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Desperate Living

Desperate Living

Comedy · Crime · 1977

After killing her husband, Peggy Gravel and her murderous maid Grizelda wind up in the crazy town of Mortville, where Queen Carlotta presides over a sleazy collection of misfits.

Movie details

Desperate Living

“It isn't very pretty…”

1977 Comedy · Crime 1h 31m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

After killing her husband, Peggy Gravel and her murderous maid Grizelda wind up in the crazy town of Mortville, where Queen Carlotta presides over a sleazy collection of misfits.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Desperate Living?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Pink Flamingos

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Black Belt Jones

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Action · 1974

Jones is a secret agent who has gone into semi-retirement, concentrating instead on teaching the martial arts to inner city youths. The karate school is run by a kindly old coot named Pops. His gambling debts, however, bring the local thug, Pinky, down on him. To make matters worse, Pinky is then hired by some white thugs who want to get a hold of the property Pops' school occupies so they can build a shopping mall. When things get heavy, Black Belt Jones leaps into action. Only he's not alone. Pops' daughter, Sidney, shows up to lend a hand, proving herself every bit as agile and powerful a martial artist as Jones.

Cotton Comes to Harlem

Cotton Comes to Harlem

Action · 1970

Harlem's African-American population is being ripped off by the Rev. Deke O'Malley, who dishonestly claims that small donations will secure parcels of land in Africa. When New York City police officers Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson look into O'Malley's scam, they learn that the cash is being smuggled inside a bale of cotton. However, the police, O'Malley, and lots of others find themselves scrambling when the money goes missing.

Heathers

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A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.

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Cruising

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Crime · 1980

When New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the city's underground bars, rookie cop Steve Burns infiltrates the S&M subculture to try and lure him out of the shadows.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Waters

Written by

John Waters

Liz Renay

Liz Renay

Muffy St. Jacques

Mink Stole

Mink Stole

Peggy Gravel

Susan Lowe

Susan Lowe

Mole McHenry

Edith Massey

Edith Massey

Queen Carlotta

Mary Vivian Pearce

Mary Vivian Pearce

Princess Coo-Coo

Jean Hill

Jean Hill

Grizelda Brown

Brook Yeaton

Brook Yeaton

Bosley Jr.

Court is in session

Put Desperate Living on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.