The “awful” but “perfect” movies John Waters loves
Otherwise known as the ‘Pope of trash’, American filmmaker John Waters is recognised as one of the most subversive directors of all time, making films that question and challenge the nature of good taste. Working with some of the industry’s greatest names such as Johnny Depp, John Travolta, Zac Efron and Christopher Walken, Waters’ artistry straddles independent and mainstream filmmaking.
His career sparked to life back in the late 1960s, emerging as a distinctive voice in cult cinema thanks to his regular acting collaborator Divine, who made his film debut in the 1967 short film Roman Candles. Further success for the pair would come in Water’s feature film debut Eat Your Makeup in 1968 and the comedy Mondo Trasho one year later, which would gain great attention for its shocking themes and imagery.
Yet, it wasn’t until the release of Pink Flamingos in 1972 that Waters and Divine would both gain proper cultural traction, with the bizarre flick telling the story of a battle between two groups of people vying to be ‘The Filthiest Person Alive’. Featuring a scene where Divine consumes real dog excrement, the film has since gone down in the history books of cinema, embracing a trashy aesthetic that would go on to inspire countless other underground directors.
As the ‘Pope of trash’, Waters rather predictably likes a large range of pretty terrible films and took the time to discuss these in an interview with Vice from 2015.
The first “awful” film he chooses to discuss is the 1970 horror sci-fi flick Trog, helmed by Freddie Francis. “Trog is a movie you watch with your mouth hanging open. Trog is a howler,” he expressed to the publication, adding: “it wasn’t made to be funny. It’s Joan Crawford’s last film and it’s totally heartbreaking to see her doing serious acting with a man in a monkey suit pretending to be a troglodyte”.
Yet, despite the film’s terrible critical and commercial reception, Waters holds it dear: “Does Trog influence me? Yes! It taught me: Get a star and build a vehicle around her. That’s how to get your movie made. I always got along with stars, I never had any trouble. When you have a meeting with a star you do have to think, ‘Right, have they got a sense of humour?’”.
But Trog isn’t the only awful movie that Waters loves; he also has a soft spot for the 1968 Elizabeth Taylor flick Boom!. Speaking about the movie, he states: “It’s so awful it’s perfect. My favourite bit is when Elizabeth Taylor pukes into a handkerchief, looks down, and there’s blood, and she says, ‘Ah! A paper rose!’. The script is ridiculous. Come on, it’s about the richest woman in the world, called ‘Sissy Goforth,’ and the Angel of Death. Maybe everyone does need an angel of death who comes to them when they die, and so what if your angel of death steals something from you”.
Take a look at the trailer for 1970s Trog below and bathe in its sheer absurdity.
