Second Time Around

"Grindhouse Cinema"
Somewhere in the annals of lowbrow culture, the innocent pronoun "she" was gleefully appropriated to denote distaff versions of monstrosity and evil. Grindhouse cinema abounds with she-beasts, she-creatures, she-devils, and she-wolves. Exploitation auteur David Friedman adds his literal two cents' worth to this phenomenon with She-Freak (1967), a chintzy update of the 1931 classic Freaks, complete with carnival backdrop and a haughty blonde (Claire Brennen). Her denigration of those less well-endowed than she triggers payback: her grisly transformation into a pizza-faced snake woman. Typical of Friedman, almost nothing happens in this film until the last 10 minutes, and his opening disclaimer -- "any resemblance to actual persons" -- was hardly necessary given the quality of the actors. Still, the dialogue provides steady laughs. When the future she-freak's husband insists the freaks are "just like you and me," she screams, "Ah'm no freak! They ah disgustin'!"

Producer Maurice Levy takes us into wilder territory with She Mob (1968), a black-and-white "roughie" that appears to have been cast with various washed-up whores, johns, and dominatrixes living in the Texas town where the film was shot. In a remarkable dual role, dumpy but charismatic Marni Castle plays both "Big Shim," a dominant dyke who walks around in leather-cone bra and hip boots, and wealthy executive Brenda McClain, who wears gold lame business suits. (Maybe this was de rigueur in Texas at the time.) The leather dyke kidnaps Brenda's live-in stud, who proceeds to run off with one of Big Shim's prison-escapee girlfriends. But Shim has her revenge when she dresses the stud in bra and fishnets and has her girls bullwhip him. A female detective with a pet ocelot and a jumpsuit with the ass cut out adds sleazy spice.

-- Gary Morris

She-Freak screens Monday, April 28, at 6:30 and 9:45 p.m., along with She Mob at 8 p.m., at the Roxie, 3117 16th St. (at Valencia). Eddie Muller, co-author of Grindhouse: The Forbidden World of "Adults-Only" Cinema, appears at the 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $6; call 863-1087.