Switchblade Sisters

This movie is great, horrible acting, super-low budget, very over-the-top. It's no West Side Story, but definately hilarious after a couple of drinks. Truly Le Bad Cinema!

Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures video collection is something for true fans.
From the arthouse masterpiece Chungking Express (also available) to the blaxploitationfilm Detroit 9000 (also available), this series delivers a small collection of different genre classics.

Switchblade sisters even offers exclusive Jack Hill special features including his first film!

"Are they young rebels fighting for survival in a decaying society? Or are they hoodlums taking advantage of their youth?"
Directed by Jack Hill, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is a cult classic that was sadly overlooked until Quentin Tarantino managed to get it re-released. Cinema snobs (People who think the only films worth watching are arthouse junk that make "statements") will look down on anyone who calls this a movie- but those of us who aren't pretentious geeks (i.e: ME, & hopefully YOU who are reading this) will see merit in this cheesy B grade sex & violence entertainment.
Also known as THE JEZEBELS & PLAYGIRL GANG, the movie centers around two street gangs The Dagger Debs: Lace (Robbie Lee), Patch (Monica Gayle), Donut (Kitty Bruce- Lenny's daughter) & Bunny (Janice Karmen) & their male counterparts the Silver Daggers; who run a drugs & prostitution racket at their high school.
One night at a diner the Dagger Debs try to recruit a customer named Maggie (Joanne Nail) to the gang after she pulls a knife on Patch & nearly cuts out her good eye. Unfortunately the cops sweep the place and Maggie is jailed along with the rest of the gang.
On their release, the gang decide to put Maggie through her first test towards becoming a member. This involves seducing some greasy gimp named Clutch (Paul Lichtman) & stealing his medallion as part of the initiation; but in an act of retaliation Clutch abducts & rapes Bunny, leaving her hospitalised in a critical condition.

This of course leads to an all-out gang war in the movie's latter third- with The Dagger Debs re-christening themselves The Jezebels & joining forces with the Silver Daggers & soon the streets are flowing with blood. There is however, some brief insight into the psychology of the gangs: an explaination one of the Silver Daggers gives for being in a gang is because of his insecurity over having a crooked willy. Now there's a plausible reason to go out and knife people!
SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is a fun explotation flick, but is a bit lacking in the T&A department (that's not to say there isn't any, though)- it's also worth noting that this was made four years before Walter Hill's THE WARRIORS which made this genre hip. Granted, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS isn't up to the standards of director Jack Hill's earlier classic SPIDER BABY; but for its kitschy late night entertainment value, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is hard to beat. Check it out.

... To give you a summation of what the 70's exploitation cult classic was all about, the movie had the gang rape of a girl in a moving vehicle, in-school forced-prostitution, a knife-wielding gang of femme fatales, a sadistic lesbian warden, and a rapist that can only be described as being a third-rate Fonzy wannabe. As I watched the movie, I remember I kept saying to myself (since it was all coming as a shock to the exploitation movie virgin that is me), "Jeez, this is wrong on so many levels." However, even though it was devoid of ideas and intelligence, I was completely drawn to the action-packed exploitation film for some arbitrary reason. Maybe I have an innate love for poorly made and poorly acted out movies that is always in suspension and precipitates only when I watch such movies making me momentarily susceptible to enjoying them? Or maybe my sadistic obsession with female degradation can only be sublimated by subjecting myself to meandering and wayward films like this making me a more socially acceptable member of society once I get my fill of female debasement presented on the medium that is film? Whatever the reason, Switchblade Sisters was a breath of fresh cinema in light of the recent Criterion craze that has seemingly swept the nation overnight. Sure some of modern cinema and contemporary action movies can be unfocused and disjointed like Switchblade Sisters, but unlike those movies Switchblade Sisters has a lot of heart in it and the ability to not take itself too seriously. The movie's ability to encompass that ideology of "bah!-I-don't-need-to-justify-this-senseless-violence" makes the insatiable Evil-Dead-blood-thirsting-B-movie fan in you just feel warm and fuzzy inside when viewing this movie. Speaking of Evil Dead, Switchblade Sisters operates under the same principles of the Evil Dead trilogy because technically it's a terrible movie, but it revels in its own campy pastiche (a camp pastiche that has aged gracefully unlike most exploitation films which just seem horrendously retroactive) making it enjoyable.

I must disagree with many of the other reviewers - this film is not cheese at all. In the strictest sense of the word, it's not a sexploitation flick, either, although many may argue this point.

This film was written as a modern-day, female version of 'Othello,' not a gang/bike/trash story at all! Basic rundown - The Dagger Debs gang, led by Lace, takes on a new member named Maggie. She is fiercely loyal to Lace, but gang member Patch is jealous and manages to turn Lace against Maggie through a series of well laid out machinations. Meanwhile, Lace's boyfriend Dominick is making the moves on Maggie. Much madness and mayhem ensues. So, yes, there are lots of cat-fights, tough chicks, and chain fights, not to mention more than one tight top to be seen and maybe a breast here or there. But don't let these be the only thing you see when watching this film! With the exception of the actress playing Donut, the acting in this film is perfectly good (Donut is Lenny Bruce's daughter, and she got the part on name merit alone). Additionally, character development is high, the plot moves well, action is great. And, durn, it's based on Shakespeare!....sort of.

There are a variety of reasons to watch 'Switchblade Sisters,' whether you are a fan of sexploitation flicks, B-movies, Jack Hill, or the cult genre in general. There's even a bonus for those interested in finding a 'diamond in the rough' or other hidden cinematic gems - this is one well-made film. You really cannot go wrong with this movie.

A note on different versions of this film: The Quentin Tarantino/Rolling Thunder version is terrible. As usual, Tarantino places himself both at the beginning and end of the film, rambling incoherently and redundantly about the merits of the work. It is a real distraction and he has absolutely -nothing- interesting to say. If you are able to purchase the Johnny Legend release instead, I would suggest you do so. It includes some interesting interviews at the end of the tape with Jack Hill and the two main actresses.