The Swinging Barmaids (1975)

Instant Favorite.

Absolutely Fantastic

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

"The Swinging Barmaids" is a prototypic example of a '70s drive-in exploitation movie that is considered pure & unwatchable amateur trash by 99% of cinema-loving audiences and sheer cult/grindhouse brilliance by the remaining 1% of weirdos. Usually I'm a proud and devoted member of the latter group, but I have to admit that this particular flick didn't quite work for me due to the enormously implausible script and the rather unpleasant depiction of nudity. To clarify, I dig bare and voluptuous breasts as much as every other healthy bloke, but the titular barmaids in this movie don't voluntarily expose them during their working hours but only involuntarily when their shirts are violently torn to pieces by the maniacal killer. Apart from the opening sequences, which take place in the girls' dressing room, they keep their tops on during their jobs as they are waitresses instead of strippers and the Swing-A- Ling club apparently isn't a sex club but an entertainment bar! I do understand the frustration of most customers, though, because all women in this bar are quite buxom and the stand- up comedy that is provided on stage is pretty weak. Still, one blond-haired and bearded customer thinks the whole place and its staff is too immoral and assaults waitress Boo-Boo. He also follows her home later that night and, even though Boo-Boo puts up quite a fight, kills her in her apartment. Poor Boo-Boo's misogynist death is quite the turning point in the film, for two reasons. First of all Boo-Boo is played by the one and only Dyanne Thorne of the infamous sleaze franchise Ilsa (She-Wolf of the SS, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks, Tigress of Siberia and – unofficially – the Wicked Warden) and the film loses a lot of its cult charisma since she dies so early in the film. Secondly, and more importantly even, the script turns totally bonkers and inconceivable after the first murder. The killer, Tom, is caught in the act by no less than three of Boo-Boo's friends/roommates but still remains unidentified. Then, simply by shaving off his beard and dying his hair, he successfully applies for a job as bouncer in the Swing-A-Long and gets immediately included in the bar's circle of trust. In spite of having tough copper Harry White on his tail, Tom makes more victims, including the bar owner's wife (who apparently just has to wait like all the other girls) and becomes obsessed with the cute Jenny who works as a scantily clad waitress in a bar even though her fiancée is a successful doctor; another highly plausible plot detail. "The Swinging Barmaids" is very similar to the "The Centerfold Girls" released one year earlier, but the script and characters are a less compelling while the murders are more repulsive and vile. Director Gus Trikonis made a handful more and better exploitation/drive-in flicks, most notably "The Evil" and "Moonshine County Express", before settling with more regular TV-work like "Baywatch" and "Viper".

"The Swinging Barmaids" by Gus Trikonis is about a serial killer who stalks and kills cocktail waitresses.Three murders are pretty harrowing and misogynistic and there is plenty of soft-core nudity.The first victim of drooling psychopath is played by voluptuous Dyanne "Ilsa" Thorne and let me tell you one thing:she is the blast and her fight scene with the killer is gloriously hysterical."The Swinging Barmaids" also contains oodles of bare breasts with so many of the film's featured actresses seen in various states of undress and it's this kind of welcomed gratuity that further enhances its raunchy cult status.If you liked "The Centerfold Girls" you can't go wrong with this sleazy spectacle.8 out of 10.An essential and unfortunately forgotten exploitation classic.

"The Swinging Barmaids" is really worth to be discovered. A very rare 70ies movie, written by Chuck Griffith about a psycho who kills sexy cocktail waitresses.Dyanne Thorne is his first victim. The news reporter spoke of her after finding her dead body as a woman in the end 20ies (in real Dyanna was 43 when making the movie).William Smith here plays - surprise, he's not the bad guy this time - the rough and tough Police Lieutenant Harry White, always dressed in a Humphrey Bogart-like trench coat, which he wears during the whole movie and he never takes his trench coat off.The girls (Laura Hippe, Katie Saylor and Renie Radich) are really pretty and their acting is realistic. It is really sad that most of them gave up their acting careers after this one.The final Showdown is pretty funny: Bruce Watson as Tom, the psycho Killer stands in front of William Smith's Lt. White and shoots two times at him but didn't hit him (Why? Maybe he's short-sighted. From that distance in real life nobody could fail). William Smith shoots back (six times I think) with a shotgun and kills him.Not to forget a very cool and typically 70ies Soundtrack somewhere between "Theme from Shaft" and "The Streets of San Francisco". For Fans of 70ies Movies this one is really worth to watch.

Geeky and misogynistic mama's boy psycho Tom (an enjoyably loopy portrayal by Bruce Watson) preys on the lovely ladies who work at a seedy Los Angeles bar. It's up to tough, no-nonsense detective Harry (a superbly rugged performance by legendary B-movie hard man William Smith) to nab the sicko. Longtime favorite unsung exploitation flick director Gus Trikonis (who also blessed us with the first-rate hicksploitation gem "Nashville Girl" and the spooky haunted house item "The Evil"), working from a racy and twisted script by frequent Roger Corman scribe Charles B. Griffith, relates the nasty plot at a nonstop zippy pace, maintains an appropriately harsh and hard-edged tone throughout, delivers a pleasing amount of tasty female nudity, and really pulls out all the stirring stops for the incredibly energetic and exciting climax that's loaded with bloody shootings and a rousing chase between a car and a motorcycle. Moreover, the scenes with the titular gals getting killed by the wacko are extremely brutal and harrowing, with the nut tearing off their tops and taking photos of their corpses after he's murdered them. The female cast is quite sexy and attractive: Laura Hippe as the cheery Jenny, Katie Saylor as the sweet Susie, Renie Radish as the sassy Marie, and Dyanne "Ilsa" Thorne as the bitter, snippy Boo-Boo. Contributing nifty supporting turns are Zitto Kazann as smarmy bar owner Zitto, Jim Travis as Jenny's nice physician fiancé Dave, Ray Galvin as crusty bartender Jack, and Andre Tayir as brash transvestite entertainer Ms. Bruce. Irv Goodnoff's rough, but effective cinematography makes inspired frequent use of a hand-held camera for the murder set pieces and rough'n'tumble fight scenes. Don Bagley's groovy-jammin' score likewise hits the get-down funky spot. Highly recommended to 70's drive-in cinema fans.