Apparently this has been doing the rounds as a “must-see” cult movie for a while, but it’s one that I couldn’t remember hearing about until it was literally shoved into my eyeballs. If I heard of it before and paid it no heed it was probably because it was about The Carpenters and Anorexia, neither of which I have any more than a passing interest in, and because when mainstream critics rave about something being strange that normally means it’s rather dull. I was wrong, and if you haven’t seen this yet either then here is why you should watch it now.


The film starts with the discovery of Karen Carpenters body and then tells the story of her battle with anorexia. It does this mostly through the medium of Barbie doll puppets, but there are a couple of live action sequences (masterfully shot in a horror film style) and some surrealist mixed media sections for narration. It stars mid-career for Karen and Richard, and conforms to the standard practices of docu-dramas enough to further play with your head.

Whilst there are several historically accurate facts in this story, most of the script is very obviously made up as its conversation no one could possible know about. The film lies to you, a lot. This is because it’s about anorexia and stardom, both of which extensively lie to their victims. And by that lying, especially by showing you those lies just enough for you to spot them, it speaks honestly and enthrallingly about those situations.

Adding to the engagement is the poor quality of most versions of this film you may find. The film was pulled from publication three years after release, because it was made with no approval or permissions for the story or music, so everything is a copy of a copy of a copy. This adds to the lurid, psychedelic, and voyeuristic nature of the experience, with a “found footage” urban archival feel that further moves it into an otherworld of Americana. The only annoying bit is that it makes the title and information cards harder to read, but that adds another layer of misinformation and immersion.

For all it’s lo-fi credentials, the production values are surprisingly high. The puppetry is well performed, the costumes are delightful, and the sets show a surprising level of ambition and detail. The puppets also change as the story progresses, adding yet more unease as Barbie’s and Ken’s aren’t supposed to do that. This core element is obviously a novel draw, but it rapidly transcends that into vital narrative technique. Everything in this film is telling a story, and not one second of it’s brief run time is wasted.
As is unsurprising, the overall effect of story, style, and presentation make for a pretty downer watch even before the constant juxtaposition of The Carpenters mildly upbeat pop songs starts tearing into you. Then there are a couple of nightmare sequences, complete with Barbie spanking, just to add that extra touch of what-the-fuck.

All this hurls it squarely into Treasure territory. It is consistently and substantively strange, but with clear purpose and intent that shows craft rather than pretension. You come away knowing you have seen something singular and absolute, and hopefully wanting to tell even more people about it. And as it’s fallen out of copyright in the heaviest of manners, you can just google it up to find one of the several rips doing the rounds.

The Raggedyman