Bitch Slap
Encyclopedia
Bitch Slap is a 2009 action and exploitation film
directed by Rick Jacobson and stars Julia Voth
, Erin Cummings
, America Olivo
and Michael Hurst
, with cameos by Lucy Lawless
, Kevin Sorbo
, and Renée O'Connor
.
named Trixie, a drug-running killer and ex-convict named Camero, and a corporate powerbroker nicknamed Hel, arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort massive riches from a ruthless sword-wielding killer named Pinky, who is also a notorious underworld figure. None of the three women are who they appear to be: each has an ulterior motive.
They kidnap a gangster called Gage and try to force him to reveal where the treasure is buried. He refuses, believing they will kill him anyway, but Hel promises he will not be harmed. Camero shoots him, against the wishes of Hel, saying she made no such promise. His phone rings, and they believe Gage is connected to Pinky.
Things become more complicated when a police officer named Deputy Fuchs arrives. Unknown to them, he was in the audience five nights ago when Trixie performed as a stripper to seduce Gage. However, the three women hide the body and are able to convince Fuchs to leave. While digging for the treasure, Camero asks the girls about the best sex each has ever had, believing the answer tells her something important about their character. She admits her best sex ever was with a circus contortionist, although she did not even know the contortionist's name.
During a water fight, Trixie falls onto something in the sand. They dig; however, instead of buried treasure they find the dead body of one of Hel's contacts. They are interrupted by Hot Wire and his girlfriend Kinki, whom Camero is familiar with. At gunpoint, the two abuse the women and force them to dig for the buried treasure. Deputy Fuchs returns and attempts to save the women, but instead creates a gunfight, which Hel ends with a high-powered machine gun found in the nearby trailer.
Camero asks the meaning of the code Hel uses on the bunker "75650".
At closer inspection it appears that the number 1 is associated with the letter A, 2 with BCD, 3 with E, 4 is with FGH, 5 is with IJK, 6 is with LMN, 7 is with OPQ, 8 is with RST, 9 is with UVW and 0 is with XYZ.
With this info the code numbers spell "PINKY"
Hel and Trixie find a concealed bunker full of goods stolen from Pinky, including a mysterious weapon, diamonds, and a beautiful sword, which Trixie takes. Camero, believing she is in the midst of a double-cross, fights Hel for the diamonds. Camero overcomes Hel and sets Trixie afire along with barrels of flammable liquids. Camero leaves Hel in chains while she attempts to drive away with the diamonds; however, Hel quickly uses the super-machine gun to free herself, and fires a rocket that destroys the car Camero was driving.
Hel admits to Trixie that she is a secret agent who reports to a man named Phoenix, and that she is on a mission to retrieve the weapon they found in Pinky's lair. Camero returns and again fights Hel. After she beats Hel to the ground, Camero assumes she is dead and moves to kill Trixie. As Trixie will not fight back, Camero attempts to rape her, but stops when she sees a tattoo and realizes Trixie was the mysterious contortionist from her past. Before she can kill Trixie, Camero is shot in the back and killed by Deputy Fuchs, who managed to survive the explosion. However, instead of thanking him, Trixie kills Fuchs using a hidden throwing star
. Hel awakens, having survived Camero's attack. Trixie then reveals that she, in fact, is Pinky, and concocted the entire plot to retrieve the sword she took from Gage's bunker, which he had taken from her six months previously.
composed the musical score and the CD was released in 2009; featuring 29 songs. The film also features songs by AM Conspiracy
, Rebel Vengeance and Eagles of Death Metal
.
on January 8, 2010 in theaters and video-on-demand. It received a limited run of three weeks in three theaters and closed January 21.
The film grossed $17,365 at the box office.
gave the film a score of 19% based on a weighted average of 5 reviews, indicating "Overwhelming dislike" from critics.
Rotten Tomatoes
gave the film a score of 42% based on 12 reviews, where ratings below 60% are considered "Rotten".
In Daily Variety, IM Global's Stuart Ford described Bitch Slap as "a pure exploitation pic — chicks, boobs, guns and bad guys, in that order."
In Variety
, Joe Leydon wrote "Overblown and underwhelming, 'Bitch Slap' is a desperately unfunny attempt to satirically recycle cliches and archetypes from sexploitation actioners of the 1960s and '70s".
Amy Biancolli of the San Francisco Chronicle
wrote "The idea is to amuse anyone who's not offended by all the over-baked violence, bad acting and slapping babeage, but it's so heavy-handed and hyper-stylized that any extant wit gets smacked into submission. It's just not any fun."
Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles Times noted that, "Despite its obsession with décolletage, Bitch Slap is surprisingly puritanical (much teasing, no pleasing)."
The movie is inspired by the movies Dragstrip Girl, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
, Kung Fu Nun, and the pantheon of blaxploitation
films.
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
directed by Rick Jacobson and stars Julia Voth
Julia Voth
Julia Voth is a Canadian-born American actress and model who lives in Los Angeles.-Modeling:Voth's modeling career has included photo shoots and commercials for brands such as Calvin Klein and Shiseido. Working in Tokyo, Paris and New York City. She is noted for being the character model of the...
