Severin Films continues its inspired partnership with The Russ Meyer Charitable Trust, this time resurrecting two more fever dreams from the vault of cinema’s most notorious breast-centric auteur. Following the impressive release of The Vixen Trilogy, Severin’s new 4K and Blu-ray box sets of Motorpsycho (1965) and Up! (1976) are packed with extras, archival features, and fresh restorations that make them essential for longtime fans and newcomers alike. While both films reflect different ends of Meyer’s career, they each stand as bizarrely entertaining entries in his canon of carnality, chaos, and camp.
Motorpsycho (1965)
Long overshadowed by its spiritual sibling, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Motorpsycho holds its own as a mean-spirited slice of 60s exploitation and a precursor to the biker film boom. It’s also notable for being Alex Rocco’s screen debut—seven years before The Godfather—and for giving the mesmerizing Haji her first on-screen role.
The plot is lean and mean: a gang of deranged bikers, led by the unsettlingly convincing Steve Oliver as Brahmin, wreaks havoc on a desert town. When they sexually assault the wife of veterinarian Corey Maddox (Rocco), he joins forces with Ruby Bonner (Haji), a woman equally scarred by the gang’s violence, to hunt them down. It’s a straightforward revenge tale, but Meyer infuses it with an unmistakable grindhouse style. From the sun-scorched Mojave Desert vistas to the groovy-meets-sleazy soundtrack, Motorpsycho is a raw time capsule of mid-60s mayhem.
Sure, it drags in places, and the ending might leave you wanting a bit more emotional payoff, but its rough edges are part of the charm. Haji commands the screen in every shot she’s in, and the film’s low-budget grit only adds to the feeling that you're witnessing something illicit and dangerous. With its newly restored visuals—courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art and Severin Films—you’ll notice details never seen before (ahem, especially in the film’s more revealing moments), making this the definitive version.
Up! (1976)
Jumping ahead over a decade, Up! is Russ Meyer at his most unhinged, outrageous, and undeniably himself. Co-written by Roger Ebert—yes, that Roger Ebert—the film opens with Adolf Hitler (yes, really) getting sodomized by a man in a pilgrim costume and murdered via piranha less than ten minutes in. That should tell you everything you need to know about the tone of this one.
Set in a twisted, lust-drenched town in Northern California, Up! defies traditional storytelling. It’s part murder mystery, part Shakespearean sex farce, and all Meyer madness. Newcomers Raven De La Croix and Kitten Natividad (in her debut) bring an otherworldly physical presence to the screen. De La Croix is a force of nature, commanding attention in every frame. At the same time, Natividad provides a chaotic Greek chorus-style narration that somehow works, despite being dubbed and wildly inconsistent.
Yes, the humor is hit-or-miss, and the film’s lack of narrative coherence might frustrate some viewers, but that’s hardly the point. The film thrives on sheer audacity—lavish nudity, surreal dialogue, and absurdly choreographed sex scenes cut together like a frenzied erotic montage. It's outrageous and often offensive, but intentionally so. This is not just exploitation—it’s satire dialed to 11, with Meyer throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. And somehow, most of it does.
Motorpsycho and Up! may not be for everyone, but for fans of vintage exploitation and boundary-pushing cinema, these newly restored editions from Severin Films are absolute treasures. Motorpsycho captures a raw, gritty side of Meyer rarely appreciated, while Up! sees him reveling in excess. Together, they show both the evolution and the consistency of a filmmaker who never met a taboo he didn’t want to smash—or an actress he didn’t want to undress.
Jessie Hobson