I first saw Flesh Gordon at a seedy small-town drive-in back in high school. That may still be the best way to see the 1972 Flash Gordon spoof — complete with the drive-in’s tinny speaker, mosquitoes, and cheap beer — but midnight at the Dobie (screening Friday through Sunday only) probably runs a close second. Naturally, Flesh Gordon trades on the Thirties serial, exchanging Flash for Flesh, Emperor Ming for Emperor Wang, Dale Arden for Dale Ardor, and Dr. Varkov for Dr. Jerkoff. Get the idea? There’s wanton Seventies-softcore sex aplenty, but the film’s charm lies in its parody/homage to the serials that inspired it. There’s a phallus-shaped spacecraft that trails showers of sparks (special effects that call to mind a severely poverty-stricken Ray Harryhausen), lusty robots, a tribe of lesbians, and a monster called a “penisaurus” that simply must be seen to be believed. The plot centers on Emperor Wang’s bombardment of the earth with a sex ray (hence the widespread boffing) and hero Flesh’s efforts to defeat Wang. Suffice to say that Jason Williams, as Flesh, is an actor molded entirely out of stale white bread; his thick layer of cheesiness, though, fits the movie’s tone perfectly. At the end of the day, Flesh Gordon is probably more entertaining than the strident 1980 Flash Gordon. Silly? Sure is. Sophomoric and campy? You bet. Politically incorrect? Oh, absolutely. Still, it’s a great throwback to the anything-goes atmosphere of Seventies sex comedies, so hilariously dated as to be almost quaint and innocent today. It’s worth noting that the Dobie’s version is the X-rated director’s cut and a spanking-new print as well.
Flesh Gordon screens June 28-30, midnight, at the Dobie Theatre (2021 Guadalupe).
This article appears in June 28 • 2002.