In 1971, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry produced and wrote a film called Pretty Maids All in a Row. If you’re a Star Trek person and you’ve never heard of it, there’s a very good reason for that: nothing about this film will remind you of the famous 1960s TV series, except for maybe some risque wardrobe choices courtesy of Star Trek’s original costume designer, William Ware Theiss.
But if the original Trek was guilty of any sexploitation in the name of progress, Pretty Maids All in a Row is the opposite, as a bizarre sex farce that’s also a murder mystery wrapped up in a weird high school coming of age story. Based on the 1968 novel by Francis Pollini, the film’s biggest crime is that it can’t decide what it wants to be. Is it a dark comedy mocking a certain type of sexist horror trope? Or is it merely embodying those tropes with the hope of finding some kind of art?
