Polyester

Polyester (1981)

  • 89% of critics liked it
    (18 reviews)

  • 80% of users liked it
    (6,563 ratings)

After making a name for himself with such underground gross-out epics as Pink Flamingos and Desperate Living, director John Waters made a bid for somewhat wider acceptance with this black comedy, which is sedate only by the standards of his previous work. Francine Fishpaw (Divine) is a housewife… More

R,
Directed By
Genres
Comedy
In Theaters
Jan 1, 1981 Wide
New Line Cinema

Critic Reviews

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    By standards of Waters' gross-out features, this mildly amusing film is sedate, notable for the casting of fading movie star Tab Hunter and for introducing a gimmick called Odorama, scratch-and-sniff cards.

  • Bill Gibron, DVD Verdict

    Polyester may be one of the few times when Waters tried to expand his cinematic language at the expense of his usual verbal variety

  • Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

    Stinks in all the right ways.

  • James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk

    He makes you endure the grossest of the gross and you still laugh through the whole thing

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

  • Cassandra M


    I think that "Polyester" is John Waters' best movie. "Female Trouble" may have been funnier, but I prefer the elements in this softer creation to that earlier, meaner-spirited film. "Polyester" was the director's bridge between his last bad… More

  • Lafe F


    Cheap. Dirty. Sleazy. Whacked-out. Funny. Smelly. I enjoyed Polyester very much. Despite being made in 1981, it felt very 1970's low-budget. Offered in Odorama, where you scratch and sniff the appropriate scent on a card when a number flashes onscreen, totally gimmicky and fun!… More

  • Robert F


    Classic John Waters. Bad in all the right ways.

  • Marion R


    Presented in Odorama. it was okay, I found some parts pretty funny.

  • Patrick D


    John Waters' love letter to the 50s melodrama and the William Castle gimmick film. Brilliant.

Read all 6 featured audience ratings

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