Flaming Creatures

Filmmaker and artist Jack Smith described his own film as a “comedy set in a haunted movie studio.” Flaming Creatures begins humorously enough with several men and women, mostly of indeterminate gender, vamping it up in front of the camera and participating in a mock advertisement for an indelible, heart-shaped brand of lipstick. However, things take a dark, nightmarish turn when a transvestite chases, catches and begins molesting a woman. Soon, all of the titular “creatures” participate in a (mostly clothed) orgy that causes a massive earthquake. After the creatures are killed in the resulting chaos, a vampire dressed like an old Hollywood starlet rises from her coffin to resurrect the dead. All ends happily enough when the now undead creatures dance with each other, even though another orgy and earthquake loom over the end title card.

Director: Jack Smith

Cast

F

Francis Francine

Francis Francine

S

Sheila Bick

Delicious Dolores

J

Joel Markman

Our Lady of the Docks

M

Mario Montez

The Spanish Girl

A

Arnold Rockwood

Arnold

Judith Malina

The Fascinating Woman

Marian Zazeela

Marian Zazeela

B

Beverly Grant

Whirling Dervish