New York Times - 05/05/1977
"...An artifact of our time....[BAD] is more aware of what it's up to than any Warhol film I've seen to date."

Bad Is Good, But It's Not Nice!

A possible prelude to Natural Born Killers, Andy Warhol's Bad is as low as it goes. Hazel runs a beauty salon out of her house, but makes extra money by providing ruthless women to do hit jobs. K.T. is a parasite, and contacts Hazel looking for work when he runs out of money. She is reluctant to use him for a hit since she prefers using women, but decides to try him on a trial basis. Meanwhile, the local cop she pays off wants an arrest to make it look like he's actually doing his job, but she doesn't want to sacrifice any of her "associates." Several other side plots are woven in, populated with characters from the sleazy side of life.

Taking up the mantle of Andy Warhol's usual filmic collaborator Paul Morrissey, Jed Johnson offers up some laid back Warholian cinematic mayhem with the hysterically laconic BAD. Hazel Aikins runs an electrolysis center out of her home in Queens, New York and on the side runs a ring of smart-mouthed and sexy street girls whom she hires out as professional killers to those unwilling to do their own dirty deeds. When she unwillingly takes in her first male charge, L.T. (Perry King), Hazel's well established balance is upturned. As the various ladies carry out their gruesome tasks (killing a dog, maiming a gas station attendant) Johnson trains the camera as much on the superbly bizarre mannerisms and gestures of the actors as on their actual crimes, creating a vastly amusing if slightly disturbing cast of characters. When L.T. finally gets his assignment, to kill an unwanted autistic child, he becomes paralyzed by memories of his own abused youth. Hazel, constantly annoyed by her untrustworthy girls, her electrolysis clients, her useless daughter-in-law and whiny grandson and the unruly cop who she pays protection to, finally comes unglued in a bizarre and outrageous climax befitting Warhol's legacy.

Adventure | Cult Film | Scams And Cons | Theatrical Release

Genre:

• Vintage Erotica & Mature Movies