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70's Exploitation Films, Any recommendations? (1 Viewer)

Ruz-El

Fake Shemp
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Being a child of the 80's, I mostly missed out on the grind house classics of the 70's. The lack of any interesting hard R-rated material in our current political climate has made me thirst for some of the trashy classics I remember from the video store racks, but never bothered to rent. After watching "Switch Blade Sisters" I figured it was time to jump feet first into the genre, and I have ordered the following DVD's:

"Willie Dynamite" : First pimp movie I ever rented, loved it.

"The Mack" : Second Pimp movie I rented, loved it too.

"Black Gestapo" : Rented this with "Sweet Sweetback's Bad Ass song" and thought that it completely blew it away! The dvd is public domain with 3 other films, but for the cheap price, and the fact I can't find a more official version of Gestapo, it well have to do.

"Angel Collection" :3 of the 4 Angel movies in one set. this is more 80's, but still the same genre.

That's it for the films I've seen, the dvd's I'm ordering blind are:

"The Illsa Collection" : I always wanted to see "Illsa Queen of the SS" but never got to it. Now it's impossible to find, so following the review on this forum, I decided to go ahead and order it.

"The Cheerleaders Collection" : Features "The Cheerleaders", "Return Of The Cheerleaders" and "The Swinging Cheerleaders". I like the trailer of Swinging on the "Switchblade Sisters" DVD, and the set set seemed like a decent deal.

"The Big Dollhouse" : Again, based on the trailers, I was torn between this and "The Big birdcage", this one well ship sooner that cage would, so I ordered it.

"Cannibal Man/Mountain Of The Cannibal God" : Cheap enough, and I've heard Mountain is pretty good.

I plan on getting both "Coffy" (never seen) and "Foxy Brown" (seen and liked) when I can again find them for $6. ($9 is hi after seeing them for $6, how friggen cheap am I.)

Can anyone suggest some other films that fit into grind house, irrelevant of whether it's Sexplotaion, Blaxploitation, Women In Prison, what ever. I'm thinking maybe some Kung Fu stuff? Anyone have any favorite titles to suggest? Am I making any serious mistakes on my Blind Buys?

Looking forward to hearing from fellow trashy film fans!
 

Andy Sheets

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Death Race 2000. The exploitation answer to Rollerball. David Carradine vs. a young Stallone in a cross-country race and racking up points by running over pedestrians. I think they announced recently that it's being remade with less emphasis on the vehicular assault :laugh:

For samurai action, I think the Hanzo the Razor series is due to be released soon, if it hasn't been already...
 

JonZ

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Havent seen some of these but off the top of my head...

Female Vampire
Vampyres
Emmanuelle series
Caligula
Any Russ Meyer films

Women in Prison
Chained Heat (Sybil Danning & Linda Blair)
Red Heat (Also Linda Blair)
Ilsa Trilogy


http://www.xploitedcinema.com
 

Peter Apruzzese

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DETROIT 9000 - great cop vs. corruption movie with Alex Rocco in the leading role.

ACROSS 110th STREET - excellent cops vs. mob tale with Anthony Quinn & Yaphet Kotto

BLACK CAESAR - solid New York-based crime story, an unofficial remake of the classic "Little Caesar".
 

Paul_Scott

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this is the one i was going to recommend.
i tried ebaying my copy last year, but i didn't get any bidders so i gave it to a friend to put out in his video store a couple weeks ago.
its actually a very tight movie-very intelligent and refreshingly un-PC.

Thriller (aka They Call her One Eye) is supposed to be the big inspiration for Tarantinos Kill Bill films.
the disc that came out last year was supposed to be well produced- get it before its gone as it is supposed to have a very limited pressing.

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry- a heist/car chase movie. a little more drive-in than grindhouse.
not as exploitive as the other films you've referenced, but its a classic 'nihlistic party' film.
it was only on video for a short time in the early 80s and never reissued so its pretty much unknown to an entire generation (or two).
its due end of June from Anchor Bay and is highly recommended!

Hitch-Hike avail from Anchor Bay in a good disc, about a pyscho who holds a couple hostage in the desert.
features Franco Nero, David Hess and the luscious Corrine Clery. a leering, semi-nasty film.

Hardcore is a rare A film from a major studio with A actors (an excellant performance from George C Scott), its generally a good movie (tho probably dated for a lot of people) but the whole last act collapses into absurd B movie expolitation nonsense.
i would still recommend it though.

you also might want to check out Salon Kitty (nazi whore house)

i love good cheap exploitation movies, but those are few and far between. there is a lot of stuff out there that is just boring and incompetant.
 

Ruz-El

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Nice suggestions!

I got "Detroit 9000", as well as "Thriller", both are very good! "Detroit 9000" is what promted me to grab "Switch Blade Sisters" which is also on the "Rolling Thunder" Label. I'm thinking of getting "Mighty Peeking Man", as it seems to be about the only other "grind house" flick under the banner.

I haven't heard of "Across 110th Street" before. I do like Yaphet Kotto, I might have to check it out.

