Review of Vixen!

Vixen! (1968)
7/10
Charming Softcore Satire
4 June 2018
'Vixen!' is satirical softcore ride with the energy and mood of lighthearted sitcom. Only Russ Meyer is capable to fill all the quiet caps between almost unstoppable sex and nudity with sly satire and not always subtle, but every time warm humor that works. Beautiful camera-work and dynamic fast editing transform this seemingly trashy film into form of pure art (most of the modern directors/editors/cinematographers need to learn from Meyer's movies).

Erica Gavin stars as Vixen Palmer, the wife of Canadian bush pilot Tom (Garth Pillsbury). The man is often away from home, and Vixen, who is unable to control her appetite for sex, starts to feel bored quickly in the wilderness on Canada, so her misadventures and sexual manipulations begin. Even when Tom returns home together with a married couple to take them to a fishing trip, Vixen can't go without seducing them both. Non-stop sexual adventures continue until veering off into taboo territories of incest and racism until all this finds conclusion in the manner of creeping threat of communism.

'Vixen!' is not your typical guilty pleasure movie, it is genuinely (feel) good film without any guilt. Nudity and sex (that are tame compared today's standards), although, have always been driving force in Meyer's films, there is lot of hart and warm humor between bare skin. Even the nasty racial slur doesn't sound very awful thanks to the tongue in cheek handling of the subject matter and the satisfying ending.

The movie is like its main character - besides offering eye-candy and wildness, there are lot hidden in the deep underneath. Strangely charming movie with quirky but somehow likable characters with all their flaws.
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