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THE DOUBLE-D AVENGER
Produced, Directed, and Written by William Winckler
Director of Photography and Editor - Raoul J. Germain Jr.Chastity - Kitten Natividad
Dr. De La Croix - Raven De La Croix
Cousin Billy - William Winckler
Ooga Boobies - Sheri Dawn ThomasWhen a movie arrives that I know nothing about I often go through the features on DVD just to get an idea for what lies in store. The features on William Winckler's THE DOUBLE-D AVENGER are few in number, a stills gallery, a trailer, and a commentary with director Winckler and star Kitten Natividad. On a whim, I punched up the photo gallery first. Some behind the scenes shots of the cast and crew along with a few stills of Kitten from her Russ Meyer's heyday left me with little impression. On the other hand, after viewing the trailer, I had plenty to say including a mortified "oh, Christ" that I grunted loud enough to wake my mutt-of-a-cat, Brownie from his nap across the room.
Maybe I'm the wrong guy to be reviewing this movie. I'm sure the Winckler's heart was in the right place. I'm sure he set out to make a lighthearted comedy geared towards pleasing the fans of those old Russ Meyer's movies. You know, gather a few stars, have a few laughs, make a bawdy little movie, and capitalize off the nostalgia. "C'mon guys, let's have some fun and put on a show!"
But the movie isn't fun. Far from it. Having never seen a Russ Meyer movie I'm unable to appreciate the humor of THE DOUBLE-D AVENGER. I can't recall Dolly Parton ever getting a laugh from one of her self-referential boob jokes over the years so I'm convinced they just aren't funny. Either that, or as I said earlier, I'm the wrong man to review the movie.
Kitten plays Chastity, a middle-aged bartender running a successful joint. Her good fortune is cut short after she is diagnosed with breast cancer.
Right away you see the first problem. What on God's green Earth is funny about breast cancer? Nothing! It's meant to add to the entire boobies-are-everything atmosphere, but after having spent the past 5 years of my life helping a family member deal with the disease, I couldn't find it within myself to so much as crack a smile.
To treat her cancer, Chastity visits South America in hopes of taking advantage of the healing properties of the Croczilla plant. The fruit inside is too bitter to sallow so one has to lick and suck the banana-like bud to get all the nutritional properties. And for extra kicks, one can suck the plant's nuts as well...they hang right at the base of the banana shaft.
Yes, we get multiple shots of these ladies sucking off the banana.
And yes, again, the humor is lost on me. The implication comes across fine, just the humor isn't present. Maybe large quantities of beer would have made the movie more enjoyable. It certainly isn't meant to be taken seriously.
After Kitten returns from South America, she's endowed with superpowers and does battle with a rival bar owner bent on being the sole nudie club owner in the area. His muscle are three bimbets with strong ethnic backgrounds. And yes, ethnicity is a large part of their respective character's humor. There's a Greek belly dancer. A pirate who likes to say "shiver me titty timbers", and a cave woman named Ooga Boobies.
Try as I might, I just couldn't get into THE DOUBLE-D AVENGER. Listening to the commentary, one gets a feeling for why the movie fails...it's intentionally bad. The goal by Winckler was to create a cult film, something no one can do intentionally. In order for something to gain cult status, it has to strike a cord within a select group of viewers who take the movie to heart. By appealing to the lowest common denominator, a filmmaker alienates himself and his work from anyone who might see that hidden spark.
From the sound of things, Winckler is planning a series of movies to bring back the entire Russ Meyer stable of Russ Meyer's talent. The movie is well-made and technically superior to most shot on video productions, but perhaps Winckler would be better off trying to bring back Russ. That man is renowned for marching to his own beat and possessedly a solidly individual voice. I'm sure he could come up with something truly unique and deserving of cult status, and not just a 70 minute homage. In fact, I'm going to try tracking down some of his movies this week.