Multiple Maniacs
Encyclopedia
Multiple Maniacs is a 1970 comedy film
by American cult filmmaker John Waters
; his second feature film. The film features several actors who were part of the Dreamland
acting troupe for Waters' films, including Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce
, David Lochary
, Mink Stole
, Edith Massey
, and Cookie Mueller
.
The title pays tribute to Herschell Gordon Lewis
's 2000 Maniacs, as John Waters states in his book Shock Value.
s and fetish
acts and obscenities such as the "Puke Eater". The show is free, although the various performers must persuade and even physically drag reluctant passers-by to attend.
As a finale to every show, Lady Divine comes in and robs the patrons at gunpoint. This arrangement seems successful to Lady Divine's lover, Mr. David (David Lochary
), until Lady Divine becomes bored with the routine, and decides to murder the patrons rather than merely robbing them. After escaping the murder scene, she comes home to her prostitute daughter, Cookie (Cookie Mueller
), and her new boyfriend, Steve (Paul Swift
), a member of the Weather Underground
. Lady Divine receives a call from Edith (Edith Massey
), proprietor of the local bar, who informs Lady Divine that Mr. David had been at her bar with another woman (Mary Vivian Pearce
). Divine heads there to catch them, but is raped on the way by two glue-sniffers. While contemplating these events the Infant of Prague
appears and leads her to a church. Making her way uncertainly into the church, Lady Divine prays, but is then approached and seduced by a strange young woman (Mink Stole
). They have a sexual encounter in the church pew, the woman inserting a rosary
into Lady Divine's rectum
while describing the Stations of the Cross
.
Now lesbian
lovers, Lady Divine and Mink go to Edith's bar with the intent to kill Mr. David and his mistress, but they are too late; David and Bonnie, his lover, (who have by this time decided that they have to kill Lady Divine to protect themselves) have left. Mr. David returns to Cookie's house to kill Divine, but finds only Cookie and fellow performer Rick there. An argument ensues and Bonnie accidentally kills Cookie. They tie up Rick and hide Cookie's corpse just before Divine and Mink return. When Bonnie tries to shoot Lady Divine, Divine attacks and kills her with a knife. She then turns on Mr. David and eviscerates him as well, devouring his internal organs and becoming more frenzied. Rick appears and surprises Mink, who shoots him. In a fit of anger, Divine accuses Mink of betraying her and stabs Mink. Divine becomes even more crazed upon finding her daughter's body hidden behind the couch. Just after collapsing, exhausted from the ordeal, a giant lobster (named Lobstora) enters and rapes Lady Divine. In the aftermath (mumbling "You're a maniac now, Divine"), she destroys a car, then runs around Baltimore, insane, bloody, and wearing a mink coat, trying to kill anyone she can get at.
The film ends with the appearance of the National Guard, who surround Lady Divine on the street and shoot her down, accompanied by the sound of Kate Smith
singing "God Bless America
".
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
by American cult filmmaker John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
; his second feature film. The film features several actors who were part of the Dreamland
Dreamlanders
Dreamlanders refers to the cast and crew of regulars whom John Waters has used in his films. The term comes from the name of Waters' production company, Dreamland Productions...
acting troupe for Waters' films, including Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
, David Lochary
David Lochary
David Crawford Lochary was one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts...
, Mink Stole
Mink Stole
Nancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
, Edith Massey
Edith Massey
Edith Massey was an American actress and singer. Massey was best known for her appearances in a series of movies by director John Waters...
, and Cookie Mueller
Cookie Mueller
Dorothy Karen "Cookie" Mueller was an underground American actress, writer and Dreamlander, who starred in many of filmmaker John Waters' early films, including Multiple Maniacs,...
.
The title pays tribute to Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis is an American filmmaker, best known for creating the "splatter film" subgenre of horror...
's 2000 Maniacs, as John Waters states in his book Shock Value.
Plot
Lady Divine (Divine) is the owner and operator of a show called The Cavalcade of Perversion, a free exhibit of various perversionPerversion
Perversion is a concept describing those types of human behavior that are a serious deviation from what is considered to be orthodox or normal. Although it can refer to varying forms of deviation, it is most often used to describe sexual behaviors that are seen by an individual as abnormal,...
s and fetish
Sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
acts and obscenities such as the "Puke Eater". The show is free, although the various performers must persuade and even physically drag reluctant passers-by to attend.
As a finale to every show, Lady Divine comes in and robs the patrons at gunpoint. This arrangement seems successful to Lady Divine's lover, Mr. David (David Lochary
David Lochary
David Crawford Lochary was one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts...
), until Lady Divine becomes bored with the routine, and decides to murder the patrons rather than merely robbing them. After escaping the murder scene, she comes home to her prostitute daughter, Cookie (Cookie Mueller
Cookie Mueller
Dorothy Karen "Cookie" Mueller was an underground American actress, writer and Dreamlander, who starred in many of filmmaker John Waters' early films, including Multiple Maniacs,...
