This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Dreadfully Boring

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Grade Z clunker from garbageman Ted V. Mikels. It's about a band of female assassins led by Francine York who are supposed to save the world from a madman. Cheap boring movie that's nowhere near as fun as you want it to be. A movie like this should be sexy, exciting, and maybe a little campy. But this is a tired colorless affair directed with less flourish than an episode of Marcus Welby. Much has been said about this movie's influence on Charlie's Angels. Except Aaron Spelling got it right. Tura Satana is also in this. She was also in the much superior "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" See that instead. Oh and I hope Jim Steranko knows they ripped him off with that movie poster.

The only other Ted V. Mikels film I had seen before this is "Blood Orgy of the She-Devils". And the only thing I remember about it is that it was completely awful. Thankfully, "The Doll Squad" is considerably better. It is crudely directed, with often poor continuity and laughable "special effects" (low points: the fake explosions). But it is also ahead of its time: how many films do you suppose had been made before 1973 featuring female commandos using guns, explosives and martial arts to wipe out small armies of bad men? Not many, that's for sure. Whether dressed in their bikinis or in their tight, form-fitting uniforms, the women in this film look good, and handle their basic action scenes fairly well. So "The Doll Squad" may not be art (far from it, in fact), but from a female action cinema fan's perspective, it delivers where it counts. (**)

Director Mikels claims this was the inspiration for "Charlie's Angels." Maybe so or maybe not, but this film turns out to be a fairly standard 3 girl/4 girl formula exploitation acioner. Some funny scenes, like the exploding enemy agents. Satana is wasted in a supporting role. This one probably satisfied the drive in crowd in 1973, but it doesn't have too much to recommend it now, even to fans (like me) of this stuff, because it's a bit too clunky.

'The Doll Squad' is testimony to Ted V. Mikel's complete lack of talent, in that he can take the idea of a team of beautiful assassins who must save the world from an evil mastermind intent on infecting us all with bubonic plague, and make it COMPLETELY BORING. On paper this looks like it could be a wonderfully trashy and camp 1970s experience, the kind of movie parodied with such skill and fun in the Austin Powers series. Actually trying to sit through it and stay awake is another matter! Mikel's woeful direction, the no-budget special effects, and the awful acting throughout make it almost painful to endure. Even the semi-naked appearance of the legendary Tura Satana ( from Russ Meyer's classic 'Faster Pussycat!') can't save this turkey!