‘The Bombshell’ is making her way through Baltimore when she is confronted by a hippie with his own special proclivities (if you know, you know), who takes her to a wooded area so that he can… After this moment of ecstasy (in which she daydreams about herself as Cinderella), she is mown down by Divine sporting a gold toreador outfit and driving a gorgeous car. The rest of the film involves their time together and involves shoplifting, magical chicken feet and an insane asylum.

It’s safe to say that a lot of acid was taken before and during the making of this film which had a budget of $2,100 (borrowed from John’s dad).

The other noticeable thing is that there is very little dialogue from the actors apart from the scene where Divine is visited by The Virgin Mary and the woodland scene (slurping noises and moans of sheer enjoyment).

The rest of the soundtrack is just that- a soundtrack. Waters used his own records for this which would mean that it would be almost impossible to release due to copy write. In fact, the soundtrack is more like a sound collage with specific lines from songs being used for certain parts of scenes.

This works well…for the first half hour. Unfortunately Mondo Trasho is 90 mins long and the soundtrack grates by the end of the running time.

In fact, Waters himself has said that he would have liked the film to be a short film instead. I have to agree.

But it’s fun to see Waters’ first feature length movie and to be introduced to Mary Vivian Pierce, David Lochary, Mink Stole, and, of course, Divine.

It’s also great to see a film which credits an actor as ‘The Shrimpor’ (again, if you know, you know).

Unfocused but still fun.

3 out of 5 stars