Assault of the Killer Bimbos 1988

One of my personal favorites is Assault of the Killer Bimbos. Bimbos is particularly interesting, because it is often compared to a movie that came out three years later, Thelma & Louise. In fact, B-movie aficionado Joe Bob Briggs once devoted his entire TV show to the subject, screening the two movies back-to-back.”

-Charles Band, producer

My dream was to direct a Hollywood feature film by the age of thirty, and after film school, I did just that, directing the cult classic chick flick Assault of the Killer Bimbos at the age of twenty-nine. When Charles Band of Empire Pictures asked me to direct an as-yet-unwritten movie with the title Assault of the Killer Bimbos, I was initially insulted. Then I took a deep breath, along with the weekend, to think about it. Brainstorming with my creative partner-in-crime, Patti Astor, we studied Roger Corman's films Candy Stripe Nurses and Caged Heat and Russ Meyer’s exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and came up with the story about go dancers on the run, framed for a murder they didn’t commit (a movie with a similar story—Thelma & Louise—had yet to be made). Charlie liked my twist on the classic “bad boys on the run” story, and with his green light and a ridiculously low $250K budget, I commenced my one-woman assault of the low-budget exploitation film genre.

Casting my friends, Nick Cassavetes (director of The Notebook), Griffin O’Neal (Escape Artist), and Jamie Bozian (The Wraith) as the stoned surfer boys, Patti Astor as the hitman's moll, and hiring my sister, Susan Wechsler, as the costume designer made for a memorable shoot in the Mojave Desert.

WATCH ASSAULT OF THE KILLER BIMBOS TRAILER

Elizabeth Kaitan-Lulu, Tammie Souza-Darlene, Christine Whitaker-Peaches, Nick Cassavetes-Wayne-O, Griffin O'Neal-Troy, Jamie Bozian-Billy, Patti Astor-Poodles, Mike Muscat-Vinnie, Eddie Deezen-Dopey Deputy, Clayton Landey-Hernandez, Jeffrey Orman-hunky deputy

Anita Rosenberg-director/writer, Patti Astor-writer, Ted Nicolaou-writer, Charles Band & Debi Dion-executive producers, David DeCoteau & John Schouweiler-producers, Thomas Callaway-DP, Barry Zetlin-editor, Susan M. Rosenberg (Wechsler)-costumer designer

"For many years when I was still an actor people would come up to me and say, "Hey man, Killer Bimbos—that was the movie for you!" Okay, so Killer Bimbos is my legacy! I wish Anita kept making twenty to thirty more films because the world needs a voice like her."

-Nick Cassavetes, actor, director, writer