Hey folks - Harry here. There's been an awful lot of GRINDHOUSE headlines and titles over the past few weeks and month - but I've been getting an awful lot of letters from folks that are new to this multi-genre classic period of anything goes cinema. What I have here are some of AICN's Regulars - along with a pair of the Alamo Drafthouse's GRINDHOUSE programming, booking and print finding finest you'll ever find. And at the very end of this article - which will be posted - INCOMPLETE - as more and more from the AICN crew send their in... then at the very end, I'll include mine. I'm also going to ask you talkbackers to try to take part. If you're old enough to remember the time period - share your Grindhouse faves. If you're too young for that, what have you discovered on DVD and Home Video... or at special screenings that you may have attended. This should be taken as a forum of discovery and celebration for a beloved film geek period between the sixties and the early eighties. Now - let's kick this fucker off with Annette Kellerman, whom I met as a young, hot college gal that was grinding it out to her own particular love of the Grindhouse... Oh yes, Girls do love these films! You better fucking believe it!
Hey Harry-here's my two cents. Growing up in small town Oklahoma didn't give me much exposure to Grindhouse cinema. My experience with the genre began when I met Tom Joad my freshman year of college. Each week he warped my mind with a new batch of ridiculously bad quality VHS tapes he received in the mail from the various magazines and catalogs he tirelessly searched for new and crazy titles. I had no idea at the time that I was receiving the best cinematic education of my life! By the time we met Harry at the all-night exploitation marathon at QT 2, I was already completely hooked and have been ever since. I wouldn't say this is my TOP ten (I hate picking favorites), but merely a sampling of some of the best I've seen so far. Where to begin... 1-THE MUTHERS, of course! I have a soft spot for women in prison movies and this blaxploitation/WIP/pirate (I shit you not) masterpiece is a crowd pleaser every time. Fuck Serena! 2-TORSO. The original "Don't"-the trailer has the announcer saying "Torso!" over and over. The film itself is solid Italian gore. "Torso! Torso!" 3-FIGHT FOR YOU LIFE. Absolutely the most kickass home invasion flick I've ever seen with a great twist on racial stereotypes. Deadwood fans will love the disturbed performance from a very young William Sanderson. 4-GHETTO FREAKS. I saw this with Tom Joad the night we met Harry at QT 2, and I've never been the same since. This film gets my "so bad its great" award. A totally weird pseudo social message film with fantastic trips scenes. 5-ABBY. I have many fond memories of watching this blaxploitation version of The Exorcist in Harry's backyard with the crew. Yes, Harry actually owns a print of this gem. 6-THE BIG DOLL HOUSE. Another women-in-prison classic, this flick brings together one of my favorite trios-Pam Grier, Sid Haig, and the brilliant director Jack Hill. Fans of Jackie Brown will notice the familiar "99 Years" sung by Grier herself. 7-BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH. Not just another blaxploitation flick, this film takes us on a journey to Vietnam and then back to the deep south where a trio of hometown boys (NFL stars) seek revenge on the local Klan. 8-GATES OF HELL. I am a Fulci fan. I am also a fan of watching a girl literally puke up her guts (intestines and all) and a guy getting his brains drilled out. Terrific splatter gold. 9-PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW. I had to throw a cheerleader movie in here somewhere and what better testosterone fest than one starring Rock Hudson as the mack daddy of them all? Throw in murder, plenty of T and A, and Angie Dickinson and I'm in every time. 10-ROLLING THUNDER. A classic revenge tale starring William Devane and a fresh faced Tommy Lee Jones. I absolutely swoon every time I see Tommy hand William the shot gun as he says, "Let's go get 'em" in his most serious deadpan. There are so many more I'd love to name, but I guess 10 is a good limit! Cheers, Annette Kellerman
Next is Capone - up there in Chicago - he's our man on the scene. He's a bit out of his territory, but he's put together a pretty fun list. Here ya go...
Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here. Although I'm the the underworld kingpin of Chicago today, I actually grew up in a Maryland, in an immediate suburb of Washington, D.C., so I had a fair amount of access to three very important outlets where grindhouse cinema: a college campus (specifically the University of Maryland, which had a student-run movie theater at the time that played some fucked-up stuff); drive-ins in Maryland; and a few choice run-down movie houses in D.C., specifically Georgetown (the long-dead Key Theatre springs to mind). These places wouldn't know a first-run movie if it bit them in the poop-hole, and thank God for that. I don't pretend to be any kind of expert on the history of grindhouse, and I'm not even sure if all of my picks qualify as classic grindhouse cinema. But each in their own special way, these are the films that messed me up, opened my eyes, and/or introduced me to a kind of filmmaking and theater-going experience that the local six-screen multiplex near my house just couldn't give me. These are by no means the best films I could think of. They are more the ones that just took me years to shake, with little success. Some of these are entry-level grindhouse choices, your basic 101 stuff, but there are a couple of selections I'm guessing nobody else is going have. I'm not trying to impress anybody with my vast knowledge of obscure cinema; I just want to give you a little gruel for thought. In no particular order… MANIAC (1980) -- A slasher film (complete with nice Tom Savini gore effects) that isn't just a slasher film. It includes a competent and frustrating love story, a simple psychological profile, and a gritty atmosphere. This is that rare sick freak who actually makes us believe he's interested in bettering his life. Then the blood starts a-flowin'… ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1976) -- The only musical-comedy on the list. If you don't see the X-rated version, well you're not really missing that much. Never miss an opportunity to have one of your favorite children's stories turned into a fuck fest, complete with some of the hairiest…um, rabbits…I've ever seen. ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS (1975) -- Is there any taboo this film didn't shatter? Nazi's fucking, torturing, raping. A dinner scene that defies good taste. A harrowing murder by melting ice block. Boiling flesh, pain experiments. I'm not exactly scoring points for originality here, but there's a reason this film turns up on some many lists like this. SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES (1962) -- I obsessed over vampire movies for most of my life. Christopher Lee will always be my favorite Dracula, but Dieter Eppler ("the Italian Christopher Lee") in this DRACULA ripoff directed by Roberto Mauri, injects a whole lot of ferocity and seductiveness into his performance. I was reminded of this film because it just came out on DVD this year, and I strongly recommend checking it out if only for the stunning women on display here. DARK HABITS (1983) -- Put simply, this is the film that introduced me to the twisted mind of Pedro Almodovar. If the only films by the Spanish master that you're familiar with are his more mature, colorful, spiritually uplifting works, you don't know what you're missing. Nuns on drugs, nuns writing sexually explicit novels, nuns acting like maniacs. There was a time when Almodovar's overt attacks on the church were the stuff of legend. Before he was a director who wrote Oscar-worthy roles for women, he was an angry gay man who frequently cast the exquisite Carmen Maura as his voice piece. In other films of this era, he showed us gay and straight sex as a weapon and was as compelling as he is today but in far less subtle ways. But DARK HABITS is a great jumping-off point for his early, passionate era. THE STREET FIGHTER (1974) -- First time I ever saw Sonny Chiba. 'Nuff said. SHOCK CORRIDOR (1963) -- Sam Fuller's masterpiece about a journalist who strives for authenticity and answers, and commits himself into an insane asylum to solve a murder. A film as insane and out of control as the characters in it. So many great performances and a few of them seem a little to real. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980) -- What can I say about this? Again, I'm not bowling you over with originality, but tell me you don't remember the first time you saw this. As much as the simulated rape and hideous killings bothered me when I first saw this film, it was the very real animal killings that really shook me up and stayed with me. DISCO FEVER (1978) -- A year after SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, this piece of shit dance movie came out that has next to nothing to do with disco, although you may feel slightly feverish after watching it (which may be impossible, since it's not available on VHS or DVD). All I remember about this movie is that Casey Kasem is in it, and it's about a club owner who arranges for a former teen idol's comeback as part of some ridiculous revenge scheme. The music is forgettable; what little dancing their is looks like it was choreographed by a muppet. So why am I putting this movie on my list if it sucks so bad? Because so much grindhouse is shit, and this was the king of the shithouse in my mind. MULTIPLE MANIACS (1970) -- Growing up so close to Baltimore, it's not surprising that I was exposed to John Waters and Divine at an early age. Although he would never remember it, Waters was the first filmmaker I ever met, during a retrospective of his work in D.C. When I went to shake his hand, the look in his eye told me "Who let this kid into my movie?" But he was so nice and funny, and his films were the first ones that set me on a path toward loving and appreciating perversity in its purist form. Lady Divine and her group of wacky kidnappers were my heroes. But what about this film sends it into the stratosphere of my world? Two words: Lobster Rape. Capone Got A Grind You Want To Give Me?