, Erin Cummings
Erin Cummings
Erin Lynn Cummings is an American actress. She has appeared in the television shows Star Trek: Enterprise, Charmed, Dante's Cove, The Bold and the Beautiful, Cold Case, Dollhouse, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and Detroit 1-8-7....
, America Olivo
America Olivo
America Olivo is an actress and singer most notable for her membership in the Spanish- & English-language band Soluna. Born in Los Angeles, she has multiple citizenships: US, Canadian, and Italian. Born to father Nello Olivo and mother Danica d'Hondt...
and Michael Hurst
Michael Hurst
Michael Eric Hurst, ONZM is a New Zealand actor, director and writer, mostly on stage and television. He is probably best known internationally for playing Iolaus in the television programs Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and companion series Xena: Warrior Princess...
, with cameos by Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless
Lucy Lawless, MNZM is a New Zealander actress and singer best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess....
, Kevin Sorbo
Kevin Sorbo
Kevin David Sorbo is an American actor best known for the roles of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda and Kull in Kull the Conqueror.-Early life:...
, and Renée O'Connor
Reneé O'Connor
Renée O'Connor is an American actress, producer and director best known for playing the role of Gabrielle on the TV series Xena: Warrior Princess from 1995 to 2001.-Early career:...
.
Plot
Three girls, a down-and-out stripperStripper
A stripper is a professional erotic dancer who performs a contemporary form of striptease at strip club establishments, public exhibitions, and private engagements. Unlike in burlesque, the performer in the modern Americanized form of stripping minimizes the interaction of customer and dancer,...
named Trixie, a drug-running killer and ex-convict named Camero, and a corporate powerbroker nicknamed Hel, arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort massive riches from a ruthless sword-wielding killer named Pinky, who is also a notorious underworld figure. None of the three women are who they appear to be: each has an ulterior motive.
They kidnap a gangster called Gage and try to force him to reveal where the treasure is buried. He refuses, believing they will kill him anyway, but Hel promises he will not be harmed. Camero shoots him, against the wishes of Hel, saying she made no such promise. His phone rings, and they believe Gage is connected to Pinky.
Things become more complicated when a police officer named Deputy Fuchs arrives. Unknown to them, he was in the audience five nights ago when Trixie performed as a stripper to seduce Gage. However, the three women hide the body and are able to convince Fuchs to leave. While digging for the treasure, Camero asks the girls about the best sex each has ever had, believing the answer tells her something important about their character. She admits her best sex ever was with a circus contortionist, although she did not even know the contortionist's name.
During a water fight, Trixie falls onto something in the sand. They dig; however, instead of buried treasure they find the dead body of one of Hel's contacts. They are interrupted by Hot Wire and his girlfriend Kinki, whom Camero is familiar with. At gunpoint, the two abuse the women and force them to dig for the buried treasure. Deputy Fuchs returns and attempts to save the women, but instead creates a gunfight, which Hel ends with a high-powered machine gun found in the nearby trailer.
Camero asks the meaning of the code Hel uses on the bunker "75650".
At closer inspection it appears that the number 1 is associated with the letter A, 2 with BCD, 3 with E, 4 is with FGH, 5 is with IJK, 6 is with LMN, 7 is with OPQ, 8 is with RST, 9 is with UVW and 0 is with XYZ.
With this info the code numbers spell "PINKY"
Hel and Trixie find a concealed bunker full of goods stolen from Pinky, including a mysterious weapon, diamonds, and a beautiful sword, which Trixie takes. Camero, believing she is in the midst of a double-cross, fights Hel for the diamonds. Camero overcomes Hel and sets Trixie afire along with barrels of flammable liquids. Camero leaves Hel in chains while she attempts to drive away with the diamonds; however, Hel quickly uses the super-machine gun to free herself, and fires a rocket that destroys the car Camero was driving.
Hel admits to Trixie that she is a secret agent who reports to a man named Phoenix, and that she is on a mission to retrieve the weapon they found in Pinky's lair. Camero returns and again fights Hel. After she beats Hel to the ground, Camero assumes she is dead and moves to kill Trixie. As Trixie will not fight back, Camero attempts to rape her, but stops when she sees a tattoo and realizes Trixie was the mysterious contortionist from her past. Before she can kill Trixie, Camero is shot in the back and killed by Deputy Fuchs, who managed to survive the explosion. However, instead of thanking him, Trixie kills Fuchs using a hidden throwing star
Shuriken
A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...
. Hel awakens, having survived Camero's attack. Trixie then reveals that she, in fact, is Pinky, and concocted the entire plot to retrieve the sword she took from Gage's bunker, which he had taken from her six months previously.
