David Markey’s pair of cult classics from the 80s LA Punk scene, following a fictional teenage girl band and their cult-like following, Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and sequel Lovedolls Supreme, come to Blu-ray via MVD.
This year, I’ve been steeped in the 80s LA punk scene with my physical media coverage. First, the fascinating documentary of a well-loved man on mystery, Secret Lives of Bill Bartell, directed by David Markey, who made today’s duology in 1984 and 1986; and then Andrew Reich’s Born Innocent: The Redd Kross story. That band was featured in the Bill Bartell documentary, touching on their own documentary. In THAT wonderful doctumeantry, the McDonald brothers spoke of the pair of films they helped with via the titular music track and acting within. Those films: Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and Lovedolls Superstar. MVD is sending me down a rabbit hole of an era of music and culture. I added to it: in between watching these, I’ve also checked out The Decline of Western Civilization trilogy, the contemporary documentary of the time and place. I wonder what will come next, as mentioned in these narrative films. As a cult film fan, I’ve missed the duology before now, but I’m glad to finally see them, and with more metacultural context from the documentaries built in.
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls came first in 1984. It’s impressive for such a small film, budgeted at 250 dollars. Yes, that’s right: two hundred and fifty bucks, pure indie “fuck-it-lets-go” attitude. It’s a testament to getting an idea, grabbing a camera, and just going. The idea, co-written by Markey and Jennifer Schwartz, jumping off from The Runaways being made up of teenagers (which set Redd Kross down their own musical path at 14 & 11 years old as well), the rise and fall of a teenage all-girl punk band. They break from their parents (one’s mom played by “producer” Jordan Schwartz, Jennifer’s brother, in drag, hit the scene, make a splash, have their ups and downs with breaks for songs, diegetic and non (an awesome cover of Fox on the Run has been playing in my head for days), and crash. The music artist movie formula to a T. But on purpose, as it’s clear it’s meant to be a satiric run (with Spinal Tap coming the same year!). All told in 48 blazing minutes. Short, but packed.
But within the made for the cost of bubblegum and held together by that chewed product, Markey shows an innate skill of filmmaking. It’s run-and-gun but not screaming “eh fuck it, this is for fun.” The structure of the screenplay is well developed, there’s character, and well-done set-ups. For what it is, it works well. If you come into this with a” I love this sort of thing,” you’ll.. Well.. love this sort of thing.
Lovedolls Superstar, following two years later, goes bigger and brasher into the satire. The Lovedolls return… from the grave? Yeah, two of them died last time, just go with it. Lovedolls Superstar, made for 40x the previous budget (10,000 dollars, still a pittance even in 1986) and a half hour longer, it’s more pointed but doesn’t work quite as well.
This time, Markey and team, all the same folks, including more Redd Kross, take a look at cultish behavior, hero worship, and obsession. Now a cult has started about the girls (shades of Jim Jones), the brother of the dead Johnny Treimaine (Steve McDonald in a new part) seeks their approval by killing Bruce Springsteen (featuring a great parody of The Boss!). There’s a lot of satire on megachurches, obsessive behavior, and overall religious furor. Anything at the time could be savaged for their needs.
It partly feels more like trying to replicate a cult film output or recapture the magic. It still works, but isn’t as brashly fuck-it-all, the downside of knowing what you accidentally captured a previous time. It still works, still anarchic and punk, but more knowing. Even if a slight step down, Lovedolls Superstar is still a lot of fun, knowingly pulling from the low-budget cult films of the time of John Waters and Switchblade sister, and works a free-for-all on anything that Markey and friends thought of.
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and the sequel are Valley of the Dolls with a John Waters edge. But they are designed to be, as noted in the supplemental material. Maybe it’s the 8mm filming, with the faded filming, stolen shots, and just running forward with it all, it works with gusto. Damn, do I love the forced dialogue and performances in these sorts of films. Forcefully, nearly yelling lines, it’s a deductive style for the era and style. It’s a fond nostalgia for cult flicks, whether early Waters, films out of the Warhol Factory (Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers as a touchstone). Of course, it’s also filled with members of the scene: Black Flag and its members, Bill Bartell on stage with White Flag, the Bangles, Redd Kross, and more. Testaments to their time, place, and needs of the filmmakers/actors (same folks overall), the duology is a fun set.
The Package
MVD Visual places both films and their features on a single all-region Blu-Ray. The disc image is split between the two films. It comes in a translucent Blu-Ray case. The sleeve features Desperate Teenage Lovedolls art with the second film’s logo at the bottom. A double-sided card has film images. The O-card slipcover features the same art as the sleeve.
The Presentation
So, as noted above, the Lovedolls movies are never going to look great. These are 4k restorations from the original Super-8 masters. But they look as good as they will. In the commentary, Markel and those with him note so much that was blurry back in the day is noticeable now, and I can catch that. I’m glad it still has the Super-8 cheapie green hue and not artificially made “pretty” for restoration sake. Keeps the feel of the films and source, but is more watchable. I can only imagine how the VHS (which actually got into Blockbuster) would have looked.
The audio, with the new 5.1 and the original stereo audio, sounds good. The natural fuzz of the method pervades, but like the video, it lends to the appeal, but it’s not garbled; all is decipherable. Subtitles are in English.
The Features
MVD gives a fun set of films and a fun set of features.
Commentaries
Director David Markey and producer Jordan Schwartz talk over Desperate Teenage Lovedolls. They have a very impressive memory of how it came together, the details of time, places, and people. Great talk of pulling a full-on film out of the knowledge of just watching others, editing in camera, and stealing their shots. A wonderful treatise of do it yourself creation.
Lovedolls Superstar has the same plus, stars/musicians Jennifer Schwartz and Redd Kross. Like the first, lively in storytelling and just fun reminiscing, but also talking about how they approached it with the knowledge of the success of the original, using that to build on. It’s fun to hear them point out friends and share a story from life (including plenty of Bill Bartell).
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls 40th Anniversary Panel at the Hollywood Egyptian
Mark Olsen of the LA Times hosts a Q&A with Markey and the cast & musicians. Expanding on the commentary, they have fun getting into the details, reminiscing about the creation and talking about the life it’s had since then. Good stuff. (35m)
Music Video
Redd Kross sings Ballad of a Lovedoll. It’ll get stuck in your head (3m).
Deleted Scenes & Alternate Takes
Some fun to see different ways some scenes turned out, and lost gags. (10m for DTL and 28 for LS)
Making of (2004)
Markey talks about the creation of the film. It’s mostly him talking at us, reading from a script. Pretty much all of it is covered elsewhere (10m)
David Markey Tribute at the Egyptian (2004)
Markey talks about the film from the original DVD release, takes some questions, and talks outside. Some others get words too. (10m)
Trailers
Final Thoughts
For those who dig cult, independent and underground flicks who know and love what they’re getting into, the Lovedolls pair of films is the best time of fun trash. Made by teenagers with a lot of love for their world and the ability to put it on film, these films are a celebration and reconstruction of their interests, their loves, and their lives.