When I was ordering "Big Doll House", Amazon suggested a movie called "Women In Chains" by Jack Hill. On IMDB, I could find no reference to it on JAck Hills page. Is this just another title for a Jack Hill WIP movie, or something else. A amazon user said it had PAm Greir as a guard abusing prisoners, sounded cool.

Caligula, now that is a strange picture!

Salon Kitty, sounds similar to the Ilsa films I have on order, I guess if I like Ilsa, I'll like it too?

Hanzo I think came out last month, I was tempted to pre-order it, based on loving the Lone Wolf and Cub movies. Is the action as intense in Hanzo? I was under the impression it was more Soft core, as opposed to chop socky.

I'm probably using the term "Grindhouse" loosley, lumping in drive-in fair with the truly nasty. I like 'em all though, and seeing as so much of it is terrible, I guess I'm looking for those trancending titles, no matter how sleezy.

Well, I'm off to watch "Eaten Alive", which just arived on my door. A film about a bayou hotel owner who feeds an alligator with the guest, can't wait!:)
 

Linda Thompson

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If you enjoy this one, be sure to check out "Tourist Trap", with Chuck Connors. For some reason, I always lump these two movies together in my mind.

I'll second the nom for "Death Race 2000"...a totally un-PC satire from Paul Bartel, and featuring Mary Woronov as well.

I also second the nom for anything from Russ Meyer. "Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!" is my personal favorite, followed by "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls" (hilarious, if you watch it in the right frame of mind :) )

The Pam Grier choices you've picked are good for the genre. (She's also in "Beyond...Dolls".)

Shaft and Superfly, of course...

Tod Browning's "Freaks"...would probably be considered quite un-PC these days, since the vast majority of the cast was comprised of genuine "human oddity" sideshow performers.

"Luncatics - A Love Story"...makes mental instability seem like fun. (From Sam Raimi, and starring brother Ted. Maybe not real exploitation, but strange and fun nonetheless. Plus, I adore Ted Raimi's "ultimate nerd" persona.)

John Waters...'nuff said. Weird, wild, and trashy, love-it-or-hate-it stuff. Exploits...just about everything, I guess... LOL!
 

Ruz-El

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Well, Eaten Alive was pretty good. It wqas not what I suspected. I have no idea how this was made, and there are no extras on the DVD, but it looked like it was shot on sets, as opposed to locations, which gave it kind of a cheap surreal quality, as opposed to Texas Chainsaw, which had a gritty "snuff" quality to it.

Linda, great choices! I love Freaks, I'm a fan of pretty much all classic horror. I also have seen a few Russ Meyers, with FPKK being my favorite (Vixen was ok, Beyond the Valley Of The Ultra-vixens was more "porny" than I expected, but fun none the less.) That's all the Myers that I've actually seen.

John Waters is awesome, and hasn't made a bad film, IMHO, although I aven't seen his latest yet. I got most of his stuff that is available.

Shaft never did much for me, I guess I like my Blaxploitation about pimps and revolutionaries, as opposed to "dicks".

Never did see Superfly, which is silly of me, seeing as I like both Willie Dynamite, as well as The Mack. I guess I'll have to check it out.
 

Anthony*B

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the Hanzo films are superb (this coming from a diehard LW&C fan) & from watching the 1st one the new box set qaulity is smashing!
also, don't assume that because you enjoyed Ilsa that you"ll enjoy Salon Kitty...SK is a lot more brooding/melancholy..I found it more "arty" than "exploitation" if you can believe that :)
Cannibal Holocaust needs to be on your list, no doubt...
for a FANTASTIC book about the 70"s & exploitation i HIGHLY recommend picking up Sleazoid Express (the book) - it sounds like EXACTLY what you are looking for & is chock full of reviews/recommendations/hilarious stories about that most golden of film eras :)
 

Ruz-El

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Anthony,

Looks like I'll have to pick up Hanzo! I loved LW&C, despite the last film not actually wrapping up the story, I guess that's what happens when you dig the manga so much, I was just anticipating seeing the final 2 books done in the movie that to not see it was a bit of a dissapointment. I heard there was a LW&C tv series, does anyone know if it actually followed the manga and finished the story?

A friend of mine gave me a copy of Cannibal Hollocaust, I well probably watch it tomorrow, I'll post my feelings after viewing. Thanks for the recommeded reading, I'll have to hunt it down.:emoji_thumbsup:

Thanks for all the responses, I'm totally digging the recommendations I'm getting. :emoji_thumbsup: :emoji_thumbsup:

Having loved Fulci's Zombie 2, I have pre-ordered "The Zombi Collection", that features Zombie 3-5. It was dirt cheap ($15 cdn )so I figured I couldn't go wrong. Anyone have any thoughts on the series?
 

