BITCH SLAP could not have been any more appropriately named.
Paying homage to the 1970s Russ Meyer and Roger Corman female exploitation films of yesteryear, Corman’s protégé Rick Jacobson brings to the screen a trio of busty bad-ass babes with more kick ass than that scrawny little Lizewski kid in a film that expertly appeals to every sense while making absolutely none. With each of the main characters having their own tangled webs to unweave, the ladies mindfuck each other – and the audience – for 104 minutes with a movie that is chock full of plot twists and turn, reminiscent of your typical Tarantino fare. Unfolding non-linearly, with surprises at every turn, it’s one hell of an adventure that proves to be completely absurd, but by the time you get to where its taking you, the illogical destination proves to be trivial in the shadow of the thrills you experienced getting there.
Dumping you dead smack in the middle of the proceedings and alternating between the “now” and highly stylized flashback scenarios, we’re introduced to these three voluptuous vixens as they are stranded out in the middle of the desert following a diamond heist gone bad. As these flashbacks clue us in on the events leading up to the present time, we quickly learn who the three girls are and what they stand to gain from the whole ordeal. There’s Trixie (Julia Voth), our down-and-out stripper who plays the innocent card oh so well, ex-con Camero (America Olivo) who is definitely a feisty firecracker, and the one who presents herself to br the ringleader of the pack, corporate powerbroker Hel (Erin Cummings). Right from the start, you know that all isn’t well in the state of Denmark, and it isn’t immediately apparent how and why, but as the film flashes back further and further, the real story behind the unfolding events will totally send you for a loop.
In many ways, BITCH SLAP can easily be argued as being a major ploy to showcase every last inch of the fleshly assets of its three main players and, trust me, they made it work. Almost all elements of the story somehow allow for Michael Bay style slow-motion vignettes that showcase almost every inch of their sun-kissed bodies, zooming in and slowing down as they provocatively dance and trance across the screen. From the need to cover their entire figures with water to combat the sweltering heat of their desert setting to their devious necessity to use their seductive shimmies as a distraction and diversionary tactics, the filmmakers definitely made the most of these three bodacious babes.
Besides that, the movie also glistens in providing some really well-done actions sequences which, with award winning stunt coordinator Zoe Bell in tow, was probably unavoidable. The flashbacks, mostly set on green-screened backdrops, allow for some truly intense hyper-real, comic book style gunfights and melee attacking in settings that seem to span the globe. One minute you’ll be watching the troupe have at it on the Las Vegas strip one moment and the next may depict them flying across snow-capped European mountains with jetpacks. Is it campy and unrealistic? Yes, but isn’t that the point?
Of particular note in the action department are the one-on-one combat fighting scenes. Watching the ladies duke it out is truly the highlight of the film. From the up close hand to hand battles to the use of weaponry, the duels get progressively more intense as the film goes on, culminating in a final battle that, in and of itself, is worth the film’s admission. The quick cuts and extensive use of slow motion complements the on screens clashes and further extend the general feel of the film. In many ways, it feels like a strange combination between films like the KILL BILLs and its 2011 successor, SUCKER PUNCH, only ridiculously awesomer.
Add to the mix all an excessive amount of those B-movie off kilter quirks and what the filmmakers have hatched here is a truly fun and completely enjoyable film. Staying true to the films it pays homage to, it looks the part, plays the part, and most importantly feels the part, something that aficionados of the sort will appreciate. It features so many illogical twists that I’d suggest entering with your brain turned down to low, but as I mentioned before, for the majority of you watching, it’s not the apex but the climb that’ll matter in your viewing of BITCH SLAP.
Deuces.
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