Career Bed

Career Bed (1969)

*** (out of 4)

Mrs. Potter (Honey Hunter) decides that her daughter Susan (Jennifer Welles) must become a famous star no matter what. Mommy is willing to sell her own body to open the right doors for her daughter but she's also willing to make her daughter do whatever it takes to make it big.

Joel M. Reed will always be remember for his notorious BLOODSUCKING FREAKS but there's no question that this film, the second he would direct, is his best one. CAREER BED is in the sexploitation genre where filmmakers throughout New York City were filming quick movies with small budgets hoping that they'd make some sort of impact down on 42nd Street. CAREER BED isn't the dirtiest movie from the genre and it doesn't feature the most violence but it is certainly among the best that was ever made due to how dirty it is.

I mean, the story of a mother pimping herself out and then forcing her daughter to do whatever these perverted men and women wants is just something that was perfect for this genre. There were countless exploitation pictures were a naive person ends up in the big bad city but there's something about a mother forcing her daughter to do these things. There are some really weird and bizarre scenes here including right off the bat when the mother seduces her daughter's future husband just so that she'll leave him!

The film basically has the mother and daughter going through one door after another, which means one creep after another. I really loved the way Reed's dark view of filmmaking leaks through and I must admit that he really did create a very good movie here. Being able to see New York City as it once was is a major plus but it's the storyline that really sells the movie. Another major plus is that Welles and Hunter are so beautiful that it just adds to the sexuality of the story.

CAREER BED isn't as well-known as BLOODSUCKING FREAKS. It's easy to see why that film gets all the press considering what's in it but this one here deserves a lot more attention.