1001 Club - Flaming Creatures (1947)

#417. Flaming Creatures (1963)

Why It's In The Book: "Originally intended as a comedy,  Jack Smith's stunning 1963 film Flaming Creatures paradoxically became the greatest scandal of an increasing notorious underground cinema scene. Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, screenings of the film were frequently interrupted by riotous crowds and irritated cops. This unfortunate and violent reaction to Smith's beautiful, innovative picture speaks volumes for the prudery of state-enforced norms regarding gender and sexual representation…
The film also boasts an eclectic soundtrack which includes Deanna Durbin, Béla Bartók, the Everly Brothers, and excerpts from various Sternberg and Montez films. The distinctive beauty of Flaming Creatures is due largely to Smith’s nimble use of the handhelds camera. His unexpected framings yield dense images of fabrics, body parts, and heavily made-up faces. The open links between these images, and among the bodies, body parts, and genders flaunted on the screen, make Flaming Creatures a boundless practical resource for living one’s life fabulously."  -1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Member Ratings

Jeff Coté - 8/10
"This is a film that at its best serves as a chaotic reflection of a frustrating period of gay rights and at its worst - a disorganized, cluttered mess. But no matter how you look at it, this is a film that you simply cannot dismiss as a work of art."
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Michaël Parent - 6/10
"Showing the human body in its most simple way and crossing the line between erotism, pornography, and the stereotypical of genders."
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Nicolas Krizan - 5/10
"Mixing silent movie aesthetics and patina with adult contemporary content"
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Squish - 5/10
"Influential as it may have been to names like Andy Warhol and John Waters, today it falls as flat as the transvestite bosoms they feature."
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Lindsey - 3/10
"There is no story at all, just a few sexual acts and people with bad makeup jobs and naked guys. Kind of like college."
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Adolytsi - 2/10
"Opulent filmography, frequently obscene and sexual imagery covering the screen; this is not a film as much as it is a fetishistic porno."
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Kim Wilson - 2/10
"Sometimes I wish I were dead so I wouldn't have to watch films like director Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures (1963)."
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Movie Guy Steve - 2/10
"I have to tell you, dear reader, that Flaming Creatures is an incomprehensible mass of images and warped musical scores (literally) and I have no idea of its intent."
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Siochembio - 1/10
"When does art become porn?  Because when you see someone wearing a ridiculous amount of lipstick wanking off in a room filled with comatose bodies while someone else is jiggling a very large boob straight to the camera, you really start to think to yourself that you’ve crossed that line.  Nothing like a film filled with penii sporting semis."
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Overall Rating: 3.6/10