#1316: WATERS, John: Desperate Living (1977)
WATERS, John (United States)
Desperate Living [1977]
The Booklet
Commentary
Video tribute
Documentary 1
Documentary 2
Documentary 3
Controversial altered ending
Theatrical trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):
Spine #1316
4K
Following the unrepentant outrageousness of Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble, director John Waters brought his notorious trash trilogy to a fittingly twisted close with this antifascist fairy tale. After hysterical housewife Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) murders her husband with the help of her fed-up housekeeper (Jean Hill), the newfound “sisters in crime” escape to the bizarro shantytown of Mortville, a depraved penal colony presided over by a despotic queen (Edith Massey) whose tyranny pushes her subjects to shocking revolt. Deviant cops, death by dog food, DIY surgery—Waters unleashes all this and more in an at once relentlessly warped and oddly moral vision of queer rebellion.
90 minutes
Monaural
Monaural
Color
1:66:1
1:66:1
Criterion Release 2026
Director/Writer
John Waters was 31 when he directed Desperate Living.
Other Waters films in the Collection:
#863: Multiple Maniacs (1970)
#1131: Pink Flamingos (1972)
#929: Female Trouble (1974)
#995: Polyester (1981)
#1315: Hairspray (1988)
#1131: Pink Flamingos (1972)
#929: Female Trouble (1974)
#995: Polyester (1981)
#1315: Hairspray (1988)
The Film
Film Rating (0-60):
60
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Commentary
Video tribute
Documentary 1
Documentary 2
Documentary 3
Controversial altered ending
Theatrical trailer
Extras Rating (0-40):
39
60 + 39 =99



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