**SPOILERS** ANDY WARHOL'S BAD is not as disgusting or outrageous as, say John Waters' PINK FLAMINGOS or Pasolini's SALO, but it still ranks up there among the most disturbing and unpleasant movies ever made. While usually referred to (and marketed) as a comedy, it's a satire along the lines of Todd Solonz's HAPPINESS--there's humor, but of the extremely dark variety, the kind you laugh at only because you'd otherwise scream.
The story itself is as sleazy as they come. A bored housewife (Carroll Baker) runs an electrolosis business out of her Long Island house. In addition to that, however, she occasionally hires young women to commit various acts of vandalism, assault or murder for paying clients. The movie opens with a relatively mild example of this, when a girl enters a scuzzy midtown diner, overflows the toilet and trashes the place.
However, the darker side of Baker's business slowly surfaces as we soon witness acts of cruelty which are difficult to watch: a man's legs are crushed underneath the gears of a garage lift, a dog is stabbed repeatedly, and, in the movie's infamous highlight, an incessantly crying baby is hurled from a high rise window. This scene is chillingly grotesque, yet is followed immediately by a goofy joke (a mother yells at her son as they walk by, "That's what I'm going to do to you if you don't shut up!"). Whether or not you find that funny will pretty much determine your feeling about the whole movie--either it's a devilishly clever satire or a hideously immoral sick joke. Maybe it's both.
A subplot involves Baker hiring her first male hit-person (Perry King, in one of his best performances) to kill an autistic boy of whom the mother has grown tired. There's also an interesting scene between King and hit-girl Stefania Cassini (from SUSPIRIA and BLOOD FOR DRACULA). Also in the cast is Susan Tyrrell as Baker's dim-witted and clueless daughter-in-law, whom Baker treats like garbage. More sensitive viewers may find the use of a down-syndrome baby in the role of Tyrrell's child unsettling.
Overall, ANDY WARHOL'S BAD is as sick and depraved as it's reputation would suggest, but it's well-written and well-acted, with some clever and biting satirical elements. It's more similar in tone and theme to Warhol's early underground films than the in-name-only FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA films by Paul Morrissey. BAD was also the first "Warhol" movie in several years in which Warhol was actively involved in the production. While there's lots of sex talk, there's very little nudity (although we do get a nice look at Cassini's bare buns). But there's some graphic violence and rough dialogue that will likely turn off even jaded viewers.
Like Joel Reeds vastly inferior BLOODSUCKING FREAKS or Carl Reiner's cult classic WHERE'S POPPA, ANDY WARHOL'D BAD has actually grown MORE shocking and disturbing than when it was initially released. While it's certainly not for everyone, it's worth checking out for those who enjoy the occasional sick movie.
The story itself is as sleazy as they come. A bored housewife (Carroll Baker) runs an electrolosis business out of her Long Island house. In addition to that, however, she occasionally hires young women to commit various acts of vandalism, assault or murder for paying clients. The movie opens with a relatively mild example of this, when a girl enters a scuzzy midtown diner, overflows the toilet and trashes the place.
However, the darker side of Baker's business slowly surfaces as we soon witness acts of cruelty which are difficult to watch: a man's legs are crushed underneath the gears of a garage lift, a dog is stabbed repeatedly, and, in the movie's infamous highlight, an incessantly crying baby is hurled from a high rise window. This scene is chillingly grotesque, yet is followed immediately by a goofy joke (a mother yells at her son as they walk by, "That's what I'm going to do to you if you don't shut up!"). Whether or not you find that funny will pretty much determine your feeling about the whole movie--either it's a devilishly clever satire or a hideously immoral sick joke. Maybe it's both.
A subplot involves Baker hiring her first male hit-person (Perry King, in one of his best performances) to kill an autistic boy of whom the mother has grown tired. There's also an interesting scene between King and hit-girl Stefania Cassini (from SUSPIRIA and BLOOD FOR DRACULA). Also in the cast is Susan Tyrrell as Baker's dim-witted and clueless daughter-in-law, whom Baker treats like garbage. More sensitive viewers may find the use of a down-syndrome baby in the role of Tyrrell's child unsettling.
Overall, ANDY WARHOL'S BAD is as sick and depraved as it's reputation would suggest, but it's well-written and well-acted, with some clever and biting satirical elements. It's more similar in tone and theme to Warhol's early underground films than the in-name-only FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA films by Paul Morrissey. BAD was also the first "Warhol" movie in several years in which Warhol was actively involved in the production. While there's lots of sex talk, there's very little nudity (although we do get a nice look at Cassini's bare buns). But there's some graphic violence and rough dialogue that will likely turn off even jaded viewers.
Like Joel Reeds vastly inferior BLOODSUCKING FREAKS or Carl Reiner's cult classic WHERE'S POPPA, ANDY WARHOL'D BAD has actually grown MORE shocking and disturbing than when it was initially released. While it's certainly not for everyone, it's worth checking out for those who enjoy the occasional sick movie.