"Sultan of Sleaze" John Waters has made some of the filthiest, most culturally significant films of all time. Here are his features, ranked.
John Waters has well-earned his reputation as one of the most distinctive, transgressive filmmakers of our time. For over fifty years, the "Baron of Bad Taste," "Pope of Trash," "Prince of Puke" has been putting some of the filthiest, funniest, and most subversive visions imaginable to screen. Many of his films have become widely regarded as cult-classics, whether it be for their irreverent campy style, enticing subversion and fusion of genres, or all-out trashiness that knows no bounds. Waters' legacy as a counter-cultural icon still remains fierce today, both in the realm of cinema and beyond. Here are the iconic filmmaker's feature efforts, ranked.
Lacking much of a centralized plot, Mondo Trasho is more of an experimental exercise in art and filth than anything else, showcasing Waters' emerging talent as a subversive filmmaker. As it's his first full length feature, Waters has gone on to express reservations about the film, citing that it should've been a short film. However, not only did Mondo Trasho allow Waters' experimental new style to fall into public view; it also gifted the world with the first glimpses of Divine.
Sadly, John Waters' last film is far from his most celebrated. A Dirty Shame follows Sylvia, a convenience store worker who, one day, is transformed into a "sex-crazed lunatic" after getting into a car accident. She goes on a wild rampage throughout town, scoring the attention of mechanic Ray-Ray Perkins, played by none other than Johnny Knoxville. Many criticized A Dirty Shame for its lack of satirical sharpness endemic to Waters' other films. However, it's still an undeniably amusing ride, especially when it comes to what we get to see of Knoxville, Chris Isaak, and Selma Blair.
Heartwarming and John Waters are not two things that usually go together. Pecker breaks the mold of the classic John Waters picture by serving as an autobiography of sorts - it follows the titular character's journey to fame, only to realize how he's being grossly exploited by the elites of the art world. Pecker sees Waters at his most vulnerable and self-reflexive, without losing sight of the scathing critique and shock value that make any of his films so memorable.
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Cecil B. Demented is standing proof that Waters was no less subversive in 2000 than he was in 1970 - even if his lens shifted, just a tad. This demented film follows a cult of "cinema terrorists" who kidnap Hollywood sweetheart Honey Whitlock, which is based on the real-life kidnapping of Patty Hearst. The eccentric cult members consist of such stars as Stephen Dorff, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon, who all shine in these bizarre, angry roles. Cecil B. Demented is a blissfully absurd subversion of genre, combining thriller tropes with pitch-black dark comedy and outlandish Hollywood antics.
Serial Mom functions as both a hilarious commentary on suburban culture and a wonderfully campy horror/slasher gem. The film sees Kathleen Turner as the stereotypical doting suburban mother, only she harbors a dark secret on her hands, which might not be very hard to guess given the title of the film. Waters' ninth feature finds the perfect middle ground between crudity and violence and zany meta-humor. Co-starring blossoming young star Matthew Lillard, Serial Mom is the perfect introduction to the new brand of reflective comedy-horror that was beginning to take shape in the nineties.
On the surface, Cry Baby might appear like the ill-fated sequel to 1988's Hairspray. Like that film, it is also a musical and satirizes high school life and all its tropes. Only this time, as opposed to Divine and Jerry Stiller, we get greased-up Johnny Depp and (somehow) Willem Dafoe as a prison guard. Cry Baby could've been quite disastrous if it didn't have such massive talents both behind and in front of the camera. Both Depp and Waters, along with the rest of the film's supporting cast, make the film a sweet, enjoyable, and remarkably earnest (for Waters) ride.
The third and final installment in Waters' "Trash Trilogy," Desperate Living manages to be just as outrageous as its predecessors while still saving room for a laugh. The opening credit sequence of the film shows a woman carving a rat on fine china - this doesn't even scratch the surface of the film's degeneracy. Yet Waters also masters a sense of physical comedy within this film, which isn't as easily accessed in features like Pink Flamingos, and his creation of a scanty town where misfits can live free is one of the most imaginative things you'll ever see put to screen.
Waters' second feature film and first "talkie," Multiple Maniacs truly shows what lengths the director could go to with practically zero budget. The film, which follows Lady Divine and her "Cavalcade of Perversions," has an almost documentary-style feel, as we simply follow Divine around behind a shaky, grainy camera. However, Waters' image for the film couldn't be any more clear - Multiple Maniacs might seem like an amateur feature on the surface, but there's nothing it isn't comfortable commenting on or showing us. Its final scene alone should certainly be stored in the Library of Congress somewhere.
While refusing to sacrifice any of the director's quirks and idiosyncrasies, Hairspray is the film that finally launched Waters into commercial success. However, the film still incisively focuses on culturally significant themes, such as racial integration and classism. It is both radical and radically entertaining, showing that Waters could go all-out while still catering to Hollywood sympathies, incorporating timeless dance numbers, and crafting some of the most memorable characters in movie-musical history.
In Polyester, trash becomes a full-blown sensory experience. Audiences were given a scratch-and-sniff "Odorama" card to fully participate in this uncanny spectacle, making for an extremely clever satire on studio gimmickry and the trash aesthetic alike. The film is saturated with wonderfully vivid colors that make it a delight to look at, despite the veneer of filth still being there. Polyester, having garnered a tame R rating as opposed to X like his previous films, marks Waters' extremely successful creative shift to something (a bit) more palatable for audiences.
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Heralded and bemoaned as one of the most disgusting films ever made, Pink Flamingos is Waters at his most depraved - and that's saying something. Roger Ebert said of the feature, "There is a temptation to praise the film, however grudgingly, just to show you have a strong enough stomach to take it. It is a temptation I can resist." However, many other critics saw it differently, praising how the film channels queer rage and forces the audience to reflect on its roots. Upon its release, the film was banned for indecency in Switzerland and Norway, and is even barred from screening in some parts of the U.S. today. And yet, its legacy still remains formidable.
Although Pink Flamingos easily takes the trophy as Waters' most notorious film, Female Trouble should perhaps take the one as his best. The second installment in the "Trash Trilogy," the film once again sees Divine imparting her rage on the world, only this time as a teenager who abandons her family after they refuse to gift her a pair of cha-cha heels. Female Trouble is an immersive and thoughtful commentary on consumerism and the drive towards criminality within our world, making these themes anything but opaque. Meanwhile, Dawn Davenport is perhaps Waters' most nuanced character, who, in a perverse way, we can't help but root for. Female Trouble showcases Waters' outrageous talent as both an aesthetic innovator and a truly peerless critic of American culture.
Just a Hugh Grant admirer trying to find her way in life, Fionna is a Creative Writing student based in Ohio. However, her heart resides in Philadelphia. She is a huge fan of both Clueless and Paul Schrader (and his Facebook account)!