Bad (1977)

AKA: Andy Warhol's Bad

Director: Jed Johnson

Writers: Pat Hackett, George Abagnalo

Composer: Mike Bloomfield

Starring: Carroll Baker, Perry King, Cyrinda Foxe, Matthew Anton, Cathy Roskam, Susan Tyrrell, Mary boylan, Gordon Oas-Heim, Lawrence Tierney, Charles McGregor

More info: IMDb

Tagline:A picture with something that will absolutely offend everybody.

Plot: Hazel runs a beauty salon out of her house, but makes extra money by providing ruthless women to do hit jobs. K.T. is a parasite, and contacts Hazel looking for work when he runs out of money. She is reluctant to use him for a hit, since she prefers using women, but decides to try him on a trial basis. Meanwhile, the local cop she pays off wants an arrest to make it look like he's actually doing his job, but she doesn't want to sacrifice any of her "associates." Several other side plots are woven in, populated with characters from the sleazy side of life.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? No.

The tagline is a lie.  One of the few things I can see that would offend folks is the baby toss.  Did you see that awesome fucking clip?  This chick has hired a female assassin to kill her baby.  She's on the phone with the daddy and he's too cheap to pay for it and tells mommy to handle it herself!  This clip should be required viewing for anyone who wants to make an exploitation picture.  One reason why it works for me is that it happens so quickly and the mother is very blase about it.  I fucking love it!  That's easily the harshest moment in the film, shock-wise.  Is it a good film?  I think so but it's not much of a narrative in that there's a beginning, middle and end (there is for L.T. (Perry) but not really for anyone else).  The thing is, it's interesting and it'll probably hold your attention.  It's got a certain "let's follow some lowlifes around with a camera and see what happens" feel to it without being a handheld, documentary style of film.  It's definitely scripted but it's looser than the standard studio picture.  Lots of credit to director Johnson on that one.  The actors often feel natural (there are a couple of actors who need more experience) which makes it more watchable and of a better quality than what you'd expect from a Warhol picture (I'm sure he had little to do with this other than attach his name to it and wait for the checks to roll in). I doubt I'll ever watch it again but I'm awfully glad I did.  That baby toss scene is one of the most outrageous things I've seen in a while.  Check this one out.  It's Neat.