Anthony*B

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the great thing about the Hanzo box is that it's pretty darn cheap too (under 40$ US)
the LW&C manga is, to me, one of the pinnacles of the art of comic book storytelling...the films, brilliant as they are, could never hope to fit all the nuance & complex storytelling into a 90 minute film, but they do it about as well as anyone could have hoped...
i think i have only seen 1 of the films in the "zombie box", Andrea Bianchi's "Nights of Terror" (at least i think it's in that box, retiled of course)...depending on you outlook on movies, you will either love it (it is absolutely a mad, deranged film) or will think it's one of the worst pieces of poo you've ever had the misfortune of watching :)
i also have to 2nd the above recommendations for Faster Pussycat Kill Kill & Beyond the Valley of the Dolls...2 quintessential exploitation films, tho a little before the 70's...
hehe...i just ordered LENZI'S Eaten Alive, not the one you watched (this one's an Italo cannibal flick) as I heard that Media Blaster's dvd looks much nicer than the old EC dvd i already have
 

Ruz-El

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Glen, I don't know if it's because "black Gestapo" was so gonzo, but "Sweet Sweetback's" just didn't do it for me. I can appreciate the impact it had, but as a movie, it's basically a brother runnnin' from the man for 90 minutes. I meen, Black Gestapo had a brother, I think, shooting the balls off the man, and was much more entertaining to me.:)

Speaking of getting your nuts torn off :b , anyone know how good the PD versions of "The Street Fighter" with Sonny Chiba look? I saw a 10 film set from Brentwood for about $30 that had all 4 Streetfighter movies in it. I have New Lines boxset on VHS, but only the first film is widescreen.:b I've never seen an "official" Reg 1 set.

Dolemite: Always wanted to see these, never could get them locally at the video stores, and heard that the R1 versions are cut. Where do I get good versions at a cheap price?

Anthony, I agree with you, as I'm sure many of you do, that LW&C is one of the hights of graphic art! Who would of thought the 200+ pages of wordless confrontation in the final showdown could be so gripping?:emoji_thumbsup: The films where great, I was jsut hoping for some kind of resolution, because at the end of film 5, I want more!
 

Brook K

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Dolemite is a must.

I'm a huge fan of The Big Doll House and Jack Hill. Sid Haig is hilarious in that one. The Big Bird Cage is definitely worth getting as well. Coffy is just a flat out excellent movie, I would really even classify it as exploitation.

Ditto Superfly. Coffy and Superfly are way beyond the quality of most of the movies being talked about here. Make a point to listen to the Superfly commentary track by Todd Boyd.

36 Chambers of the Shaolin is a very good 70's kung-fu flick. A Touch of Zen is too, but at nearly 3 hours, you really need to be in the right mood.

City Of the Walking Dead is a pretty funny, really bad Italian zombie movie. The makeups are the worst I've seen. It looks like all the zombies are wearing Mushmouth hats!

In a slightly different vein, you could check out some Morrissey/Andy Warhol movies - Flesh, Heat, Trash, Blood For Dracula, Flesh For Frankenstein
 

Jim_K

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It hasn't been mentioned but I'd heartily recommend Lady Snowblood to any fan of the Babycart films &/or Kill Bill. The first Lady Snowblood film is a genuine grindhouse classic.
 

glen_esq

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Hi Russell - Sweet Sweetback is the grandaddy of all the Blaxpoitation films, historically important for film buffs for that reason I think. But I didn't enjoy it much either - it's production values are bargain basement. An underground low low budget effort that has a cheesy awfulness that can't quite pass for charm.

I watched it before seeing 2003's Baadasssss! (good film), which helped me get more out of this 2003 film.
 

Ruz-El

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Lady Snowblood is pretty good, not as good as LW&C though in my opinion. I never got the second film, though, as I heard it's crap.

Brook, is City Of The Walking Dead the Same As "City Of The Living Dead"? It wa an Italian horror, with the big gore scene being a woman basically puking her entire organs out. Brutal film, bored the hell out of me.

I just finished "Cannibal Holocaust". Wow, what a picture. I'm really torn on this one, as it was a decent movie, despite the crap acting. It was nice to see a film that actually deserves it's reputation. The copy I got from a friend is from dubiouse means, and clocked in a about 91 minutes. Is this in fact the fully uncut run time?

I watched "Magnum Force" last night, the second "Dirty Harry" movie. I hadn't seen it for a long time, and it struck me how similar in style and content it was to some of these titles. The plot and execution was no different than the gonzo exploitation style of "Switchblade Sisters". I just finished BRuce Lee's "Enter The Dragon" and you can see how the exploitation guys would take this as a template to sleaze up: Kung Fu guy has to bust up a dope and prostitution ring. Great stuff!

Glen, I'm glad you brought up "BaadAssss!" . I'll have to search it down, as I always meant to check it out, thanks for the reminder!
 

Jesse Blough

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The new "Zombie Box" coming from Media Blasters contains Zombi 3, Zombie 4: After Death, and Zombie 5: Killing Birds. They're supposed to be pretty bad, but I'm going to order it anyway since it's so cheap. Also to help complete my zombie collection.

Zombi 3 was half directed by Lucio Fulci (but completed by somebody else) and apparently it's in the "It's so bad it's good" genre. It also contains over the top gore, which is a plus.

The same thing with Zombie 4. It's really bad but apparently it contains a large amount of gore, and is a generally fun movie.

Zombie 5 actually doesn't contain any zombies from what I heard (only killer birds), and it's the worst of the three. Also the DVD has a misframed transfer, however, the film itself is supposed to be so bad that one would only want to watch it once anyway. So take that into consideration.
 

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