Mad Cowgirl (2006) User Reviews

Hungry for some MEAT!?

[ThrownMuse · 6/10 · 28 February 2007]

Therese, a young health inspector, breaks off her marriage and indulges herself in a variety of obsessions to take her mind off her loneliness. When she's not inspecting restaurants and butcher shops, she is erotically masticating large amounts of red meat, religiously watching a cheesy Kung-Fu show, engaging in casual sex, or having and affair with her favorite skeezy televangelist. Her compulsions spin out of control and her downward spiral turns lethal when she discovers that her meat-packing brother may have given her meat that may have been infected with mad cow disease.

Whoa. Where to begin with this one?! First off, Sarah Lassez is fantastic in the lead role. She displays incredible range. She's believable when she's breaking down and hilarious when she's imitating her favorite TV Kung Fu heroine. I don't really want to know how much red meat she consumed during the shooting...but let's just say she really knows how to take meat in her mouth. The supporting cast also fares well. Cult favorite James Duvall plays Therese's brother who may or may not have a crush on big sis. Devon Odessa (Sharon from My So Called Life!) is fun as her religious best friend with problems of her own. The film is uniquely shot (think "CrazyBird KatiePerson" but with a bit more talent behind the camera...and in the editing room) and the content is thoroughly repulsive.

As fascinating as it is to watch, some of the messages are muddled. It is obvious director Gregory Hatanaka is trying to draw a parallel between red meat and sex, but it's never really clear why, except to make the viewer feel icky. Perhaps I need to re-read Carol Adams' The Sexual Politics of Meat? There are some other weird situations (for example, her doctor speaks Sinhala and she responds in English) that make the film a bit difficult to get through. Still, it is worth seeing for its performances and originality. I really haven't seen anything like this out there. And if you're thinking about becoming vegetarian but are too, uh, chicken to make the transition, definitely check this one out. It'll make it easier.

This Cowgirl won't give you the blues ...

[Coventry · 4/10 · 24 September 2007]

What a damn shame! Never before I encountered a movie with such potentially brilliant story ideas, and yet somehow it ended up being an indescribably irritating and tragically dull mess! The main character, as well as most of the supportive ones, is probably the most fascinatingly eccentric person to ever lead a modern horror adventure and the situations she encounters are inventive and freaky as hell. Sounds terrific, but then what went wrong? I tell you what went wrong; director Gregory Hatanaka keeps on interrupting his own fabulous concepts with pseudo-artistic nagging and visual gimmicks that totally ruin the pace and the low-budget exploitation atmosphere. The young, intelligent and sexy Therese is the ideal woman. Therese is a nymphomaniac, desperately in love with a sinister TV-evangelist, but she also won't say no to some lesbian sex or even an incestuous relationship with her crazy brother Thierry. She's a food inspector and he imports meat of questionable quality standards. Convinced she's infected with the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after eating one of her brother's Canadian steaks; Therese slowly loses her mind and starts to believe she's the Kung-Fu fighting heroine of her own favorite grindhouse movie "The Girl with the Thunderbolt Kick". The plot is so demented it becomes brilliant, like Tarantino on acid, especially when Therese considers herself to be on a mission to annihilate the Ten Tigers of Kwan Tang, or whatever they're called. It's a really regrettable to announce that – according to me personally, at least – the ingeniousness of the plot is brought down by experimental editing, exaggeratedly hectic camera-work and the director's super massive ego. "Mad Cowgirl" is gory, sleazy and surrealistic, but it quite isn't the homage to rancid 70's exploitation director Hatanaka intended it to be. It's more reminiscent to Gregg Araki's "The Doom Generation", only with even more nastiness and dementia. Sarah Lassez is a rather talented young actress and I hope she'll be offered some better screenplays in the near future. Young cult icon and inexplicably cool dude James Duval is his usual confused self as Therese's brother and I'm sure nobody expected Star Trek veteran Walter Koenig to appear in a production like this, and definitely not in the unconventional role of uncanny TV-preacher. The film contains loads of unexplained – but rather fascinating – little elements, like some of Therese's acquaintances speaking foreign languages (and she being able to understand them) and brief flashes of Japanese news reports. Weird … but too obviously wannabe-intellectual for no reason. "Mad Cowgirl" has quite a large fan-base and the most fanatic admirers will probably claim that I completely don't understand the underlying brilliance of Hatanka's filming style, but whatever. The film could have been much better.

