Venerable film critic and writer Roger Ebert, penned Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls. It's basically a spoof, of the 1967 film, Valley Of The Dolls. The plot of this movie revolves around a female rock group, that pursues their dreams of stardom in the Hollywood jungle of ambitious hopefuls.

All the characters are beautiful looking, particularly the drop-dead gorgeous women in the band. They do have an old toothless women in the film, who hangs-out at a party with the beautiful people. She's the comic relief, in an already hilariously campy film.

There's lots of sleazy, over-the-top sex, ravenous opportunists, drug addicts, and overall flash-n-trash scenes. Ebert was obviously milking the satirical element of the film, to the hilt. The humor in all of this, works throughout most of the movie. But when the film veers towards bloody violence in the latter part of it, it's very jarring to the viewer. The brutal violence winds-up spoiling the fun, comic tone of this movie.

For the most part, this film is an amusing send-up of The Valley Of The Dolls. But the violence in this film, winds-up deflating the wacky, tongue-in-cheek premise of the movie. This film would've worked much better, if the brutal, gory violence was left out of it.

I liked this movie but I was prepared, having read about it extensively before seeing it. From the soundtrack to the camera and editing tricks to the performances, I liked it all. My only problem was the middle part of the movie which concentrated on the personal troubles of the band, sort of dragged. Only when John Lazar came back did the movie pick up and I guess I'm in the minority because I liked the ending. Mainly, because it took the outrageous flavor from the beginning and went even farther. The casting was especially noteworthy. Normally, people who can't act really bother me but watching all of the Playboy playmates trying to act serious while spouting out hilariously clichéd dialogue (I can only hope that Roger Ebert and Russ Meyer weren't trying to write authentic dialogue) was very funny. Special note must be given to the drummer trying to pretend that she could really play. Only Lazar came off as a real actor and he tackled his role with gusto. It is a shame to see that he has never really done anything worthy of his talents after this. Having seen this film only once I don't know how it would hold up after repeated viewings but I can say it is worth seeing at least once.

It's difficult to make out what exactly this 1970 movie is trying to achieve. While not quite the brilliant showbiz parody that co-screenwriter Roger Ebert (yes, the film critic) will have you believe it is (perhaps to save his reputation), this wild blend of sex, booze, psychedelic mind-benders and rock n' roll is really more an exploitative re-do of the first "Valley of the Dolls" reset in the music business. Granted it's an amusing take of the first film with journeyman actors delivering the often ludicrous lines with straight faces. On the brink of bankruptcy, the executives at 20th Century Fox hired renowned sexploitation director Russ Meyer to helm the film, and his campy, porno-level imprint is most predominant here. What's also present is an amusing black comedy that makes every plot turn seems excessive yet oddly relevant at the same time.

Written by Ebert and Meyer, the loose structure of a plot focuses on a girl rock band, the Carrie Nations, comprised of sexually voracious redhead Kelly, frigid guitarist Casey and soul sister drummer Pet. They're managed by Kelly's innocuous boyfriend Harris, who takes them to LA where Kelly suddenly receives a share of her Aunt Susan's recent million-dollar inheritance. In Susan's circle of friends is a faux-Shakespeare-spouting, Phil Spector-like record producer named Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell, who turns the Carrie Nations into big stars. Each girl becomes a victim of their success, leading to drugs, bisexuality, embezzlement, lesbianism, amoral men and a Manson-style murder spree. That it manages to tweak the reigning counterculture is just an added bonus of the story.

The performances are hardly worth discussing as the actors are often called upon to say or do the most humiliating things. With his penchant for large breasts, Meyer cast two former Playboy playmates, Dolly Read (comedian Dick Martin's longtime wife and Match Game semi-regular) as Kelly and Cynthia Myers as Casey. Black model Marcia McBroom plays Pet. None makes that much of an impression except when they take their clothes off. David Gurian makes even less of an impression as Harris. There are, however, a few scenery chewers of note – John LaZar as the out-of-control Z-Man, especially during a decapitation scene that has to be seen to be believed; perennial in-joke starlet Edy Williams as sex film queen Ashley St. Ives; and preening Michael Blodgett as greedy gigolo Lance Rocke, who gets to play his final scene in just a loincloth.

The Carrie Nations' rock song performances are actually pretty good for the period, and veteran TV composer Stu Phillips. Even though there are a few sex scenes and plenty of gratuitous nudity, it actually doesn't come across as all that titillating. I honestly believe it's the satirical edge is what keeps up interest in the film. Unbelievably, the film has been re-released as a two-disc set in 2006, and surprisingly, it is actually quite a solid package. First of all, the print transfer is amazingly pristine for a film of this age, something that strikes you immediately when you see it.

There are two commentary tracks – one with Ebert which is actually quite academic and insightful in an almost Criterion-like manner, the other is a free-for-all trip down memory lane for stars Read, Myers, LaZar and two other actors in the cast, Harrison Page (who played Pet's earnest law student boyfriend Emerson) and Erica Gavin (who played Casey's Sapphic fashion designer lover Roxanne). The second disc has five featurettes on various aspects of the film, the best being "Above, Beneath and Beyond the Valley", which focuses on the cast's remembrances of Meyer, and "Best of the Beyond", which spotlight the actors, who for the most part, look great 36 years later (Read, Myers and McBroom, in particular). There is some screen test footage, theatrical trailers and a photo gallery as well.