Pink Flamingos

Cast & Crew

Divine

Divine , Babs Johnson

David Lochary

Raymond Marble

Mink Stole

Connie Marble

Mary Vivian Pearce

Cotton

Danny Mills

Crackers

Edith Massey

Edie

Channing Wilroy

Channing

Cookie Mueller

Cookie

Paul Swift

The Egg Man

Susan Walsh

Suzie

Pat Moran

Patty Hitler (Party Guest In Nazi Uniform)

Pat Lefaiver

First Lesbian

Jack Walsh

Party Guest

Bob Skidmore

Delivery Boy

Jackie Sidel

Party Guest

Julie Munshauer

Party Guest

Steve Yeager

Mr. Vader

Nancy Crystal

Sandy Sandstone

George Figgs

Bongo player

John Oden

Onlooker

John Waters

Director

John Waters

Writer

John Waters

Producer

John Waters

Cinematographer

John Waters

Film Editing

Vincent Peranio

Production Design

Vincent Peranio

Art Director

Van Smith

Costume Design

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News & Interviews for Pink Flamingos

TORONTO: John Waters, Front and Center in “This Filthy World”

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Critic Reviews for Pink Flamingos

Audience Reviews for Pink Flamingos

• Oct 23, 2013

  John Waters most famous film, Pink Flamingos is an awful piece of crap that is just poorly constructed with a poorly thought plot, which really doesn't make sense, and really bad cast. This is pure Exploitation done wrong. I've seen my fair share of Exploitation pictures, but this one ranks as the worst. I really don't understand as to why this film has gotten praise. This film was trash, and a poor waste of film. There is little substance here to really make it worth seeing, and the content is despicable and it's just for shock value. This is not a film classic by any means, and it doesn't deserve the praise it has gotten. Trash films are fun, I mean look at what Trauma has done. However this is just a disturbing piece of garbage that should not be watched at all costs. I was curious about this film, as I've heard plenty of things about it, how it was a milestone of cinema and such. However, when I unfortunately ended up watching it, I really didn't get the hype. Waters exposes us to every taboo there is, purely for shock value. The film leaves asking questions, as to why this crap would be made. This is not landmark cinema, and it really a picture that exhibits poor taste. The success of Pink Flamingos on the midnight film circuit is surprising. Aside from sheer shock content, the film is boring with nothing interesting going for it. I really don't see what's funny with Pink Flamingos, and it is a poorly constructed film that never should have been made.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Aug 17, 2013

  An outrageous and repellent exercise in bad taste whose only infantile objective is to leave you disgusted as if eating dog shit yourself. It isn't funny, the acting is horrible and John Waters only proves that he is an awful director with his trashy zooms and ugly camera movements.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Sep 30, 2012

  I knew it. I just knew it. Those two times when I just can't continue on watching the film is a foreboding all on its own. Sure, films like "Salo" and "Cannibal Holocaust" have disturbed me to the fullest, but it's only during "Pink Flamingos" that I have looked away from the screen several times simply because I just can't take what the film is showing me anymore. This, I believe, is trash American cinema at its most deprived, disturbed and relentlessly absurd. Damn New York Magazine for nonsensically comparing this to Luis Buñuel's "An Andalusian Dog". Buñuel's short classic is pure silent art; "Pink Flamingos" is a radical piece of noisy trash. But hell, there's such a thing we call 'junk art'. Perhaps "Pink Flamingos" belongs to that category. A film about the filthiest person alive (played by late drag legend Divine), one can't really expect a film with such subject matter to be an exercise in elegance and good taste. In fact, John Waters seemed to have seen that 'filthy' little branding as a challenge to visually top himself in every sequence, shock factor-wise. From cannibalism to castration, Waters has thrown everything into the film but the kitchen sink, and the result may just be the most appalling piece of trash ever made. That is a compliment, by the way. But the film, as crazy as it may be, is still a story rooted in familial bond. Divine, although an extremely disturbed person, is still family-oriented. And beneath her heavily made-up, genuinely intimidating exterior is a truly caring daughter to a mentally ill, egg-loving mother (Edith Massey) and a consistently encouraging mother to a mentally unstable son (Danny Mills). But still, do not be misled by the ostensibly tender characterization. Personally, I still think that Divine is, without a doubt, one of the most frightening characters in all of movie history. The only difference is unlike most movie killers who prefer to murder alone, Divine prefers company and an audience, but she only does so when there's enough justification. And in her case, the word 'justification' means fending off some hacks who want to seize from her the title of 'the filthiest person alive'. Referencing a clichéd action film tagline, "God help those who come his/her way". But in the end, no matter how deprived and murderous Divine may be, she may just ultimately prefer to cook her dear mother some eggs all day (and maybe eat some excremental droppings from dogs on the way) rather than to murder for fun. But then again, you may never know. This Divine is one unpredictable fella to deal with. But so is John Waters, the same man who has declared "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" as the best film ever made. As an auteur, Waters is commendable for making the film look as cheap as possible while also feeding it with enough acts of deprivations and cruelty to make it even more shockingly antithetic to what makes a film acceptable at the least. But ultimately, what Waters has achieved is something stylistically noteworthy. By integrating songs into scenes while rendering the dialogue mute, he was able to consistently create an ironically fun-loving atmosphere. Take the scene where Raymond (David Lochary) and Connie Marble (Mink Stole), the scheming couple who wants to dethrone Divine from her filthy throne, is about to deliver a birthday gift to Divine as an example. We know that the content of the gift is something unspeakably dubious to say the least (okay, a fecal matter's what's inside the gift box), but Waters, despite of the disgusting nature of the gift, has chosen to insert the very pristine "Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby" song by 'The Tune Weavers' to accentuate the mockery that accompanies the sequence. Amid all the nonsense, John Waters has indeed forged his own style. He has ensured that "Pink Flamingos" will be a tough act to follow. Until now, I believe it still is. This film persists. 'An Exercise in Poor Taste," the tagline says. Yes, it sure is, but one can't also deny the fact that "Pink Flamingos" is a trash film worthy to be deemed as truly influential. We can at least safely say that if there's no "Pink Flamingos", there will be no such films as Harmony Korine's "Gummo" or even Rob Zombie's more recent "The Devil's Rejects". And also maybe without "Pink Flamingos", exploitation cinema would have been a lot tamer. Honestly, no other films have disturbed me as much. For me, films like this are stuff nightmares are made of. To admire this film's true aesthetic value is quite hard but it is not really impossible. But to find enough motivation to rewatch the film will surely be an intense scatological dig. Well, at least for me.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Jun 20, 2012

  I'm trying very hard to find something to say without being completely rude. Just why? Filmmakers, why on earth did you think this was a good idea? I'm very very surprise that this got 81% fresh and audiences liking it. It's absolutely vulgar, pointless and almost porn, not to mention the horrendous filmmaking and acting. It's not funny or entertaining in the slightest and I wonder how I sat through it all. Don't. Really don't waste your time.
  

  Super Reviewer