You have to cleanse your mind sometimes when you see some films. You get trapped in a seat for ninety-plus minutes as the cobwebs form in your brain at home as you watch. Your mind screams for the end credits to roll and when they do it’s with a perverse fascination with more attention than you gave the film to who made what you just saw. This was exactly the case the evening I partook of Director/Writer George Demick’s Taku-he: The Legend Of Bigfoot (2017).
This is ninety, count them ninety minutes of excruciating idiocy that can only be supplemented if one enjoys other things with a companion of choice or stops the film and walks around to the bar. Firstly, it concerns the ever-popular film about making film in this case a zombie picture. Trying desperately to evolve a Night Of The Living Dead (1968) aesthetic with a...
This is ninety, count them ninety minutes of excruciating idiocy that can only be supplemented if one enjoys other things with a companion of choice or stops the film and walks around to the bar. Firstly, it concerns the ever-popular film about making film in this case a zombie picture. Trying desperately to evolve a Night Of The Living Dead (1968) aesthetic with a...
- 8/15/2023
- by Terry Sherwood
- Horror Asylum
“Another ‘Forbidden Fruit’ Exploitation Relic”
By Raymond Benson
Here’s another one, folks! Another entry in the “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture” series, this time it’s Volume 8. Presented by Kino Lorber in association with Something Weird Video, we have for your pleasure the controversial “hoax” documentary, Ingagi (1930), a shocking example of racism and circus sideshow-style cinematic exhibition.
There have always existed what have been termed in the motion picture industry “exploitation films,” even back in the silent days. The 1930s and much of the 1940s, however, saw a deluge of cheap, not-even-“B” pictures made, usually independently of Hollywood and marketed in guerilla fashion as “educational” adult fare. You know the type. Reefer Madness. Child Bride. Mom and Dad (all previous titles released in the Forbidden Fruit series).
Kino Lorber and Something Weird have been doing a bang-up job on releasing some of the best...
By Raymond Benson
Here’s another one, folks! Another entry in the “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture” series, this time it’s Volume 8. Presented by Kino Lorber in association with Something Weird Video, we have for your pleasure the controversial “hoax” documentary, Ingagi (1930), a shocking example of racism and circus sideshow-style cinematic exhibition.
There have always existed what have been termed in the motion picture industry “exploitation films,” even back in the silent days. The 1930s and much of the 1940s, however, saw a deluge of cheap, not-even-“B” pictures made, usually independently of Hollywood and marketed in guerilla fashion as “educational” adult fare. You know the type. Reefer Madness. Child Bride. Mom and Dad (all previous titles released in the Forbidden Fruit series).
Kino Lorber and Something Weird have been doing a bang-up job on releasing some of the best...
- 2/4/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Aside from the obvious appeal of this smörgásbord of dirty movie delights, cult director Frank Henenlotter hosts a good history of soft-core film smut, in all its forms. Includes excellent clips and input from one of the 'greats' in this field, David F. Friedman. Remember, it's for educational purposes only. That's Sexploitation! Blu-ray Severin Films 2013 / Color / 1:37 full frame / 136 min. / Street Date April 26, 2016 / 24.95 Starring Albert Cadabra, Gal Friday, David F. Friedman, Frank Henenlotter. Cinematography Daniel Griffith, Brent Kerr, Anthony Sneed Produced by Jimmy Maslon, Mike Vraney Written and Directed and Edited by Frank Henenlotter
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Remember the beginning of the Paddy Chayefsky-Sidney Lumet film The Bachelor Party, where a group of men in a darkened room are watching a film, and we don't know what it is? That's Sexploitation! is a comprehensive documentary about a sleazy, yet strangely innocent, slice of prurient Americana. From VHS through the DVD days,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Remember the beginning of the Paddy Chayefsky-Sidney Lumet film The Bachelor Party, where a group of men in a darkened room are watching a film, and we don't know what it is? That's Sexploitation! is a comprehensive documentary about a sleazy, yet strangely innocent, slice of prurient Americana. From VHS through the DVD days,...
- 5/14/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
New World Pictures
“Exploitation pictures are as old as film itself,” claims producer David F Friedman. “The essence of exploitation was any subject that was forbidden: miscegenation, abortion, unwed motherhood, venereal disease….all those subjects were fair game to the exploiter – as long as it was in bad taste.”