Cast
- Julia VothJulia VothJulia Voth is a Canadian-born American actress and model who lives in Los Angeles.-Modeling:Voth's modeling career has included photo shoots and commercials for brands such as Calvin Klein and Shiseido. Working in Tokyo, Paris and New York City. She is noted for being the character model of the...
as Trixie - Erin CummingsErin CummingsErin Lynn Cummings is an American actress. She has appeared in the television shows Star Trek: Enterprise, Charmed, Dante's Cove, The Bold and the Beautiful, Cold Case, Dollhouse, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and Detroit 1-8-7....
as Hel - America OlivoAmerica OlivoAmerica Olivo is an actress and singer most notable for her membership in the Spanish- & English-language band Soluna. Born in Los Angeles, she has multiple citizenships: US, Canadian, and Italian. Born to father Nello Olivo and mother Danica d'Hondt...
as Camero, and Sister Prudence Bangtail - Michael HurstMichael HurstMichael Eric Hurst, ONZM is a New Zealand actor, director and writer, mostly on stage and television. He is probably best known internationally for playing Iolaus in the television programs Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and companion series Xena: Warrior Princess...
as Gage - Ron Melendez as Deputy Fuchs
- William Gregory LeeWilliam Gregory LeeWilliam Gregory Lee is an American actor.His first prominent role was as Virgil on Xena: Warrior Princess...
as Hot Wire - Minae Noji as Kinki
- Scott Hanley as Black Ice
- Kevin SorboKevin SorboKevin David Sorbo is an American actor best known for the roles of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda and Kull in Kull the Conqueror.-Early life:...
as Mr. Phoenix - Dennis Keiffer as MacDaddy
- Lucy LawlessLucy LawlessLucy Lawless, MNZM is a New Zealander actress and singer best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess....
as Mother Superior - Renée O'ConnorReneé O'ConnorRenée O'Connor is an American actress, producer and director best known for playing the role of Gabrielle on the TV series Xena: Warrior Princess from 1995 to 2001.-Early career:...
as Sister Batrill - Mark LutzMark Lutz (actor)Mark Douglas Lutz is a Canadian actor, who is best known for playing Groosalugg in the television series Angel and for writing and starring in the two-hour movie on the life and death of Victor Davis....
as Deiter Von Vondervon - Debbie Lee CarringtonDebbie Lee CarringtonDebbie Lee Carrington is an American actress and stuntwoman known for her diminutive size . She has appeared in many films and TV shows, including In Living Color, Return of the Jedi, Howard the Duck, Total Recall, Men in Black, Seinfeld, Baywatch, Married with Children , Boston Legal, The Garbage...
as Hot Pocket - Zoë BellZoë BellZoë E. Bell is a stuntwoman and actress from New Zealand. Some of her most notable stunt work includes doubling for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess and for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. As an actress, she has appeared both on television and in feature films and also starred in the web series...
as Rawhide
Music
John GrahamJohn Graham
- Politics and history :*John de Graham , Scottish soldier*John Graham, Earl of Menteith*John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose , Scottish peer*John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose, , Scottish peer...
composed the musical score and the CD was released in 2009; featuring 29 songs. The film also features songs by AM Conspiracy
AM Conspiracy
AM Conspiracy is an American hard rock band from Orlando, Florida, formed in 2005. Their current lineup consists of Jason "Gong" Jones, who was member of the band Drowning Pool when they recorded the album Desensitized, , Dean Andrews , Kenny Harrelson , Drew Burke , and Rob DeHaven...
, Rebel Vengeance and Eagles of Death Metal
Eagles of Death Metal
Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998 by Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. Despite their band name, Eagles of Death Metal are not a death metal band. Hughes stated that a friend was introducing Josh Homme to the death metal genre...
.
Release
The film was released in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on January 8, 2010 in theaters and video-on-demand. It received a limited run of three weeks in three theaters and closed January 21.
The film grossed $17,365 at the box office.
Home media
An unrated DVD was released on March 2, 2010 in the United States.Critical response
MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the film a score of 19% based on a weighted average of 5 reviews, indicating "Overwhelming dislike" from critics.
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave the film a score of 42% based on 12 reviews, where ratings below 60% are considered "Rotten".
In Daily Variety, IM Global's Stuart Ford described Bitch Slap as "a pure exploitation pic — chicks, boobs, guns and bad guys, in that order."
In Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Joe Leydon wrote "Overblown and underwhelming, 'Bitch Slap' is a desperately unfunny attempt to satirically recycle cliches and archetypes from sexploitation actioners of the 1960s and '70s".
Amy Biancolli of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
wrote "The idea is to amuse anyone who's not offended by all the over-baked violence, bad acting and slapping babeage, but it's so heavy-handed and hyper-stylized that any extant wit gets smacked into submission. It's just not any fun."
Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles Times noted that, "Despite its obsession with décolletage, Bitch Slap is surprisingly puritanical (much teasing, no pleasing)."
Inspiration
The film is described as "a post-modern, thinking man's throwback to the 'B' Movie/Exploitation films of the 1950s–70s as well as a loving, sly parody of the same."The movie is inspired by the movies Dragstrip Girl, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a 1965 exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer, who also wrote the script with Jack Moran. It stars Tura Satana, Haji, and Lori Williams....
, Kung Fu Nun, and the pantheon of blaxploitation
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
films.