melvelvit-1 DESPERATE LIVING is an hilarious assault on "good taste" and the last real John waters film before he went mainstream in the '80s. This "Alice In Wonderland on acid" cartoon full of "sex & savagery" (not to mention necrophilia, incest, and cannibalism) kicks off when suburban mom Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) goes on the lam with her 400 lb. maid after the hefty domestic kills the man of the house by sitting on him. "Thelma & Louise" make their way to Mortville, a safe haven for criminals ruled over by the megalomanical nymphomaniac Queen Carlotta (Edith Massey) but as Mole the lesbian points out, "it isn't very pretty what a town without pity can do" and they land right smack in the middle of a dictatorship ripe for bloody revolution.I wouldn't watch something like this unless I was stoned and at first it was so shrill (with everybody screaming until I thought I'd get a headache) but once I started laughing I couldn't stop right up until the hysterical, anarchic ending. There's as many inventive deaths and set- piece slaying in this movie as there are in any good giallo and that kept me happy, too. I think the reason why I never tried too hard to track DESPERATE LIVING down before was because Divine wasn't in it but former Hollywood glamor girl and Mickey Cohen moll Liz Renay more than made up for it. Liz was an ex- con and a stripper at that point in her life and had no problem shedding her inhibitions to run around nude, bend over to have the queen kiss her butt, or get raped by her lesbian lover after a sex-change operation. I'm sorry I waited so long to see this -it's outrageous fun!

malin_n_w This film is a true gem. For followers of sleazy cinema, this is a must- see that will never lose its entertainment value.A rich neurotic housewife kills her husband in a fit, with the help of her maid. Now the duo have to escape and take up a new life in Mortville, a slum-like trash community made up of filthy criminals, perverts and other oddballs. The inhabitants are harassed daily by the gruesome Queen Carlotta, and have to make the best out of their desperate, feeble lives.What is striking about this film is that it has a self-ironic feel, I don't know whether it is intentional or not. Every part of the story is over-the-top for a reason, and John Waters certainly makes use of "more is more".Most of the acting is mediocre at best, but it all comes together perfectly for that trashy feel. Mink Stole is hilarious as Peggy Gravel, she plays her neurotic character without flaw.Even though the acting, the story, the budget and everything else is as bad as you'd expect, the film is extremely humorous and the actors have enough comical timing to make you laugh again and again. This in combination with the irony of it all made me appreciate the film on a whole other level than similar sleaze-productions.The most interesting aspect of this film however, is its gender perspective. All the important characters are -without exceptions- women, the men are nothing but objects or servants in this film. Apart from regular Hollywood productions, there is lots of diversity among the female characters, and everyone is equally filthy. There are lots of elements in the movie to strengthen the image that Mortville is ruled by females; the Queen and her male servants/sex slaves, the beating up of males by females, and extensive lesbianism. John Waters paints a picture that is, again, far from today's supermodel standards, where females rule and are free to be as disgusting or beautiful as they want.I highly recommend this film to anyone who would like to watch something different, because it's way underrated.

johnstonjames i did't rate this. as a Christian who likes John Water's 'Crybaby' and 'Hairspray', i have to draw the line somewhere. i can't endorse this. it's too unclean. but as a fan of Water's, i find a lot of this painfully funny. so i can't skewer it either. i'm caught in the middle on this one, so i'll just leave it up to the other Water's fans to handle this.they used real roadkill animals in this. also cockroaches and...barf! you name it. so BEWARE! and be wary.i will say to those repeat offenders who delight in watching this over and over, "THIS IS'NT SOME COMMUNIST DAYCARE CENTER! WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS?!". and i refuse to hold your hands through this one, because sometimes the hand you hold is the hand that holds you down. you're on your own with this one. good luck but...SEE YA SEE YA WOULD'NT WANNA BE YA!!!

NateManD "Desperate Living" is about as disgusting as "Pink Flamingos" and at times worse. Mink Stole plays Peggy Gravel, a paranoid schizo housewife. Her and her maid Grizelda, who's a 400 lb. black woman, kill Peggy's husband. They flee in guilt and are stopped by a cop with an underwear fetish before driving to Mortville. Mortville is a town made up of all garbage. The evil queen Carlotta (Edith Masey) presides over the town in a fascist manner, her guards are forced to fulfill her bizarre sexual needs. The queen disowns her daughter princess Coo-Coo for wanting to marry Herbert, a nudist garbage man. We are treated to strange bright colored costumes and trash art galore. Delirious Peggy continues to bicker. Her and Grizela reside in an trashy apartment with a lesbian couple. The mean butchy Moe, longs to be a man and her lover Muffy is the the pretty one; blond and big breasted. In the films most hilarious and morbid flashback, we learn how Muffy had to flee to Mortville as a criminal. She gets upset at her stoned babysitter; not only for having a party while while she was away, but for leaving her baby in the refrigerator. She shoves the babysitter's face in dog food and screams "Eat dog food Bitch! Try and stick my baby in the refrigerator!" The sitter ends up suffocating in the dog food. Then Muffy kills her alcoholic husband, when his head gets caught in the car window. Although "Desperate Living" is missing drag actor Devine, it still is disgusting, depraved and hilarious as ever. With raunchy sex, nudity, perverse humor and low budget gore; it's in a town of its own.