Pink Flamingos

Pink Flamingos (1972)

  • 82% of critics liked it
    (38 reviews)

  • 72% of users liked it
    (19,379 ratings)

Renegade filmmaker and noted aficionado of expressive bad taste John Waters exploded into international infamy with this darkly comic, no-budget parade of the perverse (his third feature film, and first in color), in which plus-size cross-dresser Divine stars as Babs Johnson, a flashy criminal on… More

NC-17,
Directed By
Written By
John Waters
Genres
Comedy
In Theaters
Mar 17, 1972 Wide

Critic Reviews

  • Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

    While the film now looks primitive and even more amateurish, it is laudable, if that's the right word, because unlike most movies being made these days, almost everything that happens in it is absolutely, horrifyingly real.

  • Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle

    Waters works best with some restrictions on his license. He's much better as a subversive than he is an anarchist.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    I am not giving a star rating to Pink Flamingos, because stars simply seem not to apply. It should be considered not as a film but as a fact, or perhaps as an object.

  • John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews

    Waters demonstrates visual talent and entertains

  • Beth Accomando, KPBS.org

    But what made Waters unique was the joyous quality of his work, the wicked delight he took in trashy obscenity.

Read all 14 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Lucas M


    A disgusting, surrealist, scary, sick, breathtaking, infamous and terrible funny. An anarchist /subversive cinema work. An unique film, that you need to have courage to see and after tell the story. John Waters is really a genius of the expressive bad taste. Pink Flamingos it's a… More

  • Sophie B


    I'm trying very hard to find something to say without being completely rude. Just why? Filmmakers, why on earth did you think this was a good idea? I'm very very surprise that this got 81% fresh and audiences liking it. It's absolutely vulgar, pointless and almost porn,… More

  • Conner R


    Sometimes John Waters is a little too obvious for his own good and this is one of those cases. I typically either love or hate his stuff. I like what he was trying to say with this, but it's just too much. I mean you can be trashy, but at least attempt to do it with some sense of… More

  • Tsubaki S


    I would give this a better rating, but i felt the climax was lame. Divine just shoots them and that's it? Really?

  • Megan S


    So I'm watching all the John Waters' films but this one was a bit much for me. It's hard to believe that it came out in the 70s because it is still shocking and over the top. I can't imagine going to see the this movie in the theater.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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