The first full-length feature by LA-based artist and filmmaker Anna Biller (The Hypnotist; A Visit From The Incubus), VIVA is "a spot-on spoof of low-grade late 60s/early 70s sexploitation flicks" (Variety) that joyously and faithfully pays homage to the classics of the genre.
Written by, directed by and starring Biller, the film is a highly stylized, super-colour-saturated, satirical romp through the kind of camp sleaze and nudge-nudge wink-wink jocularity that will be all too familiar to fans of Herschell Gordon Lewis' "Suburban Roulette", Radley Metzger's "Camille 2000" and Russ Meyer's "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls". Biller's remarkable attention to detail and painstakingly accurate recreation of the trash aesthetics that make the sexploitation genre so enjoyable have led to Fangoria magazine describing VIVA as "incredible, experimental, hilarious and hotter than hell in June… a film that needs to be seen by any self-respecting trash movie enthusiast."
Looking like a lost film from the late 1960s, VIVA is a fun and loving tribute to the pre-porn era of cinema, when copies of "Playboy" could be found alongside "Time" magazine on the coffee tables of gaudily decorated living rooms all across America. For fans of B-movie exploitation cinema, kinky softcore, high-camp comedy and all things retro, VIVA is a must.
VIVA (cert. 18) is released by Nouveaux Pictures. The film will open at selected UK cinemas on 15th May 2009 and will be released on DVD (£15.99) in June 2009. Click on the link above for the trailer.
