Just try to stop these ‘Lovedolls’

Two alternative filmmakers get successive tributes this week at the American Cinematheque -- L.A. punk auteur David Markey and the late King of the Nudies, Russ Meyer. It’s an appropriate pairing, for Markey’s two low-budget “Lovedolls” films are demented homages to Meyer’s “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” (1979), itself a lurid spoof of “Valley of the Dolls” (1967).

Made for a reported $250 and shot on Super 8 in the seedy backyards, side streets and beaches of L.A. in 1984, “Desperate Teenage Lovedolls” recalls early John Waters’ movies; it’s sometimes funny, even hilarious, but it also meanders into tedium.

“Desperate” celebrates anarchic punker lowlife with mangy gusto, as three no-talent teens, Bunny (Hilary Rubens), Kitty Carryall (Jennifer Schwartz) and Patch (Janet Housden) form the Lovedolls and let nothing stop them from reaching the top. They dispatch with their manager (Steve McDonald) when he proves to be a rapist. Then they stand up to the She Devils, a switchblade-carrying gang led by one Tania Hearst (Tracy Rea). The offing of a frenzied and possessive mother prompts this exchange between two of the Lovedolls:

“Thanks for killing my mom.”

“Hey, no problem.”

The girls sling a lot of attitude and tough talk, and Markey, only 19 when he made “Desperate,” sees the humor in it. Much of the cast was drawn from mid-’80s L.A. bands such as the Bangles, Black Flag and Red Kross.

Shot in 1986 in 16-millimeter and recently “revitalized” -- whatever that means -- “Lovedolls Superstar” is more ambitious and coherent but also more self-conscious. The successful Lovedolls have now hit the skids: Bunny’s dead, Kitty’s a wino and Patch is leading a cult. But sure enough they regroup, with Cheeta Punkerton stepping in for Rubens to give fame another stab. McDonald returns as his dopey twin brother, Rainbow, a recent student of peace and love at the Freedom School in New Mexico. Rea returns as Hearst’s mother, bent on revenge.

Inside jokes abound, and there are more rock cameos and dark plot turns. The U.S. president (Jello Biafra), for instance, promises the Lovedolls an intergalactic tour -- hoping they’ll never return -- if they cull Patch’s flock Jim Jones-style. The soundtrack might be the most notable part of the film, with incidental music by Gone and songs by the Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth, Red Kross and the Dead Kennedys.

Sexual satire

Loaded with sex and violence to the point of parody -- which may be the point -- Russ Meyer’s “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” (1966) is a fetishistic fantasy. Led by Tura Satana, three bosomy babes -- two lesbian, one bisexual, all in tight pants and high-heeled boots -- converge on the desert ranch of a rich but crippled dirty old man (Stuart Lancaster). He’s got two sons, one who’s no brains but all brawn and another who’s not much more intelligent and lots less muscular. The ensuing conflict is like a clash between King Kong and Godzilla. As a sex fantasy, “Faster” is funny, but also a little sad, yet it has endured as one of Meyer’s classics.

“Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens” (1979) is a rambunctious satire of small-town sexual mores that ranks among Meyer’s most ambitious and amusing films. The screenplay, adapted from Meyer’s original story by Roger Ebert, is an irreverent send-up of “Our Town”; it even has a narrator (Stuart Lancaster, again a dirty old man) who conveys the local gossip.

Inhibited husband (Ken Kerr) spends more time with his calculator than with his voluptuous wife (Kitten Natividad). The wife’s frustrations launch a series of lusty adventures featuring other top-heavy women. It’s all earthy fun, but there’s also a certain wistfulness in the desperation of so much lovemaking. Perhaps Meyer, the classic purveyor of red-blooded American male sex romps, is making more a comment on machismo than first meets the eye.

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Screenings

American Cinematheque

* Tribute to Legendary L.A. Punk Filmmaker David Markey, 7:30 tonight

* Remembering Russ Meyer, 7:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

Info: (323) 466-FILM or www.americancinematheque.com