American Grindhouse (2010)

A documentary about the history of exploitation movies, from the silent movie era to the 1970s.

Director:

Elijah Drenner

Writers:

Elijah Drenner, Calum Waddell

Stars:

Robert Forster, Eric Schaefer, Eddie Muller

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Forster	...	Himself - Narrator (voice)
Eric Schaefer	...	Himself - Film Historian
Eddie Muller	...	Himself - Film Historian
John Landis	...	Himself - Director, Animal House
Kim Morgan	...	Herself - Film Historian
Fred Olen Ray	...	Himself - Director, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers
Allison Anders	...	Herself - Director, Mi Vida Loca
Joe Dante	...	Himself - Director, Gremlins
Herschell Gordon Lewis	...	Himself - Director, Scum of the Earth
Jeremy Kasten	...	Himself - Director, Wizard of Gore
William Lustig	...	Himself - Director, Maniac Cop
Lewis Teague	...	Himself - Director, Cujo
David Hess	...	Himself - Actor, The Last House on the Left
Bob Minor	...	Himself - Actor, Foxy Brown
Jack Hill	...	Himself - Director, Coffy & Foxy Brown

Storyline

This documentary explores the hidden history of the American Exploitation Film. The movie digs deep into this often overlooked category of U.S. cinema and unearths the shameless and occasionally shocking origins of this popular entertainment.

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Plot Keywords:

men's magazine | exploitation film | monster movie | soft porn | nazi exploitation | 

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Taglines:

Giving Audiences What They Want Since the Dawn of Motion Pictures.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Американский грайндхаус

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$986, 4 February 2011, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,529, 6 February 2011

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lux Digital Pictures,End Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The makers of this documentary originally planned on doing a movie on Jack Hill, but when that didn't work out they decided to make this film instead.

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Connections

Features The Babysitter (1969)

User Reviews

Enjoyable, Fast, and Informative

American Grindhouse explores the exploitation genres from their inception with Thomas Edison all the way to now(though very briefly). Along the way we get candid, short interviews(more like blurbs) from the likes of John Landis, Joe Dante, Ted V. Mikels, and Herschell Gordon Lewis - just to mention a few. I found the approach, the interviews, and the clips to be very interesting though not much was given to any particular subject. Many faces that should have been on here are notably absent like Roger Corman and Quentin Tarrantino, but that in and of itself should not diminish this look at something that really only lately has received a bit more respect than it is generally accorded. I saw clips of films that I had no knowledge of and will now seek some of those titles out. This is a breezy look at the history of a side of film that gets ignored for having a reputation that the films are garbage. Some without a doubt are,but some are gems. I wish more time had been given to those films. Exploitation films when it is all said and done(can I lace any more clichés through this review?) have stood the test of time better than many, many "mainstream" films.