Weird For Weirdness Sake...

[EVOL666 · 5/10 · 1 January 2008]

I really have no other way to describe MAD COWGIRL. There's a lot of stuff going on in this film - probably a lot of "deep" symbolism and whatnot, but it's all so jumbled together that I personally couldn't find anything of real note in this film other than it's complete "oddness"...

A young female meat-inspector contracts some sort of brain-tumors from consuming tainted meat that her brother (with whom she has some sort of vague incestuous relationship with) provides for her. A pre-tumor obsession with kung-fu flicks and a local pastor (played by Chekov from the STAR TREK TV series) causes her post-tumor delusions to manifest themselves in strange ways - namely, with the obsession of knocking off a gang of kung-fu masters from some TV show that she watches on a regular basis, and having weird fantasies/nightmares involving priests...

There's quite a bit more to MAD COWGIRL than what I've mentioned above, and if the film itself was very notable on any level, I'd go into more depth. As it is, this one is a collection of interesting ideas that just doesn't feel fully "realized". As for the good points: The acting, camera-work, etc...are all pretty decent for an indie film. No real complaints in the "technical" department. There's also quite a bit of campy dark-humor that works on some levels. Unfortunately (and on to the bad points): none of it amounts to anything. It seems as though MAD COWGIRL had a lot to say in terms of social-commentary - namely things to do with consumerism, perhaps the hypocrisy of religion, etc...but it was all so vague that I couldn't decide if these elements were actually intended to be in the film, or if I were just reading my own interpretations into what could really be considered just a jumble of randomosity. Also, the pacing seemed a bit off. Things would get moving for a while and then become dull and tedious for stretches, making it hard to pay attention to the total product. My overall impression with MAD COWGIRL, is that it was weird, but not really in a good way, and that nothing really stands out about it in terms of content - meaning, if you asked me anything about this film a week from now, I'll have already forgotten about it. Not terrible in terms of low-budget, odd-ball films - I just didn't get anything at all out of it (P.S. - for the sleaze fans, there's a few shots of the lead actresses tits and a little bit of gore - but nothing to write home about)...5/10

BOY, I'm getting tired of crap movies

[capncrusty · 1/10 · 22 December 2007]

I'm come to the conclusion that there needs to be a new rating added to the system: APC, "Artsy Poser Crap". Characteristics: No straightforward plot development, completely unlikeable and undeveloped characters, elements tossed in for no reason at all, designed with smirking, jaded "Film Appreciation 201" grads in mind. That's right, I'm completely unimaginative, totally bogged down in traditional petite bourgeoisie story telling methodology--probably even (gasp!) straight, gender-preference-wise. But see, here's the thing: when I see a movie I like, it's because it succeeds by having a real story, real characters and real atmosphere. It doesn't have to toss together a bunch of disjointed shots and rambling dialog adorned by a hodge-podge score, then hope no one notices the absolute emptiness that results--or else is too afraid of being labeled as "unappreciative of art" to admit it.

Well, at the risk of being so pigeon-holed--"Cowgirl" is crap. Phony, jumbled crap. Interesting idea completely ruined by someone who apparently thought he would make "art".

So, please, Hollywood: APC. For those of us who prefer or creativity to have both content AND form, instead of cinemagraphic cuisinart.

Patooie.

Meaty, Beaty, Big, And Bouncy...

[azathothpwiggins · 13 July 2020]

In MAD COWGIRL, a kung fu-loving, incestuous, preacher-dating meat inspector named Therese (Sarah Lassez) goes on a long descent into madness, when it clicks in her head that she's TV's "Girl With The Thunderbolt Kick". On a mission to destroy her enemies, bloody horror erupts. Sort of.

In a weird, convoluted way. This could / should have been a classic. Disturbingly, it grinds on forever, going nowhere, causing actual CJD (the human variant of Mad Cow Disease) in the viewer. Watching the entire movie unfold, one can feel the holes developing in the brain. This mind-vaporizing movie is simply too lethal to recommend! Walter Koenig is pretty good as the slimy Pastor Dylan, and could induce a sort of anti-salvation in the viewer. So, split the difference...

