To celebrate the first release of revolutionary director Russ Meyer’s Vixen trilogy on Blu-ray thanks to Severin Films brokering a deal with the late filmmaker’s trust, we spoke with the star of Vixen, Erica Gavin…
STARBURST: What was Russ like to work with?
Erica Gavin: He was a taskmaster. For Russ, the worse the conditions, the harder everything was to manage as far as the weather, as far as the geographical, the more fuel he was. And it was a really great experience. It was different because Russ was not after me physically. He didn’t want to get me into bed; he only wanted an amazing performance. We stayed there at the cabin that’s in the film. Russ had a bedroom. I had a bedroom, and then whichever actor was on location at that time, they had a bedroom. All the crew and everybody else slept in tents outside. He ran it like an army camp, and everybody ate together. We were up north in Marin County, and Russ didn’t allow any sexual relations with anybody in the cast. That was not an option for anybody, and it was just different, you know, not being sexually lusted after, I guess. He yelled at me a lot but the first night we filmed was the fish dance, and I think he fell in love with me that night. He was so thrilled with what I did, and he was just in seventh heaven. It was a lot of fun. It was four weeks shooting the whole thing. We went out there and he’d be hauling all the camera equipment. I’d be doing the clapperboard and keeping track of everything. I was the only actor that stayed on location. Everyone else just came and went as there as we like. It wasn’t done how the script goes. It was done by actor. They would shoot all their scenes, and then the next person would come. And it was it was an experience.
How do you feel now that Vixen and the other films are finally getting re-released after all these years?
It’s so exciting. Technology has come so far, and films are really bright and clear, but the Vixen print was not in good shape. The fact that Severin and David Gregory got a hold of it and were able to master it. It’s everything that Russ would have wanted. The colours pop, and the lines are so clear. It’s so well done, it’s beautiful. He was a bit of a perfectionist, so this would be the ideal.
What advice would you give anybody picking these discs up who hasn’t seen any Russ Meyer films before? How would you ease them into it?
There’s no easing… once you’re in the door, you’re there! I would say don’t consider it porn, people think that’s what his work was, it’s not. He liked getting an X rating. Vixen was the first film to receive an X rating by the MPAA. He thought that was the best. 20th Century Fox wasn’t so thrilled. [Laughs] I would say go and see them, as it’s certainly a lesson that can’t be missed if you’re going into the film business.
The VIXEN trilogy – Vixen, Supervixens, and Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens – are available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Severin Films now. You can read an in-depth interview with Erica in the next issue of STARBURST, on sale February 28th.