Next we have a short and sweet list from Lars Nilsen! Who? Well, Lars is the brilliant demented mind behind the Alamo Drafthouse's WEIRD WEDNESDAY onslaught of grindhouse titles. Lars is responsible for the further cinema education of the Austin area. The free screenings that he hosts every Wednesday night at Midnight at the Alamo are dedicated 100% to the greater glory of cool obscure weird fucking movies that you come away thanking God, Lars and The Alamo Drafthouse for showing you. Here's his list:
Harry, I particularly love: THE CANDY SNATCHERS - Pretty much perfect - harsh seventies bringdown. TRUCK TURNER - Best dialogue. See it with a crowd! SCREAM BABY SCREAM - hard to choose a Joseph Adler movie but this one rocks the groovy horror angle. TWILIGHT PEOPLE - The ambience, the music, a perfect summer night movie. DARKER THAN AMBER - Before Robert Clouse became typecast as the "assault on the impregnable fortress" director. HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS - the best biker movie ever. VENUS IN FURS - the Jess Franco one, super Euro cool. MR. SCARFACE - not DiLeo's tippity-top best (CALIBRE 9, MANHUNT, THE BOSS) but it's such a cool plot. BLACK COBRA - My favorite Laura Gemser/Joe D'Amato collaboration - magical. THE NUDE VAMPIRE - The ultimate Jean Rollin serial homage. It will be different tomorrow but that's where I'm at right now. Best, Lars
Who can follow Lars? The Boss o' Lars... that's right Tim League himself. He took a little bit of time out of his amazingly busy schedule building the ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE At The Ritz and Attending the Brussels genre film festival searching for the latest and greatest for FANTASTIC FEST this September. As the owner and operator of perhaps the last great Grindhouse theater of them all... that's still kicking it, long after the craze had alleged died to the morality and financial realities thrust upon it by Ronald Reagan. Here's Tim League...
I'm going to give you a list of some of my all-time favorite Weird Wednesday titles. That series has been my Grindhouse experience for the past 6 years. 10) Emma Mae (Black Sister's Revenge) 9) Darktown Strutters 8) Night Warning 7) Abar the 1st Black superman 6) Bonnie's Kids 5) Devil Times Five 4)Toys are not for Children 3) Poor Pretty Eddie 2) Snakes 1) Candy Snatchers
Now we have Quint's look at the world of GRINDHOUSE films. He was too young for the first go around, but thanks to the Drafthouse, Tarantino, Me and Home Video - Quint knows what he's talking about. Here ya go...