Chick winds up eating too much meat, -or something like that.

[Someguysomwhere · 3/10 · 5 April 2007]

Watching this movie my first thought was "Was that guy on Star Trek?" And my last thought was "I gotta get outta here!" It's probably not fair for me to critique this movie since I did not see the whole thing. That said, let me warn anyone who is thinking of seeing it that this is not a "regular" movie. By this I mean one that generally has a clear path or plot development that you can follow (or want to follow) from beginning to end. It has an off-beat independent film look and feel to it. Maybe it is. I didn't care enough to take 2 minutes to check.

No one in this movie seemed to have their head screwed on tightly. They all seemed as dysfunctional as the script which seemed to randomly stitch scenes together and toss images at you, with the recurring theme of the lead character bestially gorging herself on meat. Less anyone get the wrong impression, I am not without range: I do like SOME "quirky" and "offbeat" films and support experimental and independent film making. I believe they serve a good purpose towards the expanded expression and development of the art and human consciousness. I just "personally" couldn't get into this one.

Finally, for me this movie was like a long walk that was taking me nowhere (or nowhere I wanted to go, I'm not sure which). So half way thru I bailed. Lost my appetite, I guess. Love, Boloxxxi.

Boring Time Wasting Garbage!

[higado2 · 1/10 · 17 April 2010]

Whoa. I can't believe I actually watched this piece of crap all the way through. I kept watching hoping that at some point it would stop being boring, but it was boring all the way through .... all the way to the end .... which was also boring! I mean really, just because this movie has two scenes of nudity and "blood" does not make it automatically worth watching. This is one of those movies where the "blood" effects are soooo cheesy, you really don't feel scared or disgusted because it just looks so fake. And the two scenes where the heroine "bares her chest" are nothing more than that: The heroine just shows us her breasts while looking at herself in the mirror ..... seriously, the producers could have paid this actress a lot less if they excluded such boring and unnecessary nudity.

Oh yes, and all this movie sets out to do is to show us what a slut the heroine is! I mean, she has sex with no less than 12 guys! (relax, it hardly even qualifies as "softcore porn").

I don't want to spoil the movie for you since I think that would be very unfair, but take my advice: THIS MOVIE IS BORING TIME WASTING GARBAGE! JUST BECAUSE IT'S "UNIQUE" OR "ORIGINAL" IT DOES NOT, I REPEAT, DOES NOT MEAN IT IS WORTH WATCHING! STAAAAAY AWAAAAAAY! Needless to say, anyone who was stupid enough to act in this movie probably doomed their career as an actor ... and rightly so, I've never seen any of the actors in this movie appear anywhere after it! Ha! Although Sarah .... oh heck I don't know the heroine's name .... did a good job acting in this movie, alas, she doomed her career as an actress for acting in such a terrible piece of movie junk.

Remember people, this movie is not worth your time, it's just as bad as Alvin and The Chipmunks 1 & 2: Total CRAP.

I felt like I had mad cow disease while watching this

[paul_haakonsen · 1/10 · 28 January 2010]

Oh my God! This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It is nothing but a continuous string of incoherent flashes of random images. This is a very low point in cinema history.

I gave up on the movie not even halfway through it. I couldn't stand the torture anymore. There was too much dribble and showing things that had nothing much to do with the main story.

And the acting in this movie, non-existent! It was horrendous at best. And the movie comes with stupid dialogue to go along with the lack of portraying any acting.

The cover looked promising, but just goes to prove that looks can be deceiving.

I advice you to stay well clear of this movie unless you like the type of movies that make little sense and just go on an on forever without getting anyway.

Would-be psychological thriller marred by appalling production values

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 5 March 2017]

MAD COWGIRL is a waste of time movie in the career of director Gregory Hatanaka, the man best known for making another waste of time movie, the infamous SAMURAI COP 2. This one's a would-be psychological thriller about a girl dying of a brain disorder who begins to lose touch with reality and descends into a frightening surreal world.

The problems with this film are manifest from the start. The camera-work is amateurish and the plot is devoid of interest, so there's a lot of talk and not much else. The main actress gives a worthwhile performance but the production values are so poor that this mess is near unwatchable. Poor old Walter Koenig turns up for the hammiest cameo performance ever. The best thing I got out of it was a handful of references to old kung fu cinema; otherwise this is sorry-looking and painful to sit through.

