American Grindhouse (2011)

Overrated and overhyped

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Exploitation cinema has been around since the creation of film itself, as this extremely snappy and concise, yet still comprehensive and illuminating documentary astutely points out. Among the subjects covered are the definition of exploitation, the origins of exploitation in the silent movie era, the Hays Code, Tod Browning's "Freaks," educational shock docs (yep, we get to see some disgustingly explicit birth of a baby footage), film noir, 50's juvenile delinquent pictures, nudist camp romps, AIP fare, Russ Meyer, roughies, gore flicks, biker outings, chicks-in-chains movies, the 70's blaxploitation explosion, Nazisploitation, the eruption of porn, and the ongoing legacy of grindhouse pictures in the early 21st century. The eclectic array of interviewees are quite lively and enjoyable, with especially stand-out contributions from film critic and historian Kim Morgan, a highly funny and dynamic John Landis, the ever-charismatic Fred Williamson, a seriously whacked-out David Hess, "Ilsa" director Don Edmonds (who flat out admits he made this notorious cult classic because he was starving and desperately needed the money), screenwriter James Gordon White, director William Lustig, exploitation legends Jack Hill, Larry Cohen, Herschell Gordon Lewis, and Ted V. Mikels, and actress Judy Brown. Zipping along at a constantly brisk pace, perfectly narrated by Robert Forster, and containing a wealth of choice trashy and graphic clips from countless gloriously down'n'dirty nickel'n'dime features, this baby is absolutely essential viewing for exploitation cinema buffs.

About as interesting as a loosely-related series of sparse conversations with cult-favorite directors is likely to get. The goal seems to have been the assembly of a "straight from the horse's mouth" oral history of exploitation at large in cinema, but none of the subjects could really nail down the outer limits of what the term meant. So, instead, it became a crash-course history of underground film, decorated at all corners with vaguely familiar old men reminiscing about their glory days. The narrative jumps all over the place, sometimes floating from the '20s to the '90s over the course of a single sentence - that's OK, though, because the sheer breadth of knowledge and a shared recollection of the crazy promotional stunts each film undertook to get noticed makes the journey worthwhile. It's also one hell of a Netflix recommendation engine.

I love grindhouse films, especially the gore of Herschell Gordon Lewis, horror like The Last House on the Left, and exploitation films, whether they be blaxploitation, women in prison films, and even nunsploitation.I guess that makes me weird, but grindhouse films in various forms have existed from the birth of motion pictures. Films like Maniac, Reefer Madness, and more have titillated moviegoers for almost 100 years.This documentary does an excellent job of reviewing exploitation from the beginning, complete with uncensored clips from the movies they talk about.If grindhouse is something you are not familiar with, then this documentary will enlighten you. It is for all those who want to know more.

I suppose if you know absolutely zero about exploitation/genre films, this might be a somewhat decent primer...for middle school film class. Sort of a "Genre Film for Dummies" type film, lots of talking heads and deadly dull interviews, etc. Very disappointing film filled with regurgitated information easily found in a million books, magazines, Google searches, etc. A waste of time. Just buy "The Psychotronic Encylopedia of Film," "Nightmare USA," "Grindhouse: The Forbidden World of "Adults Only" Cinema," and "Sleazoid Express: A Mind-Twisting Tour Through the Grindhouse Cinema of Times Square" instead if you're really interested in exploitation film and you'll be good to go. This doc was amateur hour all the way. Blah.