John Waters achieved cinema immortality when, during the early 1970s, he wrote and directed a series of no-budget films starring his close friend Divine, a 300-pound drag queen. In 1972, when Waters' Pink Flamingos was released, audiences gagged and laughed hysterically as Divine cheerfully ate a pile of actual dog poop on camera. Now a cult classic, the film played to packed houses for years.   

This Friday, September 16th, Waters, who's a part-time Castro resident, will screen 1970's Multiple Maniacs, the film he made with Divine prior to Pink Flamingos, at the Castro Theater. Unavailable for years, it's recently been rereleased in a new restoration. 

While he'll be unable to appear at the theater for the screening, Waters spoke to us about the neighborhood he's called home (at least in part) for decades.

Waters, who first came to the Castro during the hippie era, recalls it as it was in the days of yore. The neighborhood, which had long been a family-friendly working-class community known as Eureka Valley, was just beginning its transformation into a gay mecca. 

"I first moved here before the clones," Waters said, referring to the classic look of the neighborhood's gay male residents of the 1970s—including tight jeans and a requisite mustache. "I had a great time. I lived in a commune with gay men and a straight couple—I still see the straight couple. I just saw one of the gay men on the bus; I was really glad to see that he was still alive."

During Waters' younger years, he lived right in the thick of it—on 18th Street near Castro and Noe. He recalls the Castro with affection, noting that the neighborhood was quite a wild place. "All the parks were sex parks!" he said, recalling some of the fun times he had in Dolores Park and at glory holes. "People's apartments had glory holes in those days!"

While he frequented many of the popular Castro gay bars of the period, he admits that he can't recall many of their names. But he does recall one favorite hangout: the original Stud on Folsom Street. According to Out Magazine, he joked about wondering how the bar made any money, since no one on acid drank. 

He even had a connection to the Castro Theater: in the 1980s, they regularly showed a hilarious no-smoking PSA he made. 

Today, Waters continues to maintain a residence a few blocks away from his former Castro abode, but he feels that today's Castro is considerably less gay than it was during those wilder days.

"Gay people who come here today seem straighter," he said, noting the many gay couples in the neighborhood who are starting families and raising children. But in his personal world, little has changed. "I have as much fun today as I had then," he said.

Though he became famous in many circles after Pink Flamingos' release (and has directed nine films since), Waters told us he's still able to ride Muni without being recognized. 

"No one is famous on the bus, but everyone is out of their mind!" he said. "Most of them are off their meds. I love to watch the rage of people who are caught not paying their fare. It's always the people you'd least expect, like old ladies!"

Waters turned 70 this year, and while he hasn't made a feature film since 2004, he continues to perform and write books. He'll next to take to the stage with his one-man Christmas show on November 30th at the Great American Music Hall. And he isn't ruling out the possibility of making more movies. 

"I have many projects in development," he said. "And I just signed a two-book deal." 

Waters thinks that the outrageous and envelope-pushing Multiple Maniacs, which shocked audiences in 1970, might raise a few eyebrows even today. "It's still radical," he said. "No one would say 'off the pigs' today."

Back when the film was made, Divine's father wasn't a big fan of their work—Waters recalls Divine's dad asking "What were you thinking?", which he considers a "fair question" in light of the films they made together. 

At the time, "I was ambitious," Waters now says. "I wanted success and I wanted to make money. But I had a sense of humor." 

45 years after he first came into the public eye, that sense of humor remains intact.