Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010)

A fast moving odyssey into the subterranean world of the rarely explored province of Filipino genre filmmaking.

Director:

Mark Hartley

Writers:

Mark Hartley, Andrew Leavold (adapted from a screenplay by)

Stars:

Roger Corman, John Landis, Pete Tombs

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Corman	...	Himself - Producer / Director 'The Little Shop of Horrors'
John Landis	...	Himself
Pete Tombs	...	Himself
Mark Holcomb	...	Himself
Joe Dante	...	Himself - New World Filmmaker 'Gremlins'
Joseph Zucchero	...	Himself
Joe Viola	...	Himself
R. Lee Ermey	...	Himself
Samuel M. Sherman	...	Himself
Brian Trenchard-Smith	...	Himself
Jane Schaffer	...	Herself
Sid Haig	...	Himself
Marlene Clark	...	Herself - Actress 'Night of the Cobra Woman'
Jack Hill	...	Himself
Jon Davison	...	Himself - Executive Producer 'Robocop'

Storyline

Karate-kicking midgets! Paper-mache monsters! Busty babes with blades! Filipino genre films of the '70s and '80s had it all. Boasting cheap labour, exotic scenery and non-existent health and safety regulations, the Philippines was a dreamland for exploitation filmmakers whose renegade productions were soon engulfing drive-in screens around the globe like a tidal schlock-wave! At last, the all-too-often overlooked world of drive-in filler from Manilla gets the Mark Hartley (NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD) treatment in Machete Maidens Unleashed! This is the ultimate insiders' account of a faraway backlot where stunt men came cheap, plot was obsolete and the make-up guy was packing heat! Machete Maidens Unleashed! features interviews with cult movie icons Roger Corman, Joe Dante, John Landis, Sid Haig, Eddie Romero and a large assembly of cast, crew and critics, each with a jaw-dropping story to tell about filmmaking with no budget, no scruples, no boundaries and - more often than not - no clothes....

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Plot Keywords:

ferdinand marcos | sci fi filmmaking | horror filmmaking | film history | filipino filmmaking | 

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Taglines:

The Filipino revolution that even Marcos couldn't crush!

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Dark Sky Films [United States] Official site

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hollywood se déchaine à Manille

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Australia, Fury Productions, Bionic Boy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film started out as a documentary on Weng Weng.

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Connections

Features Intramuros (1964)

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Soundtracks

Let's Go Where the Action Is
Written and Performed by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart

User Reviews

Actually a good documentary...

"Machete Maidens Unleashed" turned out to be a rather entertaining documentary about the golden days of exploitation cinema. And this is definitely a documentary that is worth your time and effort to watch if you have any interest in the history of cinema.

This documentary offers a great insight into the history and evolution of the exploitation genre, and also offers some great details on the main players both in front and behind the camera. And that wide array of aspects really spiced up the documentary and kept it interesting. And it was further spiced up with lots of footage and clips from the movies, as well as good interviews with numerous people from the genre.

I learned a great many things about the exploitation genre, and many of those things really put a new perspective on the genre for me.

I especially enjoyed the in-depth interviews with the various cast, directors and production crew, as they offered some interesting views and insights into the movies, the genre and how the movies were made and what conditions people worked under back in the day.

"Machete Maidens Unleashed" proved to be a nice documentary, and it is one that I can recommend if you have any interest in the exploitation genre.