Culture

Directed by John Waters. Starring: Divine, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Mary Vivian Pearce, Edith Massey, and Danny Mills.
A movie based on a battle for the ‘Filthiest Person Alive’ is bound to push the boundaries of cinematic taste; this film is not suitable for those weak of stomach or easily offended. Heck, even difficult-to-offend people may struggle.
 

Divine has recently been crowned the filthiest person alive by a newspaper and the ensuing fame has forced her to hide out in a caravan somewhere in Phoenix, Arizona. Living with her is her egg-obsessed mother Edie who lives in a playpen, her son Crackers, and her travelling companion Cotton.
 

After reading about Divine’s accolade, fellow filth mongers Connie and Raymond Marble attempt to out-filth Divine’s clan and destroy them. The Marbles are pretty disgusting – they earn their living by kidnapping and impregnating women, waiting until the women come to term, then kill them and sell their babies to lesbian couples. They send a mole to seduce Crackers and what ensues is unlike anything I’ve seen before. The “Chicken Sex Scene” sees a live chicken being crushed between the two, and can be summed up in three words; screaming, blood, and feathers.

 
Having discovered the whereabouts of Divine, the Marbles try to get the police to break up her birthday party. A variety of Divine’s friends perform at the party including a delightful fellow who can lip sync with his anus. Divine gets tonnes of gifts; a pig head, some vomit in a napkin and an axe which she uses to hack the police up and eat them when they arrive. The tit-for-tat games continue between the two rival groups, with each finding more ways to out-filth the other. In the end we are left with no doubt as to who the filthiest person alive is, as proven by the infamous final (dog walking) scene.

 
The film is sick and you can equally rest assured that anything you see on screen actually happened – yes, that’s a real chicken really being killed. But the film is also quite funny and entertaining if you’re up for it. I would definitely recommend it, just not while eating.