RED LIPSTICK

Director Alexandra King / 1999 / USA

If John Waters directed Bonnie and Clyde as an homage to the Banana Splits TV show, the result would be something like the hysterical Red Lipstick. Incorporating the manic approach of The Monkees and the camp aesthetic of the 60s Batman TV series, this heist movie in drag is a laugh riot from wig to stilettos.

Hedda Lettuce and Miss Understood are a pair of none too glam drag queens, down on their luck and living the low life. A not particularly bright scheme to reinvent themselves as Bonnie and Bunny, bank robbers in daring frocks, rockets them to fame and finally gives them enough cash to get a gold tooth for their dog. But all is not feather boas and sequins. The envy of Brenda, bitchy Morticia Adams clone, and Violet, a whip wielding dominatrix, looks like ruining the party. Not to mention Frankie, psychotic toxic waste magnate and underworld honcho, who has his eye on the gals' booty, er, money.

Preposterously kinetic and colourful, every frame in the worst possible taste and a hundred below the waist gags make Red Lipstick a vibrant, low budget, lowbrow comedy. Look out for Debbie Harry in an outrageous cameo, as Ezmerelda the alcoholic psychic. Discover your feminine side.

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