{"id":61027,"date":"2021-01-01T13:44:10","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T20:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=61027"},"modified":"2021-01-01T13:44:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T20:44:10","slug":"andy-warhols-bad-bad-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=61027","title":{"rendered":"Andy Warhol&#8217;s Bad \/ Bad (1977)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;People are so sick. The more you see &#8217;em, the sicker they look. You could be so nice, if you didn&#8217;t wanna be a creep!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Andy-Warhol-Bad-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Andy-Warhol-Bad-Poster-210x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-61028\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Andy-Warhol-Bad-Poster-210x300.png 210w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Andy-Warhol-Bad-Poster-715x1024.png 715w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Andy-Warhol-Bad-Poster-89x128.png 89w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Andy-Warhol-Bad-Poster-768x1100.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Andy-Warhol-Bad-Poster-189x270.png 189w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Andy-Warhol-Bad-Poster.png 783w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen a male assassin (Perry King) arrives at her house, a housewife (Carroll Baker) running an electrolysis trade and an all-female murder-for-hire business out of her home finds her life disrupted, as her dumpy daughter-in-law (Susan Tyrell) with a fussy baby becomes increasingly distressed about the level of meanness and violence all around her, and a corrupt cop (Charles McGregor) pressures Baker into giving him the name of a perpetrator.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Carroll Baker Films<\/li>\n<li>Hit Men<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this &#8220;satirical look at a completely rotten society&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;perhaps the most ridiculous film ever distributed by a Hollywood company (Roger Corman&#8217;s New World Pictures)&#8221; &#8212; is &#8220;also the only Andy Warhol film to at least &#8216;look&#8217; like a mainstream film.&#8221; He points out that 26-year-old director &#8220;Jed Johnson wisely kept his characters under tight control, making sure they delivered their preposterous dialogue&#8230; in a very off-key manner,&#8221; and as a result, &#8220;this absurd black comedy&#8221; &#8212; which  &#8220;deserves more of a cult than it has&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;beats the odds and works beautifully&#8221;. He notes that &#8220;the main thrust of the humor has less to do with the overtly outrageous violent acts than with characters&#8217; simply being mean to one another or pulling cruel jokes to intimidate those people they don&#8217;t like.&#8221; Interestingly, &#8220;nothing is taken seriously except a poignant scene between King and an autistic boy,&#8221; leading Peary to argue that &#8220;unlike John Waters, Warhol doesn&#8217;t treat truly sensitive subjects irresponsibly&#8221; (well, it&#8217;s all relative, I guess!).  <\/p>\n<p>Peary goes into further detail about this absurdly dark comedy in his first <em>Cult Movies<\/em> book, where he points out &#8220;it has always been the intention of Warhol and his directors to &#8216;disturb&#8217; the American audience&#8217;s movie-watching sensibilities as conditioned over the years by the dominant Hollywood product.&#8221; Warhol forces us &#8220;to accept <em>his<\/em> redefinition of cinema&#8221; &#8212; indeed, his characters &#8220;are so nasty that they&#8217;d give that Richard Widmark villain of <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5947\"><em>Kiss of Death<\/em> (1947)<\/a>, who kicks an old lady in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs, a good run for his money.&#8221; For instance, &#8220;working on a contract for Mrs. Aiken, P.G. [Stefania Casini] lowers a car on a garage mechanic&#8217;s legs&#8221;; a mother (Susan Blond) who&#8217;s &#8220;too impatient to wait for the hired assassins&#8221; &#8220;tosses her crying baby out the window herself; Glenda [Geraldine Smith] and Marsha [Maria Smith] even go so far as to stab a dog with a sharp knife.&#8221; And that&#8217;s not even mentioning the wanton pyromania that goes on in both a movie house and a car. I&#8217;m curious how many film fanatics these days are familiar with and\/or interested in Warhol&#8217;s work, given that more recent directors have continued to push the envelop in terms of what&#8217;s &#8220;acceptable&#8221; to put on screen or not &#8212; however, Warhol&#8217;s film-making factory remains an important enough part of underground cinema history that I believe his major films (like this one) should continue to be one-time must-see viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Carroll Baker as Mrs. Aiken<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Baker.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Baker.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-61030\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Baker.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Baker-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Baker-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Baker-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Susan Tyrrell as Mary Aiken<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Tyrrell.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Tyrrell.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-61029\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Tyrrell.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Tyrrell-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Tyrrell-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Tyrrell-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Many bizarrely memorable scenes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-61031\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-61032\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment2.png 480w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment2-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Bad-Moment2-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, once, for its cult status. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0075679\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=130\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/andy-warhols-bad\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;People are so sick. The more you see &#8217;em, the sicker they look. You could be so nice, if you didn&#8217;t wanna be a creep!&#8221; Synopsis: When a male assassin (Perry King) arrives at her house, a housewife (Carroll Baker) running an electrolysis trade and an all-female murder-for-hire business out of her home finds her life disrupted, as her dumpy daughter-in-law (Susan Tyrell) with a fussy baby becomes increasingly distressed about the level of meanness and violence all around her,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=61027\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61027"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61040,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61027\/revisions\/61040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}