), and her new boyfriend, Steve (Paul Swift
Paul Swift
Paul Swift was an American film actor.-Career:Between 1970 and 1977 he appeared in roles in four of the early feature films directed by John Waters. He additionally appeared as himself in two documentary films....
), a member of the Weather Underground
Weatherman (organization)
Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization , was an American radical left organization. It originated in 1969 as a faction of Students for a Democratic Society composed for the most part of the national office leadership of SDS and their...
. Lady Divine receives a call from Edith (Edith Massey
Edith Massey
Edith Massey was an American actress and singer. Massey was best known for her appearances in a series of movies by director John Waters...
), proprietor of the local bar, who informs Lady Divine that Mr. David had been at her bar with another woman (Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce
Mary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
). Divine heads there to catch them, but is raped on the way by two glue-sniffers. While contemplating these events the Infant of Prague
Infant Jesus of Prague
Infant Jesus of Prague is a famous statue of infant Jesus located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Malá Strana, Prague.- History :Its earliest history can be traced back to Prague in the year 1628 when the small, 19-inch high, wax statue of the Infant Jesus was given by Princess Polyxena...
appears and leads her to a church. Making her way uncertainly into the church, Lady Divine prays, but is then approached and seduced by a strange young woman (Mink Stole
Mink Stole
Nancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
). They have a sexual encounter in the church pew, the woman inserting a rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
into Lady Divine's rectum
Rectum
The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the gut in others, terminating in the anus. The human rectum is about 12 cm long...
while describing the Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
.
Now lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
lovers, Lady Divine and Mink go to Edith's bar with the intent to kill Mr. David and his mistress, but they are too late; David and Bonnie, his lover, (who have by this time decided that they have to kill Lady Divine to protect themselves) have left. Mr. David returns to Cookie's house to kill Divine, but finds only Cookie and fellow performer Rick there. An argument ensues and Bonnie accidentally kills Cookie. They tie up Rick and hide Cookie's corpse just before Divine and Mink return. When Bonnie tries to shoot Lady Divine, Divine attacks and kills her with a knife. She then turns on Mr. David and eviscerates him as well, devouring his internal organs and becoming more frenzied. Rick appears and surprises Mink, who shoots him. In a fit of anger, Divine accuses Mink of betraying her and stabs Mink. Divine becomes even more crazed upon finding her daughter's body hidden behind the couch. Just after collapsing, exhausted from the ordeal, a giant lobster (named Lobstora) enters and rapes Lady Divine. In the aftermath (mumbling "You're a maniac now, Divine"), she destroys a car, then runs around Baltimore, insane, bloody, and wearing a mink coat, trying to kill anyone she can get at.
The film ends with the appearance of the National Guard, who surround Lady Divine on the street and shoot her down, accompanied by the sound of Kate Smith
Kate Smith
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...
singing "God Bless America
God Bless America
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song ....
".
Cast
- Divine as Lady Divine
- David LocharyDavid LocharyDavid Crawford Lochary was one of the regular "Dreamlander" actors in early films of the controversial "trash" film director John Waters. He starred in such films as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Multiple Maniacs, in which he typically played exotically-dressed, sophisticated perverts...
as Mr. David - Mary Vivian PearceMary Vivian PearceMary Vivian Pearce is an American actress. She has worked primarily in the films of John Waters.Pearce is the childhood best friend of John Waters and has appeared as an actress in all of his films. Because of her work with Waters, she is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of...
as Bonnie - Mink StoleMink StoleNancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
as Mink / The Religious Whore - Cookie MuellerCookie MuellerDorothy Karen "Cookie" Mueller was an underground American actress, writer and Dreamlander, who starred in many of filmmaker John Waters' early films, including Multiple Maniacs,...
as Cookie Divine - Edith MasseyEdith MasseyEdith Massey was an American actress and singer. Massey was best known for her appearances in a series of movies by director John Waters...
as Edith the Barmaid / Virgin MaryMary (mother of Jesus)Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee... - Paul SwiftPaul SwiftPaul Swift was an American film actor.-Career:Between 1970 and 1977 he appeared in roles in four of the early feature films directed by John Waters. He additionally appeared as himself in two documentary films....
as Steve - George FiggsGeorge FiggsGeorge Figgs is an American actor and projectionist. He began his career portrayingcharacters in the early films of John Waters. Because of his work with Waters, he is considered one of the Dreamlanders, Waters' ensemble of regular cast and crew members.Figgs is a film historian interested in...
as Jesus Christ - Michael Renner Jr. as The Infant of PragueInfant Jesus of PragueInfant Jesus of Prague is a famous statue of infant Jesus located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Malá Strana, Prague.- History :Its earliest history can be traced back to Prague in the year 1628 when the small, 19-inch high, wax statue of the Infant Jesus was given by Princess Polyxena...
- Rick Morrow as Rick