The thing about Russ Meyer films is that from one to the next, you never truly know what you're going to get; watching one will not prepare you for another. Just about the only guarantee one has is that the result is going to be outrageous and over the top, explicit and exploitative, tongue-in-cheek and tasteless; it's no wonder that John Waters derived such clear influence from Meyer. For all the substantial sex, nudity, and emphasis of women's bodies, there's also an obvious kinship with outright sex comedies, except this filmmaker has tended to demonstrate that he's smart enough to generally aim for witty, sardonic sensationalism over cheap raunchiness. 'Supervixens' embraces all this and more, including even more severe violence, and (if possible) even more severely caricatured female characters. Anyone who can't get on board with such deliberate sleaze won't find anything here to change their mind, yet for those who can appreciate the slant, this is (mostly) ridiculous fun!
There are times when this seems too especially close to veering into self-indulgence, or leaning too hard into its Anything Goes mentality. The dialogue includes some needless homophobia and racism, for example. More significantly, I did say Meyer "generally" aims for wit over cheapness, and that this is "mostly" fun. For, insofar as the introduction of each new female character can effectively represent a different segment, almost as if in an anthology flick (as Meyer himself has more or less suggested), the man also seems intent from one "vignette" to the next on at least one inclusion that truly is base and crude, pursuing abject vulgarity over more meaningful cleverness. The overall intent of near-parody remains very clear, but - seemingly in reaction to two immediate predecessors that went a different route - Meyer's return to pure ballyhoo with 'Supervixens' apparently opened new channels of absurdity. Like a car fishtailing in poor driving conditions, Meyer overcorrected with this feature. As if to accentuate the point: the narrative writing is strongest at the beginning and the end, which is also where the dark, off-color humor is at its most intelligent, where the film is otherwise and in all other ways at its best - and not coincidentally, where the tawdriness is relatively downplayed.
Still, even at the picture's most genuinely ill-advised, one can hardly get mad at Meyer for doing what he wants to do - which is why we love him in the first place. Even when this goes too far, it still fits in neatly with the type of movie the man has made throughout his career, twisting together (in varying proportions) sexy kitsch, satire, downright silliness, and occasionally real plot. It's well made in every regard, from writing, direction, editing, and cinematography, to acting, music, stunts, and effects, even as each is bent toward definite cheek. I think this would have benefited from some healthy self-restraint, or maybe just one collaborator to tell Meyer "no," but all the same it's quite capably entertaining, if distinctly uneven. In both the filmmaker's oeuvre specifically and certainly cinema at large there are other movies that are a lot more enjoyable, and that should take priority for a viewer over this curiosity. Nonetheless, for all its excess and bombast, 'Supervixens' remains a fun, ludicrous romp, modestly worthwhile on its own merits; most recommendable for those who appreciate the campy zest of Meyer's other titles, or similar fare, this may not be perfectly essential but is a good time if you come across it.
