Severin Films has released two Russ Meyer’s films as part of an ongoing series of 4K restorations of his work.

Prior to seeing these films, the only two Russ Meyer films that I’d ever been exposed to were Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and the Roger Ebert-penned, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I was immediately struck by the technical qualities of the two films, and found them to be incredibly fun and campy.

None of that prepared me for the total onslaught of insanity that is the 1976 film, Up!, made during the latter period of Myer’s career. The plot is all over the place, but it’s basically about a woman who comes into a small town on the heels of the murder of a Hitler fetishist. Not much is made over the central murder mystery – most of the film comprises of the sexual exploits between the greasy men and the well-endowed women in the town of Miranda.

Here, we have a film that opens with a man dressed as Hitler being humiliated and beaten by a large-breasted woman in a gimp suit. He is then sodomized by a man in a pilgrim suit with an eleven inch penis. That evening, while “Adolf Schwartz” is taking a bath, a masked killer donning black gloves casually tosses a piranha in the tub with him.

Mind you, this is all within the first fifteen minutes of the film.

A greek chorus – in this case, a nude woman in nothing but black boots – guides us, somewhat, through this hyperactive tale. And I’m not kidding when I say that this film is hyperactive. Russ Meyer was known for his technical prowess behind the camera. His editing is frantic, and his images – whether they be the flesh on screen or the landscapes – are beautifully lensed and perfectly framed.

Up! is a wild ride from start to finish. If it were made today, it would surely be slapped with an NC-17 rating. It’s a live-action adult cartoon, but there are some very uncomfortable moments having to do with sexual violence here that feel as icky as they probably should. Added to that, it’s just about as gleefully perverse and sexually graphic as it can possibly be without venturing into hardcore territory. Most of the characters here are bisexual, and there’s an air of gender fluidity here as well. For the time that this was made, as “problematic” as it can be, this was a very progressive film in a lot of ways, just as Meyer’s Vixen had been years before.

Up next is Meyer’s 1965 rape-and-revenge biker flick, Motorpsycho!. Restored by the Museum of Modern Art, this is a lesser offering from Meyer. It’s a very basic tale of a woman who is assaulted by three insane bikers – one of whom is suffering from PTSD – and the husband who avenges her. He teams up with the feisty Cajun widow of a man that they have recently murdered, and the two of them seek revenge together.

The husband in question is played by Alex Rocco, most notable for his work in The Godfather, as well as Lady in White. He brings an intensity and rage to the role that brings some much needed weight to the proceedings. This is not your usual Meyer affair, but many of his trademarks are here – namely big boobs, violence, and bikers.

Both of these films are now available on both 4K Bluray and Bluray disc sets from Severin Films. Special features include commentaries from Elizabeth Purchell and Zack Clark, as well as cast interviews.