The Swinging Barmaids

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The Swinging Barmaids

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The Swinging Barmaids
Theatrical release poster by John Solie
Directed by	Gus Trikonis
Written by	Charles B. Griffith
Produced by	Ed Carlin
Starring	Bruce Watson Laura Hippe Katie Saylor Renie Radich William Smith
Cinematography	Irv Goodnoff
Edited by	Jerry Cohen
Music by	Don Bagley
Production company	Carlin Company Productions
Distributed by	Premiere Releasing Org.
Release date	July 1975 (1975-07)
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,250,000 (1980 release)^[1]

The Swinging Barmaids is a 1975 American exploitation film about a serial killer who targets cocktail waitresses. The film was directed by Gus Trikonis, and stars Bruce Watson, Laura Hippe, William Smith, and Dyanne Thorne. It was re-released in 1980 as Eager Beavers.

William Smith later recalled "Jesus Christ, that was a wild fuckin’ movie! (Laughing) Yeah, that was kind of fun."^[2]

Plot

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After murdering Boo-Boo, a cocktail waitress at the Swing-A-Ling Club, Tom, a psychotic killer, disguises himself and gains employment as a bouncer at the same club where he continues his killing spree. While police lieutenant Harry White attempts to stop him, Tom sets his sights on 'pure' waitress Jenny.

Cast

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Bruce Watson as Tom
Laura Hippe as Jenny
Katie Saylor as Susie
Renie Radich as Marie
William Smith as Lt. Harry White
Dyanne Thorne as Boo-Boo
Zitto Kazann as Zitto
Jim Travis as Dave
Ray Galvin as Jack
John Alderman as Andrews
Milt Kogan as Dan
Judith Roberts as Sally

Cult status

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Quentin Tarantino screened the film at his festival in 2007. A critic at the screening wrote:

This flick is kind of bizarre. It’s a serial killer flick that’s not really high on the gore or suspense. It’s a sexploitation flick without much titillation. It’s a William Smith movie where he’s kind of unthreatening (until the end when he’s as badass as you want him to be). None of that means it’s a lame movie. Not at all.^[3]

Shock magazine wrote "By normal critical standards, this is the dregs. But as no-budget 70s exploitation goes, this crap succeeds on every necessary level (I particularly enjoyed the crude, handheld camerawork during the murder scenes). Laced with fitfully sleazy kicks and a surprisingly energetic, corpse-laden finale, this inept flick is a wonderful example of the bad-/s-good nature of drive-in cinema. "^[4]

References

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^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 297. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
^ Poggiali, Chris (1998). "Shock Cinema Talks with the Legendary William Smith". Shock Cinema. No. 12. p. 6.
^ Review of 2007 screening at Aint-It-Cool-News
^ "The Swinging Barmaids". Shock Cinema. No. 13. 1998. p. 19.

External links

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The Swinging Barmaids at IMDb
The Swinging Barmaids at The New York Times
The Swinging Barmaids at Grindhouse Database
The Swinging Barmaid at TCMDB

v t e Films directed by Gus Trikonis
The Sidehackers (1969) Supercock (1975) The Swinging Barmaids (1975) The Student Body (1976) Nashville Girl (1976) Moonshine County Express (1977) The Evil (1978) She's Dressed to Kill (1979) Touched by Love (1980) Elvis and the Beauty Queen (1981) Take This Job and Shove It (1981) Dance of the Dwarfs (1983)