was one of his last big movies, I feel like Beneath is a good one to go out on. It’s raw, comical and understands exactly what it is, without being annoying about it. It’s interesting as a time capsule between eras in pornography, where the hardcore elements started to creep into both Meyer’s work, and the industry as a whole…
Something that can’t go without mention. It’s laugh-out-loud funny that Meyer was dating one of the stars of Beneath, Kitten Natividad, while filming was happening. According to Meyer, he and Natividad were consistently having sex between scenes. I can’t even begin to fathom what the set of Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens was like to be on. The hyper-sexuality of the three films combined probably didn’t even compare to that of the set of Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens. I would assume that Ebert was on set for at least some of principal photography, which is actually the funniest thing ever. Roger Ebert, big skin flick guy. Makes him even more of a legend in my book…
Russ Meyer’s legacy is unquestionably cemented into the lore of the sixties and seventies. Almost seemingly operating in his own industry, it’s remarkable what Meyer was able to pull off. This type of career hardly results in mainstream success. But, Meyer is considered an audacious visionary, where the fellas, and the ladies, were all coming out and enjoying his movies for what they were, skin flicks…
The special features included on the Blu-rays for Vixen!, Supervixens and Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens are loaded with insightful content from those involved in the making of these films. These discs are loaded with commentaries from Meyer and Erica Gavin, numerous interviews and TV spots and also a retrospective featurette from Marc Edward Heuck. Not only are these discs loaded with these special features, but the transfers themselves are spectacular. Severin always does a phenomenal job at bringing older, obscure work back into the physical media landscape. I highly recommend these discs to fans of these movies. Although, I will say, these films are not for the prude…
Overall, I really enjoyed revisiting the Vixen trilogy. There’s such a strange energy to these movies and they are so outrageously inappropriate that I can’t believe they exist. Like I had mentioned at the top, I feel like Meyer’s work is essential viewing to fully understand the free-spirit of the sixties and seventies. The anti-conservative, who lived just as promiscuous as his life’s work. There’s obviously more important work out there, but Meyer was a rare talent who took such taboo insanity and turned it into entertainment. There aren’t many that are more fun to read about anecdotally as time passes. And like I said, he was the godfather of satirical softcore filmmaking. If you have any interest in diving into the X-rated, groovy world of Meyer, I recommend checking out the Vixen trilogy, and also buying it on Blu-ray!
