Three women, including a sinful lesbian, are held hostage by two violent criminals in Doris Wishman’s deliriously trashy noir. Can they team up and thwart their male foes?

Doris Wishman was truly a one-of-a-kind. She was a rare female director working in the exploitation subgenre, although there are few proto-feminist messages to be found in her films. She put a lesbian character centre in A Taste of Flesh (1967), a sensational thriller made on the cheap and shot entirely in one apartment, featuring three women who are held captive by two male crooks planning an assassination on a visiting foreign president.

The results have to be seen to be believed. One of the women is a predatory lesbian, who, despite the problematic nature of her character, is underestimated by the two men who threaten her. There is a jaw-dropping queer daydream sequence that is worth the ticket price alone. While it is first and foremost a sleazy exploitation thriller, this is one of Wishman’s most fascinating films.

This screening will be followed by a discussion about Wishman and her legacy with Jaye Hudson and Selina Robertson, chaired by season curator Alex Davidson.