Mad Cow Girl

[bringpieces · 7/10 · 13 April 2012]

I thought that was a very extreme movie and it does take a couple of times to get through a lot of the nonsense, overall it was a fresh take on killers or being killed. This is a low budget movie but with a big dollar bang. Sarah Lassez the female lead plays the killer and the victim, really how often do you see that. Give it a watch before you make up your mind. It is raunchy over the top blood, gore and blasphemy. If you like sex,violence,comedy and drama well you will get here. The story will keep you going what the hell but meanwhile there is a lot of eye candy to be had. Plus you will be surprised at some of the actors that are in the movie.

Meat, Sex, Religion and the Girl with the Thunderbolt Kick

[w00f · 8/10 · 17 March 2007]

You won't see too many movies like this one. In fact, it's so unusual in places that a good brief description is hard. Think Tarantino does Surrealism and you'd be on the right track, at least. As such, it's understandable that this never had a theatrical release, but don't let that dissuade you. This is better than most of what makes it to the big screen... it's just not commercially viable.

Having said that, there are places where it's easy to get lost in this movie, especially toward the rather gory conclusion. There are also quite a few bits that a lot of people are bound to find offensive. There's incest, sex in a public place with a priest, homosexuality, and a couple of what can only be termed severely botched circumcisions. There's also a whole lot of red meat from end to end. You'll certainly never look at steak the same way.

Still, if you like Tarantino's recent stuff, you'll probably like this movie, too. Considering that this is only the second effort from director Gregory Hatanaka, it's a very good sign. I hope to see more of what he can do.

Loved this awesome cult classic!!!

[drahulrajjsd · 10/10 · 24 September 2017]

Loved this awesome cult classic, starring the lovely Sarah Lassez and my man James Duval. For those of you who eat red meat, you will never look at steak the same way again after watching this, thank God I don't take beef. First time my Dad and I saw it we were completely stunned and amazed. A lot of bad reviews for this one but I don't care, haters gonna hate. This is the third time for Sarah Lassez and James Duval working together on a film. Sarah's performance is unforgettable, and amazing. A crazy and disturbing drama with awesome bloody violence, martial arts, comedy and sex!!! Cool soundtrack and I can't believe there's a Hindi song in it...

This movie really stands out from all the rest...

[yllwpwr96 · 10/10 · 20 February 2006]

This movie really stands out from all the rest that screened in San Francisco. Enough buzz to gain a special third screening! My husband and I were stunned when we saw it.

It's was such a refreshing experience! It totally shakes your mind as the movie leads to more sweet madness and hilarious absurdity for Therese (played with such bravery by Sarah Lassez). And, despite its novelty, it's a well-acted and, surprisingly, dramatically-driven movie, too! When we thought it was all over, the last part of the movie totally pays off!

Whether it's a statement of our current socio-political culture or our fascination of all things entertainment, it's just riveting. A food for thought, perhaps? One thing for sure, this movie totally rocks!

Very courageous film-making

[staceyedwards0 · 9/10 · 19 February 2006]

This movie gets a 9 from me for the bizarre, unusual concepts portrayed throughout this film. It is one of the most unusual films I have had the opportunity to see. The plot is twisted and very entertaining. The lead actress played the part exceptionally well, and the part itself seemed to be extremely challenging. She had so many difficult scenes that were completely outrageous, and she never hesitated once to perform even the most unusual, frightening, and horrific scenes that most actors would never have the guts/balls to do.

The crowd left the theater, excited, confused, and somewhat horrified. This is a true indie film that I hope people will get the opportunity to see.

Pretty cutting edge even 17 years later!

[mfoxartist · 9/10 · 7 April 2023]

I know from virtually every movie on IMDb that there is no accounting for taste on either side of the spectrum, and there's nothing wrong with any PERSON who thinks this movie sucks. But their OPINION is wrong.

"Mad Cowgirl" is pretty terrific, featuring an outstanding lead performance from Sarah Lassez. Someone pointed out that she hasn't got any movie roles since this movie and that is wrong; she was in two additional movies after it, and since then is retired from acting. Today she is a highly successful real estate agent in Lake Arrowhead, CA. Good for her, though I wish we could have seen more from a fully mature Lassez. She certainly showed she has the chops to make a full career in acting if she cared to.

