The Single Girls (1974)

Now here's an unusual concept: members of an encounter group have their sexcapades at a weekend retreat interrupted by a mysterious killer. This sarcastic thriller is perhaps the most interesting picture by the Sebastian filmmaking couple (who made some curios like On The Air With Captain Midnight and Delta Fox). It is also perhaps the most "of-its-time" of their work, painting a less-than-flattering portrait of swinging singles in that excessive decade. Despite the thriller trimmings and the expected doses of sex, this is largely a character study of despair in which nymphos and celibates alike have sexual hangups. Most of the male characters are such socially displaced souls -oh, like those who only come out of their apartments enough to attend memorabilia fairs or small press shows- that one wonders how they hooked up with these babes. The only male who seems confident and personable is played by Albert Popwell (best remembered in the "six shots or only five" scene in Dirty Harry). It is interesting too to see Claudia Jennings cast against type as an ingenue.

For the most part, this is a fascinating blend of murder mystery, sexploitation and psychoanalysis. Interesting too are the excellent "fly on the wall", documentary-like scenes full of stuttering overlapping dialogue where the characters discuss their feelings in encounter meetings- these moments don't feel like a movie at all. The Single Girls is a curio to remember.

RATING: 3.5 mosquito coils out of five.

Gator Bait (1974)

This rural revenge trash isn't nearly as vile as its reputation suggests, but it still is rather by-the-numbers despite an interesting role for its star, Claudia Jennings. She plays Desiree Thibodeau (cool name!), a backwoods gal who seeks revenge on another hillbilly family that murders her sister after wrongly believing she was responsible for the death of their kinfolk. The most novel this film gets is early on, when we see one hillbilly fiercely groping a country gal who doesn't seem to mind, until Pa comes out and says "That's your sister!" And for Ms. Jennings, this is perhaps her most unusual role, and one that doesn't exploit her sexuality. Instead, her primitive character blankly pursues the villains through the bayou, luring them to their certain doom, as she knows every inch of the swamp like the back of her hand.

The last part of that phrase, by the way, is actually a line of dialogue uttered by the patriarchal Bracken character, who is dogging her vengeance along with his two dimwitted sons and a couple of corrupt lawmen. Similar redneck cliches abound: the lawmen are named Billy Boy and (yep, you guessed it) Joe Bob. Despite that this mini epic is surprisingly well made, at the core, it's still as generic as they come. The chase is really not suspenseful, as we don't care about any of the characters. Still, this minor trash is noteworthy for Jennings' coldest, most dispassionate role, and the casting of Bill Thurman (seen in southern-fried films of Larry Buchanan and S.F. Brownrigg) as the sheriff.

RATING: 2 mosquito coils out of five