Classic Review: Multiple Maniacs (1970)

The original poster to John Waters' second feature film "Multiple Maniacs," Courtesy of Janus Films and New Line Cinema.

Mr. David: "Yes folks, this isn't any cheap X-rated movie or any 5th rate porno play, this is the show you want! Lady Divine's cavalcade of perversions, the sleaziest show on earth! Not actors, not paid impostors, but real actual filth who have been carefully screened in order to present to you the most flagrant violation of natural law known to man! These assorted sluts, fags, dykes and pimps know no bounds! They have committed acts against God and nature, acts that by their mere existence would make any decent person recoil in disgust!"

Here on this blog, I have been away from the classic film reviews section for a while. I would like to kick start that back up since I have been able to watch some classic films from home and now I can write about them. I wanted to kick start again with John Waters' Multiple Maniacs (1970), a film that is incredibly outlandish that one can understand the cult following behind it. Waters is known for being aggressively unorthodox and grotesque in most of the films he made early on in his career. He liked achieving the publicity through these kinds of methods of filmmaking. This is my first John Waters film I have ever seen, and as like many of his other films, he has a vigorous voice, showing characters doing things that one does not normally see in mainstream films. It is not for everyone, which is why I want to review it.

The basic "story" for Multiple Maniacs is fairly singular, but one that takes its time to show off the young John Waters and his voice as a filmmaker. It follows a group of individuals who put on shows for the public displaying their unthinkable "abilities". Including someone making out with a bicycle seat, a person eating vomit, people licking a woman's hairy armpits, you get the idea. But the head of this group is Lady Divine (played by Divine). A crossing dressing Queen who ends up finding out her boyfriend, Mr. David (played by David Lochary) has cheated on her, bringing with her murder and mayhem amongst the people closest to her. Multiple Maniacs is cruel, unimaginable, strange (like it was not a surprise), but concludes with a concept that has something to say in the mind from Waters. It says something about the culture at the time, especially amongst scrums and groups who get outcasted because they are "different".

David Lochary announces to a limited crowd about what they will witness underneath the tent in "Multiple Manics," Courtesy of Janus Films and New Line Cinema.

Shot in black and white, Multiple Maniacs shows off the amateur that was at the time. Delayed reactions after each cut from the actors, and consistent takes where he will zoom the frame out to make the audience realize the shift in conversation amongst characters. Waters liked showing things that were senile, boosting a reaction from that public, which is exactly what everyone involved wanted.

This kind of exploitation can be used critically and expansively, if done correctly. I am one to admire this work from Waters due to his budget scale and how the ending to the film, while ridiculous and quite exaggerated) it shows the kind of aggression people could have on each other. This is one of the major positives I take away from Multiple Maniacs, there are moments where he is able to display some comedy since it is so absurd. However, he is able to convey messages about violent and toxic individuals, how their situations are created through those levels of destruction.

Behind the scenes photograph of John Waters filming his second feature film "Multiple Maniacs," Courtesy of Janus Films and New Line Cinema.

However, there is a level of confusion on my part where I see the intentions and admire most of the execution, but there is an inner monologue performed by Lady Divine in a church where she describes the events of Jesus Christ, and her faith, while also receiving unconditional love from a prostitute inside of the church. These sequence of events happen for about 25 to 30 minutes roughly, a decent chunk of the runtime. In this piece, there are moments of high tension and unique questions of faith, but then is tainted by the amount of sex that is happening.

This is where I am at a weird stance with Waters. On one hand, the veneration most can have is quite high. When one finds out he pushed the limit and work extremely to get his film made on essentially nothing for a budget, there is a great amount of incentive there for any up and coming filmmaker. He also creates perplexing ideas of class and individuals, and flat out anomalous situations one normally does not think about on a regular basis. (Especially the ending to this film, which I will describe in a second.)

Mink Stole (left) and Divine (right) in "Multiple Maniacs," Courtesy of Janus Films and New Line Cinema.

And on the other hand, there is a great amount of exploitation for the disgusting events Waters creates. It is just outrageous how Waters created some of these sequences, and while it is intended for a particular crowd, there is not much of a motive behind these sequences other than seeing how repulsive it can be. For example, Multiple Maniacs has two things happen at the ending that nearly sum up my argument for Waters and his filmmaking.

SPOILERS, but honestly, it is a vile film so if you are actually interested then do not read this, but for everyone else get ready. The ending consists of Lady Divine essentially murdering her boyfriend (including eating his organs), his lover, one of her servants in her moving circus shows, and finding her daughter murdered as well from her boyfriend. (That was a lot for one sentence)

Mary Vivian Pearce (left), Divine (middle) and David Lochary (right) in "Multiple Maniacs," Courtesy of Janus Films and New Line Cinema.

What partakes after this event is a seizure from Lady Divine, and gets raped by a lobster. Yeah you read that correctly, she gets raped by a lobster while having a seizure. What happens after that is when Lady Divine goes into public and crowds of people show their despise for her since she is "different". Ending in a massacre from a group of army soldiers who shoot her down in a violent fashion, while listening to America, The Beautiful. Something I would define as intriguing and a message for the audience to take home with them.

I have only seen one John Waters film and that is Multiple Maniacs. I am tore on the greatness that is displayed on screen in certain areas, and the question marks I have for Waters. While there may not be a strict answer on some of these question marks, I am glad I watched the film. I plan on seeing his other works in time, and hopefully talking about them again just like Multiple Maniacs. Waters had a bemusing motive in making and marketing his films, but ended up with succeeding because of it. I admire what he did with Multiple Maniacs. especially being his only second feature. He created a film that helped him jump a number of hoops to get to his later works. I think this is a great introduction to Waters as if it was a preview for what is about to come. Multiple Maniacs serves its purpose, and then some, but also leaves the viewer in a unique position to digest and think about what they just watched, or leave angered because they just saw someone eating vomit.

Rating: B-

Run Time: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

For easier access, it is available on Criterion Collection: