I can think of no higher calling for a first-time director than to make a classic “bad girl” movie. I’m talkin’ cats with claws and perfect hair even when they’ve been hiding out deep in New Orleans bayou country with no food or shelter for several days. I’m talkin’ girls who bust out of the big house and the first thing they do when they lose the cops is cut off all of their prison-issue pants down to little short shorts. I’m talkin’ ladies on the lam who take a male hostage and keep his hands tied behind his back while they bicker over his affections.
What I’m trying to say is that Roger Corman was already pretty cool in his directorial debut. No, he’s not a GOOD director, yet. The action scenes are edited with a butcher knife. You can barely tell the girls apart for most of the movie (their different colored shirts help a little). There are also a few “Wait, what just happened?” moments here as Corman fumbles his way through the simple story on a teeny-tiny budget.
No matter, though. So what? This movie matches its bad script and bad directing with one bad attitude. Works for me. This is an outlaw film. It’s rushed and flawed and quick and sloppy. Like its characters, it’s desperate and on the run.