In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Criterion Collection have re-released John Waters’ cult classic movie Pink Flamingos. Released in 1972, the movie quickly gained notoriety due to the graphic nature of its content. Some people were repulsed by the movie, with some considering trash. Then there were others that were intrigued by its bizarre nature. When screened at midnight, the movie attained a cult following- thus making Waters and the movie’s star Divine underground movie legends. For the first time ever, Pink Flamingos has been released on Blu-ray. With a new 4K Restoration of the movie and a slew of bonus features, Criterion have crafted what might be the best home video release of Pink Flamingos.
Movie Review
Pink Flamingos tells the story of Babs Johnson, aka Divine (Divine)- a woman who lives in a trailer with her son Crackers (Danny Mills), her friend Cotton (Mary Vivian Pearce) and her mother Edie (Edith Massey). Divine holds the title as the “Filthiest Person Alive,” a title that couple Raymond and Connie Marble (David Lochary and Mink Stole) desperately want. Jealous of Divine, the Marbles plan to take Divine’s title as their own.
Divine poses with a pistol.
Watching Pink Flamingos in 2022, the movie might be seen as tame to younger generations: a simple Google search for any kind of porn will likely be more shocking. That aside, this movie is still shocking and not for the faint of heart. Pink Flamingos has almost everything found to be disgusting or revolting: incest, kinky sex, masturbation, cannibalism, coprophagy, castration, bestiality- just to name a few. In fact, Pink Flamingos isn’t politically correct: it’s a movie that could never be made today. However, that’s what makes this movie a hoot to watch. If you have the stomach for it, Pink Flamingos has you covered. You want to see Crackers have sex with his date while crushing a chicken to death between them? Check. Want to see the Marbles suck each other’s toes? Look no further. Want to see the now-iconic scene of Divine eating dog shit? It’s all here for you to see.
The cast and crew of Pink Flamingos, outside the trailer.
The dialogue in this movie is wonderfully campy. Think Tennessee Williams except far more juvenile and bizarre. With the actors and actresses Waters assembled, they deliver the lines splendidly- some better than others. Of the people in the cast, Divine just might give the best performance in the movie. Throughout the movie, Divine chews up the scenery. Hell, he even licks it at one point in the movie along with co-star Mills. Until his untimely death in 1988, Divine was certainly a unique talent and completely devoted to the his role in the movie. While his character in the movie is portrayed as mean and short tempered, the real Divine was anything but that- which goes to show that commitment. Mink Stole also shines as Connie Marble, the movie’s lead antagonist. From her first scene until the end of the movie, Stole is fantastic as the overly-jealous Mrs. Marble. She gives some of the movie’s best lines, specifically in her first scene when interviewing a candidate to spy on Divine.
“I guess there’s two kinds of people, Miss Sandstone: my kind of people and assholes.” says Mrs. Marble to the rejected candidate. “It’s rather obvious which category you fit into.”
Given Waters’ status as an underground film maker, Pink Flamingos was filmed with a shoe string budget of $12 K. Even with the 4K restoration, a majority of the movie’s picture looks rough but that might be for the better: it gives the movie an edge and a punk rock mentality. The soundtrack is also strong, which consists of 1950’s rockabilly coming straight from Waters’ record collection. Before the days of movie editing on computers, movie editing was as basic as it gets. Waters is said to have done everything himself up in his attic and the results are impressive.
If the movie had any downsides, it would be some of the pacing. The movie feels like it drags out towards the end. There are also other points in the movie that feel like filler side plot, such as Raymond Marble exposing himself to women in an effort to earn money. Even then, these parts are still fun.
Divine and John Waters
Special Features
As to be expected with most Criterion releases, Pink Flamingos is packed with bonus content. While a majority of the features are not brand new, the content here is well worth watching.
– Two audio commentaries from John Waters, one from the deleted 1997 Criterion laserdisc and the 2001 DVD release
– The 1998 Steven Yeager directed Divine Trash, a 90-minute documentary on Waters, Divine and the making of Pink Flamingos.
– Deleted scenes and alternate takes in two forms. First, there’s the deleted scenes with Waters’ commentary that was added at the end of the movie in 1997. The other: the same scenes sans Waters’ commentary and it looks to be newly restored.
– NEW feature: Director Jim Jarmusch talks about Pink Flamingos with John Waters
– NEW feature: John Waters tours the movie’s filming location in Baltimore. VERY interesting feature.
Along with these features, the Blu-ray comes with an essay written by Howard Hampton and a excerpt from actress Cookie Mueller’s 1990 autobiography. These all come in a mini newspaper, styled after the Midnight paper in the movie. To top it off, Criterion have also added a reproduction of the barf bags handed out to viewers back in the day in theaters.
Conclusion
As a whole, Criterion’s entry on Pink Flamingos is a great release of the cult classic movie. An impressive and immersive release, this should be a fine addition to any movie buff’s collection.
I'm a writer/journalist with a passion for music and pop culture. Having graduated from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 2014, I've been looking for a platform in which I can share my passions. Since 2009, I've been posting to my own blog- The Walrus' Music Blog- via Blogger. I'm also the author of two self-published books, "The Camp: Stories from the Summer" and "The College: Stories from King's." Together, the two books cover the story of my life from 2004 to 2014. I've been lucky enough to interview several of my favorite musicians over the years and go to concerts from time to time. I'm also very devoted to the CBS reality TV show Survivor, which I started watching in 2002 when its fourth season started. I currently live in New Jersey.