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with my list of 10 Grindhouse movies that would be essential viewing if I was King of the World. My thought was to try to pick a favorite from all different genres. Kung Fu, Italian Horror, Spaghetti Western, American Horror, Blaxploitation, Sexploitation, etc. In no particular order… BLACK BELT JONES This would be one of the more mainstream features, with Jim Kelly at his charismatic best. It’s smart, funny, a bit gritty and rough, but it flies. “The son of a bitch threw his panties in my face!” “I want a piece of that cookie.” “My cookie would kill you.” Gloria Hendry was one hot mama, Jim Kelly was the shit and Scatman Crothers was the coolest cat in town. Absolute classic, with one of the best soundtracks ever. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST Ruggero Deadato’s infamous flick. It was banned damned near everywhere, with some of the most incredible and grotesque gore ever. Largely shot documentary fashion (BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was accused of ripping of its concept) about a group of youngsters making a documentary on primitive tribes in the Amazon. They run into some cannibals and you get genital mutilation, a girl hooked through her tits and strung up, plenty of real life footage of animal killing and the tip of the top… a skewered human being, stuck going up the butt, pointy end coming out of the mouth. You’d never see this one in multiplex that didn’t have both Alamo and Drafthouse on the ticket stub. SLEEPAWAY CAMP This one might have come out a little after the Grindhouse trend ended, or at least when it was tapering off, but it’s certainly a movie that was made for that experience. On the surface it’s a FRIDAY THE 13TH rip-off, set at a summer camp. Lots of killer POV, ridiculous deaths, cartoonish and crazy characters (including more bo-hunks per scene than about any other film and an openly pedophile cook), kids cursing and the craziest fucking ending and twist of any film of the type. It looks like it was made for $2.79, cast almost completely with non-actors and is one of my favorite movies. 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN Gordon Liu’s classic. There had to be one period Kung Fu flick here, set in ancient China that has the classic Kung Fu hero’s journey. Young man gets beat the fuck up. Young man undergoes a long and intense training to become a super badass. Young man gets revenge. A Shaw Brothers masterpiece. THE BLACK SIX/BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH I’m cheating here. These are two different movies, but I’m going to give them the same spot. I saw THE BLACK SIX at the Alamo at one of the Weird Wednesdays years ago and I saw BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH at an early Tarantino Film Fest. THE BLACK SIX is a revenge story about a bunch of insane white bikers who see a black high school student dating a white girl, so, naturally, they kill him. Bad news for him is that the kid’s brother is a member of an all-black Biker gang, composed of football players turned actors, including Mean Joe Green. This flick flies, combining three great Grindhouse genres… the revenge flick, the biker flick and the blaxploitation movie. BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH follows a group of friends who return from a tour of Vietnam to find that KKK has taken over their town. Both are amazingly entertaining films, with non-actors depending on just their own charisma to keep the movie going. THE BIG BIRD CAGE No Grindhouse list is complete without a Jack Hill movie. There are many I could have chosen… Like THE SWINGING CHEERLEADERS or SWITCHBLADE SISTERS or COFFY or THE BIG DOLL HOUSE. I’ll go with THE BIG BIRD CAGE, though. It’s about a slave camp where women are forced to process sugar in a giant wooden contraption. Pam Grier and Sid Haig are mercenaries who essentially orchestrate a big break out. Lots of sex, nudity, violence and sweat. DJANGO This might be a bit of an odd pick. Maybe it’s right on the money, I’m not sure, but I know that I love it and it’s not a big studio flick. This 1966 Spaghetti Western from Sergio Corbucci kicked my ass. Franco Nero stars as a gunslinger that drags a coffin behind him everywhere he goes. He lets no one touch it. He’s that great Spaghetti Western type, the anti-hero who outwardly doesn’t give a good goddamn about anybody, but stands up for the abused and kicks the evil bastards’ asses. Robert Rodriguez said he stole the concept of weapons in a guitarcase for his Mariachi from this movie. CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD This is my favorite Lucio Fulci movie. He gets a lot of love for THE BEYOND, which I also really like, but CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD is all over the fucking place. It’s fucking crazy. You have a girl crying blood before the evil ghost of a priest who committed suicide forces her to puke up all her organs just by staring at her. Some of the most outrageous gore, crazy sound effects (there are literally jungle sounds in a cityscape) and creepy-ass living dead ever. DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY This is another one of my favorite movies. It’s the car-chase entry to the list. You got Susan George… hot hot hot Susan George… and Peter Fonda on a carefree, reckless run from the law, represented by Vic Morrow (who does have a creepy-in-hindsight scene in a helicopter). Fonda is at his charismatic best and Susan George… well, like I said above… she’s hot. The writing’s surprisingly strong and the ending is bliss. THE SIX-THOUSAND DOLLAR NIGGER Is this movie a trip… This is another Alamo Weird Wednesday film. I’ve seen it projected twice now. The producers, probably wisely, changed the title to the safer SUPER SOUL BROTHER for video, but this is how it was released. It’s a vehicle for Wildman Steve, a small comedy sensation, a sort of poor man’s Rudy Ray Moore, about a drunk hobo who is pulled off the streets by a midget doctor and his evil financers to test a serum that’ll turn a person into a sort of superman. The catch is that after 7 days the person dies. Wildman Steve is the bum and he is so amazingly on in this movie. This could be one of the best Weird Wednesdays ever run. It’s hilarious, incredibly dated, so poorly made… but there’s Wildman Steve and a midget doctor! It really is an undiscovered classic. It’s like if Ed Wood made a blaxploitation movie at the height of his talent and enthusiasm. There’s my list. Hope there weren’t too many repeats in there. I love all the above movies and if you have any inclination towards exploitation fare at all, do try to give all of them a watch, if you can find them. You might not like every single one as much as I do, but I guarantee each one offers up something different. -Quint quint@aintitcool.com
Below, you'll find Father Geek's wise and sagely ponderings...from a really cool perspective.
