Mantis in Lace
Encyclopedia
Mantis in Lace is a 1968 sexploitation film directed by William Rotsler
and produced by Harry Novak
. At least two differently-edited versions have been released, one of which has more emphasis on the sex
ual aspect of the film and one of which emphasizes its violent
storyline. The movie may have also been released under the name of the main character, "Lila".
at a seedy topless bar on the Sunset Strip
. After ingesting LSD
, Lila becomes a psychopathic serial killer
. She continues to pick up men at the bar where she is employed, but after her sanity
is lost she routinely is interrupted mid-coitus by psychedelic
bad trip
s in which she visualizes a balding, half-naked old man clutching wads of cash in one hand and a bunch of bananas in the other. These psychotic
episodes cause her to murder
her partners by stab
bing them with a screwdriver
and dismember
ing them with a rust
y meat cleaver (or in one case, a garden hoe
) while imagining that she is cutting up cantaloupe
s and watermelon
s.
As pieces of the victims' bodies are discovered in cardboard boxes, she is pursued by a pair of Los Angeles Police Department
detective
s played by Steven Vincent and M.K. Evans. The narrative is interrupted by long sequences of topless dancing, softcore pornography, and recreational drug use
.
, Stuart Lancaster
, Janu Wine, John Caroll, John LaSalle, Hinton Pope, Bethel Buckalew, Lyn Armondo, Norton Halper and (as dancers) Judith Crane and Cheryl Trepton.
for the film was "Let her show you the heat of desire -- the face of sin!" The movie poster
includes two additional taglines. The first, in large typeface, says "SHE LOVED THEM..and loved them and loved them TO DEATH." The second tagline refers to the sexually cannibalistic
tendencies of mantis
es and warns "Like a female MANTIS...to love her was to DIE!"
s and little sense"; the review further warns:
Another reviewer warns that after watching this "less than riveting tale" the viewer's "biggest question will be whether you should categorize what you've just seen as a bad trip
or merely a bummer"
William Rotsler
William "Bill" Rotsler was an American cartoonist and graphic artist; author of several science fiction novels and short stories, and television and film novelizations, and non-fiction works on a variety of topics, ranging from Star Trek to pornography; a prominent member of science fiction...
and produced by Harry Novak
Harry Novak
Harry Novak, "the sexploitation king," produced and distributed a prolific number of exploitation films from the early 60s to the mid-70s, including William Rotsler's cult classics The Agony of Love and Mantis in Lace and the influential "monster nudie" Kiss Me Quick! among many others...
. At least two differently-edited versions have been released, one of which has more emphasis on the sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
ual aspect of the film and one of which emphasizes its violent
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
storyline. The movie may have also been released under the name of the main character, "Lila".
Plot
Lila (played by Susan Stewart) is a good-natured go-go dancer who stripsStriptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
at a seedy topless bar on the Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
. After ingesting LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, Lila becomes a psychopathic serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
. She continues to pick up men at the bar where she is employed, but after her sanity
Sanity
Sanity refers to the soundness, rationality and healthiness of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational...
is lost she routinely is interrupted mid-coitus by psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
bad trip
Bad trip
Bad trip is a disturbing experience sometimes associated with use of a psychedelic drug such as LSD, Salvinorin A, DXM, mescaline, psilocybin, DMT and sometimes even other drugs including cannabis, alcohol and MDMA....
s in which she visualizes a balding, half-naked old man clutching wads of cash in one hand and a bunch of bananas in the other. These psychotic
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
episodes cause her to murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
her partners by stab
Stab
STAB or stab can mean:*The act of stabbing with a sharp instrument*Stab, a short form of stab jacket, another word for buoyancy compensator*Stab vest, a type of armour designed to resist knife attacks...
bing them with a screwdriver
Screwdriver
A screwdriver is a tool for driving screws and often rotating other machine elements with the mating drive system. The screwdriver is made up of a head or tip, which engages with a screw, a mechanism to apply torque by rotating the tip, and some way to position and support the screwdriver...
and dismember
Dismemberment
Dismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism...
ing them with a rust
Rust
Rust is a general term for a series of iron oxides. In colloquial usage, the term is applied to red oxides, formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water or air moisture...
y meat cleaver (or in one case, a garden hoe
Hoe
Hoe may refer to:* Hoe , a hand tool used in gardening* Hoe , a Korean dish of raw fish* Plymouth Hoe, a public space in Plymouth, England* Hoe, Norfolk, a village in Norfolk, England* USS Hoe , a World War II US submarine...
) while imagining that she is cutting up cantaloupe
Cantaloupe
"Rockmelon" redirects here, for the band see Rockmelons. See also Cantaloupe .Cantaloupe refers to a variety of Cucumis melo, a species in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes nearly all melons and squashes. Cantaloupes range in size from...
s and watermelon
Watermelon
Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...
s.
As pieces of the victims' bodies are discovered in cardboard boxes, she is pursued by a pair of Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
s played by Steven Vincent and M.K. Evans. The narrative is interrupted by long sequences of topless dancing, softcore pornography, and recreational drug use
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
.
Cast
Other credited cast members include Pat BarringtonPat Barrington
Pat Barrington is a dancer and actress who appeared in The Agony of Love and Mondo Topless .-Filmography:-External links:...
, Stuart Lancaster
Stuart Lancaster (actor)
Stuart Gage Lancaster was an American actor known for roles in Russ Meyer films.Born in Evanston, Illinois, Lancaster's grandfather was circus owner Charles Ringling. He served as an aviator in the United States Navy in World War II. He moved to Los Angeles in 1962...
, Janu Wine, John Caroll, John LaSalle, Hinton Pope, Bethel Buckalew, Lyn Armondo, Norton Halper and (as dancers) Judith Crane and Cheryl Trepton.
Taglines
One taglineTagline
A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product...
for the film was "Let her show you the heat of desire -- the face of sin!" The movie poster
Movie poster
A movie poster is a poster used to advertise a film. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. They normally contain an image with text. Today's posters often feature photographs of the main actors. Prior to the 1990s,...
includes two additional taglines. The first, in large typeface, says "SHE LOVED THEM..and loved them and loved them TO DEATH." The second tagline refers to the sexually cannibalistic
Sexual cannibalism
Sexual cannibalism is a special case of cannibalism in which a female organism kills and consumes a male of the same species before, during, or after copulation. On rare occasions, these roles are reversed.-Prevalence:...
tendencies of mantis
Mantis
Mantis is the common name of any insect in the order Mantodea, also commonly known as praying mantises. The word itself means "prophet" in Latin and Greek...
es and warns "Like a female MANTIS...to love her was to DIE!"
Reviews
Mantis in Lace has been described as "a truly bizarre movie" and "a very strange trip ...(with) lots of titBreast
The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
s and little sense"; the review further warns:
The acting is either terrible or nonexistent. The same can be said for the direction and editing. The music score, relying chiefly on an electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
ist who seems to be making up stuff as he goes along — none of it worthy of the term "improvisationImprovisationImprovisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
", mind you — lurches from quirky kitschKitschKitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
to agonizing irritant very quickly. The drippy "Lila" theme song, used a gazillion times, should require a warning label on the DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
to prevent mental injury.
Another reviewer warns that after watching this "less than riveting tale" the viewer's "biggest question will be whether you should categorize what you've just seen as a bad trip
Bad trip
Bad trip is a disturbing experience sometimes associated with use of a psychedelic drug such as LSD, Salvinorin A, DXM, mescaline, psilocybin, DMT and sometimes even other drugs including cannabis, alcohol and MDMA....
or merely a bummer"