Others have summarized the plot so no need for me to rehash it here, but it's a lot more linear than some people give it credit for. I had little problem following the plot, though it was jumbled in places and certainly not as straightforward as a Sandra Bullock film. Others have noted how unique the movie is, and that's why it scores as big as I've scored it. For the most part, it is entirely unpredictable and zooms off into uncharted territory at the drop of a hat. It doesn't mean you can't follow the action, just that you are surprised (and often delighted or repulsed) by the action.

The weak point for me was that some of the film's score felt every bit of 17 years old. While some of it was effective or even essential (there are certain cuts in the sound track that are quite jarring but very effective), in a perfect world the movie could be updated with a fantastic score that would take the film to the next level.

There might be a couple instances when the indie, experimental cinematography goes a little overboard, but you can't make an omelet without cracking some eggs. The special effects are nothing to write home about either, but I wasn't there to see first-level CGI effects...the bloody scenes certainly conveyed what needed to be conveyed.

I laughed at the reviewer here who said that Lassez's nude scenes were gratuitous (paraphrasing, because he's too dumb to use that word). They are not gratuitous at all and every moment of nudity is clearly relevant to the core of the story...and some of it is related to her coping (or not coping) with her increasing mental instability.

Overall, this is a fantastic little film that I will certainly remember past next week...and I watch 20-to-30 movies a month so that's saying something. Yes, it's not for everybody. But as the other positive reviewers here can attest, it's certainly close to perfect for certain cinephiles, including myself.

I dig it

[flk1940-857-716655 · 8/10 · 4 September 2021]

She's great. Funky story yea but I like stuff that's funky. She is soooo beautiful. Sarah call me.

You Are What You Eat, (dated 6 January 2007)

[headnotfound · 4 January 2013]

Spoilers: Gregory Hatanka's film Mad Cowgirl is an iconoclastic, absurd, hilarious and touching story of a woman's mental deterioration.

'The woman in trouble,' is the beautiful and quirky Therese (played brilliantly by Sarah Lassez) - in one of my favorite themes in movies, especially in horror genres. For my money, it just doesn't get any better than when you have a woman who has a gorgeous exterior, but is obsessed, mentally unstable or just a bit psycho in the interior - because a woman who has let go of conventional worries and day-to-day requirements is completely free in her actions. Watching a crazy, carpe diem woman is uplifting, in a way.

Therese's plight involves a brain tumor that is quickly altering her perceptions in the world. As a meatpacking inspector, she is aware of the 'mad cow disease' that is emerging in Britain. This news, which is oft in the background of the movie, is not the reason for her despondent behavior, but is continually offered up as a red herring as the cause for her problems. Dying of a brain disorder is not 'funny.' But a meat inspector who is given tainted meat from her incestuous brother and is then convinced that she has the brain-wasting disease IS funny. This belief sets her off on a wild journey of pastor-banging, eating steak, brother-banging, eating more steak, girl-on-girl action, late nite kung-fu TV show obsession, eating raw steak, and, oh, a murder spree.

The overt campiness of some the shots were reminiscent of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. The character portrayal, however, was strongly set on Therese with minor distractions, so her anguish and loneliness came through despite the wild and crazy situations she would find herself in, namely boning Commandar Chekov of Star Trek (the pastor), which is a heartache in itself. Her inappropriate relationship with her brother is also overwhelmingly sad, because the viewer knows he's the only one that could save her from herself.

The beginning of the film (after the some minute cow interlude) there is a news brief from Japan that is explaining the dangers of eating cow, for fear of contracting the 'mad cow disease' that forms holes in your brain tissue. The brief offers an alternative lifestyle that will keep you healthy - a vegan lifestyle. Seeing as how the rest of the movie is absolutely littered with shots of (troubled) people devouring steaks like beasts, I'm convinced the director is making a statement on the carnivore diet. I could be wrong, and it's probably my vegetarianism coming through, but wouldn't it be delicious if this movie was one giant propaganda tool to get people to lay off the beef? It's as if the director is saying 'Therese brought her problems upon herself.' You are what you eat: ingesting a mad-cow steak will make you into a Mad CowGirl... with a thunderbolt kick!