Female Trouble (1974)

Three’s a charm for John Waters since his third feature film Female Trouble (1974) is a cult classic. The flick focuses on Dawn Davenport (Divine), a teenage runaway who becomes an unwed mother and then a prostitute after her parents refuse to buy her “cha cha heels” for Christmas. When her daughter Taffy (Mink Stole) grows into a teenager, Dawn is overwhelmed by the responsibilities of parenthood. As such, she chains Taffy up in the attic when she goes to a beauty salon, where she meets Gator (Michael Potter). The two quickly wed but the marriage falls apart after Dawn catches Gator cheating on her. Following a fight in which her mother-in-law (Edith Massey) scars her face with acid, Dawn hooks up with Donald and Donna Dasher (David Lochary and Mary Vivian Pearce). The couple uses Dawn’s scarred face to market her as a high fashion model. Eventually Dawn reaches a pinnacle of fame and strangles her Hare Krishna daughter in front of a crowd. She then fires a gun and kills some spectators. Dawn tries to evade capture, but the police soon catch her and she is sentenced to death in the electric chair. Did this spoiler just spoil your trousers? If not, we reckon the revealing top on Chicklette (Susan Walsh) will perk up your interest (as well as another part of your anatomy). If not, check out the three Bs on Gator’s naked girlfriend (Anne Figgs) and intimate inmate Earnestine (Elizabeth Coffey). No wonder this movie is rated NC-17!