Lovedolls Superstar Fully Realized  -   Carbon #14 Magazine

By Falling James

Here's a relic, finally cleaned up and available on DVD, of those hazy daze back in the mid-80s when many a band in the extended SST Records family briefly achieved a sort of creative, communal, artistic bonding on a par with their spiritual idols the Brady Bunch and the Manson Family.  Of course, the re-release of David Markey's Lovedolls Superstar is also a reminder that few of those (however sarcastic) hippie-ish ideals of brotherhood and community remain today:  SST Records head honcho and alleged "spoilsport" Greg Ginn pulled his guitar solos from several instrumentals on the soundtrack, which are hardly missed, what with the new music from Kristian Hoffman, Abby Travis and Mario Lalli joining the original soundtrack's breezily absurd blend of Dead Kennedys, Annette Zilinskas, Sonic Youth, Meat Puppets, and Redd Kross.  Despite some witty dialouge the film (a sequel to Markey's Desperate Teenage Lovedolls, the trash-to-riches tale of a fictional Runaways-styled all-female rock band) feels more like an extended home movie and backyard dress up party as it never reached the snappy lowbrow heights of its obvious inspirations, John Waters, Ed Wood , and Russ Meyer.  And you can argue, apart from hammy cameos from Jello Biafra and Bob Moss, the best acting comes courtesy of a Gene Simmons doll.  Still, there are some hilarious sequences, especially the wish-fulfillment thrill of seeing Jeff McDonald's psychotic fan character murder Bruce Springsteen (brilliantly caricaturized by Jordan Schwartz) and the white-knuckle excitement as the Lovedolls escape the planet on aq rocket ship that looks suspiciously like a park's jungle gym.  Production values asaide, it's a genuine hoot to watch member of Redd Kross, The Bangles, Sky Saxon (!), and the more obscure LA Scene luminaries Annette Zilinskas and Kim Pilkington steal scenes and cheerfully revel in their Riot On The Sunset Strip/ Patty Hearst/ Billy Jack dress-up fantasies.

Bonuses:  There are some equally silly outtake, a trailer, and a somewhat serious David Markey interview conducted by longtime trash-film connoisseur and Flesheaters singer, Chris D., as well as precious glimpses of the flick's grown-up stars at an American Cinematheque retrospective.