Pink Flamingos [1972] [VHS]

Hailed as the most infamous film of all times, 'Pink Flamingos' was originally billed as 'An excercise in bad taste'. Divine is Babs Johnson, the queen of Sleaze, who with her troubled family of outcasts earns the title of 'The Filthiest People Alive'. But the title is challenged by Connie and Raymond Marble, a jealous, publicity-hungry couple with pre-punk red and blue hair who will do anything to steal Babs' notoriety. The film sets out to shock. It is nauseating. It is absurd. Not for the faint of heart, this film will not be forgotten.

This is the movie that made John Waters famous, and quite possibly the film that made bad taste cool. Yes, Virginia, a large transvestite actually eats dog faeces as a kind of dizzying denouement to this frequently illogical and intentionally disgusting movie, but by the time that happens, you're already numb ... and you've possibly laughed to the point of losing bladder control.

The plot revolves around two vile families laying claim to the title "The Filthiest People Alive". You've got pregnant women in pits, you've got grown men getting sexual satisfaction from chickens, you've got people licking furniture to perform trailer-park voodoo and you've got classic lines like: "Oh my God! The couch ... it ... it rejected you!"

Waters, who went on to direct genuine pop-culture classics such as Hairspray and Serial Mom, made this celluloid sideshow with one aim--to make a name for himself. It worked. He does have a genuine eye for filmmaking (when the trailer burns down, you feel the white heat of Divine's pain and anger). On the other hand, you won't notice any disclaimers about stunt doubles and animals not being mistreated. There weren't, and they were. Welcome to the filthiest film in the world. --Grant Balfour