PLAY PODCASTS
SHOWGIRLS: The NC-17 Disaster That Became a Cult Classic | Sex + Violence
Season 6 · Episode 44

SHOWGIRLS: The NC-17 Disaster That Became a Cult Classic | Sex + Violence

Cinema Shock

August 12, 20212h 0mExplicit

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (mcdn.podbean.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

After the smash success of BASIC INSTINCT, Paul Verhoeven had the Hollywood clout to push boundaries like never before. For his next film, he wanted total freedom—no rating compromises, no MPAA edits. What he made was one of the most notorious movies of the 1990s.

SHOWGIRLS.

Written by Joe Eszterhas and pitched (literally) on a cocktail napkin, SHOWGIRLS was meant to be Verhoeven’s ultimate statement on American decadence and ambition. Instead, it was universally panned, laughed out of theaters, and quickly became shorthand for “Hollywood disaster.” But over time, the film’s reputation has shifted—from box office bomb to camp classic, and now to a legitimate subject of critical reappraisal.

In this episode, we trace the full journey of SHOWGIRLS: its unlikely origins, wild production, disastrous release, and long road to redemption.

BUY OUR MERCH: http://cinemashock.threadless.com

Coming Up:

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, & Todd Davis.

Visit our website for episode archives, blogs and more: http://cinemashock.net

Follow us:

twitter.com/cinema_shock

facebook.com/cinemashocknet

instagram.com/cinema_shock