The late Doris Wishman’s career as a sexploitation auteur stretches back at least to 1960 and includes such titles as “Nude On the Moon,” “Keyholes Are For Peeping,” and “Dildo Heaven.” But she really struck gold with campy flicks like “Bad Girls Go to Hell,” “Another Day, Another Man,” as well as “Deadly Weapons,” and “Double Agent 73” which both starred the gigantic breasts of the aptly-named, Chesty Morgan. Wishman always had her own eccentric sense of cinema, which is what made her films so fun.
In one her last films, “Satan Was a Lady,” Wishman’s anti-heroine is Cleo Irane (Honey Lauren), a bad-assed strumpet who’s sick of her low-rent existence of supporting her no-good, Beatle-wig wearing boyfriend Ed (Glyn Styler), in their crummy, little apartment. The busty charmer simply needs to figure a way out. She puts the squeeze on one of her johns—an old coot named John King (Edge–not the U2 guitarist) and in her spare time she picks up some pocket money by rolling a drunk. And then, for reasons unknown, our old friend Beatle Wig knocks us out with some loungy musical interludes.
Pretty soon candy-apple tressed Cleo is sitting on a pretty pile of cash, and is ready to retire from her usual job of laying for pay. But somehow our little neon-haired vixen still seems awfully bitter. Especially when she hacks up another gal’s face that she considers her “competition.
When the always enterprisin’ Cleo hooks up with John King’s son, Brett (Hans Löhl), the story takes yet another wacky turn. And this is when the fun really starts. Wishman’s heavy-handed approach to every aspect of her craft is ultimately what made her films so bad that they’re (sometimes) good. Her unique vision will be missed.
DVD extras include a couple of solo songs by co-star Glyn Styler—which I personally could live without—and a behind the scenes look at Wishman at work that shows that she definitely loved her job.
