Satan Was a Lady

Though she is credited for two films since, this film is essentially the swan song for Ms. Wishman; the final two were either unreleased, or released sporadically. It is Wishman's attempt to update her tease-and-sleaze formula of the 50s and 60s for the Milennium. Even though the elements she chose to use have crept steadily into mainstream cinema (hookers, drug addiction, strip bars, etc.), there remains an unaltered twisted quality to her protagonists/antagonists. There are nods here that remind us of her influence on modern filmmakers--David Lynch specifically--with the use of brooding music, attention to bizarre details, and the loving affinity for footware. I found the movie to be one of her more enjoyable efforts, and a nice return from her misstep in A Night To Dismember. A bit long with repeated scenes used to segue action, it is nonetheless disquieting and ominous in the Wishman pattern. Don't expect great acting by any means, and the women (especially the lead) are suitably stern, heartless or vapid, but the discerning viewer should be able to wallow in the low-budget smell of female and the gospel of smoke.