Fathergeek here... As the only writer at AICN to experience Grindhouse Cinema first hand in its beginnings... here is my 2-cents worth.... I started sneaking into San Antonio's Grindhouses in the early 1960's. The 1st time was at the PRINCE THEATER on West Houston Street to see a triple feature of Russ Meyer's IMMORAL MR. TEAS, Doris Wishman's NUDE ON THE MOON, and the 1930's Europian classic starring Hedi Llamar, ESTASY, which finally got its USA release in the 1960's. I saw the triple bill of THE BONNIE PARKER STORY, MACHINE GUN KELLY, and MARIHUANA at THE EMPIRE on St. Mary's in San Antonio. At the PRINCE I saw REEFER MADNESS, COCAINE FIENDS, and SINISTER HARVEST on a single bill. When I moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas in the summer of 1965 Sixth street was a run down strip of shops, a couple of lowlife bars, and three (3) Grindhouse Threaters, the best of which was THE RITZ. It was showing a triple bill of films by Jesus Franco the 1st time I went; THE AWFUL DOCTEUR ORLOF, SHADES OF ZORRO, and THE SECRET OF DR. ORLOFF. Another 6th Street venue was THE CAPRI and there I saw FASTER PUSSY CAT KILL KILL, MUD HONEY, and MOTOR PSYCHO. THE RITZ soon became my favorite place to catch triple features. It was there that I discovered Sam Fuller with WHITE DOG, NAKED KISS, and SHOCK CORRIDOR. THE RITZ served up JUSTINE, TWO WOMEN, and VENUS IN FURS for a date with the girl that would become Harry's mother. We also saw VIXEN, BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL and LORNA on the same bill at the old RITZ. Buuuuut sex wasn't all that was on the RITZ's bill ... they ran five features for us in a single evening... 2000 MANIACS, BUCKET OF BLOOD, BLOOD FEAST, I EAT YOUR SKIN, and something called 10,000 FEET OF BLOODY GUTS. THE RITZ also laid these 3 Euro-trash flicks on us one night... CASTLE OF UNHOLY DESIRES... KISS AND KILL... and ISLAND OF DESPAIR. Hardcore swept in to takeover the original Grindhouses on 6th street and spelled their doom. The last time I went to the CAPRI it was to see Ms. MAGNIFICANT... ALICE IN WONDERLAND and an epic of the olde west THE RAMROD. Half way thru the third feature we heard a commotion in the projection booth... someone had stormed in and stole the last 2 reels of THE RAMROD... A couple of months later the Austin Fire Department had closed all three 6th street houses down. You see liberal Austin couldn't close them for showing porno, soooooooooo they shut them down as fire hazards Other second run houses like THE STATE, and THE SOUTH AUSTIN then began to fill their shoes with fists full of Kungfu, Blaxploitation, and Guigno and I began to take 6 yearold Harry to them. The rest is history... Just a note... After the raids on the Ritz.... A group of 4 of us Grindhouse freaks... under the banner of freedom of speech (of course) showed at THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS' BATTS HALL ( a theater on campus run by the French Department) THE DEVIL IN MISS JONES... BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR... and DEEP THROAT to all cummers. AHHHHHHH, revenge is sweet. We also held an early John Waters fest there as well as a Jess Franco "girls in prison" orgy. FATHERGEEK signing out...