Perfected in the 1930s by huckster independents who sought an edge over “prestigious” studio pictures, exploitation filmmaking didn’t require professional actors or any technical knowledge, just business sense and a steady supply of gimmicks.
Such was the philosophy of Dwain Esper, one of the original “roadshowmen”, who spent much of the decade roaming America with beat-up prints of his latest cinematic travesty, peddling his wares in town after town with the aid of salacious promotional material. Proving the adage that nobody ever lost money underestimating the good taste of the American public, Esper became the king of turning a profit...
“Exploitation pictures are as old as film itself,” claims producer David F Friedman. “The essence of exploitation was any subject that was forbidden: miscegenation, abortion, unwed motherhood, venereal disease….all those subjects were fair game to the exploiter – as long as it was in bad taste.”
Perfected in the 1930s by huckster independents who sought an edge over “prestigious” studio pictures, exploitation filmmaking didn’t require professional actors or any technical knowledge, just business sense and a steady supply of gimmicks.
Such was the philosophy of Dwain Esper, one of the original “roadshowmen”, who spent much of the decade roaming America with beat-up prints of his latest cinematic travesty, peddling his wares in town after town with the aid of salacious promotional material. Proving the adage that nobody ever lost money underestimating the good taste of the American public, Esper became the king of turning a profit...
- 9/22/2015
- by Ian Watson
- Obsessed with Film
While his name may not jump out at you at first, I can promise you that Mike Vraney was an important part of just about every horror fan's life, and unfortunately he's been taken from us far too soon. Vraney, the founder of Something Weird Video, has passed on at the age of just 56.
From the Something Weird Video Facebook Page
In Memorium Mike Vraney Founder of Something Weird December 29, 1957 to January 2, 2014
We regret to tell you that Something Weird’s founder, Mike Vraney, passed away on January 2, 2014 after a long heroic battle with lung cancer. He was 56 years old, way too young to leave this planet. There was still so much Mike wanted to do in his life, so many films to be found, and adventures to be embarked upon.
This sad news may come as a shock to most of you. Mike was a very private person and didn’t want anyone,...
From the Something Weird Video Facebook Page
In Memorium Mike Vraney Founder of Something Weird December 29, 1957 to January 2, 2014
We regret to tell you that Something Weird’s founder, Mike Vraney, passed away on January 2, 2014 after a long heroic battle with lung cancer. He was 56 years old, way too young to leave this planet. There was still so much Mike wanted to do in his life, so many films to be found, and adventures to be embarked upon.
This sad news may come as a shock to most of you. Mike was a very private person and didn’t want anyone,...
- 1/6/2014
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Produced by MGM in 1932, Freaks (dir. Tod Browning) was withdrawn upon its initial theatrical release and is one of the few films from the era that remains truly shocking to contemporary audiences. The film features real circus “freaks” and their apparent monstrosity was one of the driving forces of the numerous controversies that plagued the film. Their representation remains a point of contention for the contemporary viewer, and whether or not the film does more harm than good in regards to its subject remains an open question for the socially conscious. The film encounters many of the same legal and ethical issues that freak shows have, offering a cinematic equal to the roadside attractions and circus shows.
Tod Browning’s career had been no stranger to the physically disabled and many of his silent films, including The Unknown (1927) and The Unholy Three (1925) featured prominent characters with physical disabilities. Before coming to Hollywood,...
Tod Browning’s career had been no stranger to the physically disabled and many of his silent films, including The Unknown (1927) and The Unholy Three (1925) featured prominent characters with physical disabilities. Before coming to Hollywood,...
- 6/9/2013
- by Justine
- SoundOnSight
Cinematic sleaze has been with us as long as … Well, as long as cinema has been invented. What else are you going to do with a camera except convince some woman to take her clothes off in front of it? The history, trajectory and influence upon mainstream media of the exploitation film circuit is lovingly chronicled in Elijah Drenner‘s fun romp American Grindhouse. However, like the salacious marketing gimmicks and hucksterism that drew in audiences to tawdry theaters that this documentary gleefully covers, could equally apply to the way Drenner has structured his film. (Note: Film is 100% Nsfw.)
American Grindhouse starts off with a bang with aficionados of cinema’s dark underbelly, like directors John Landis, Joe Dante and William Lustig, exuberantly describing the seedy neighborhoods of Hollywood Boulevard and Times Square of the ’70s where one could go see gore, mayhem and nudity for cheap on the big screen.
American Grindhouse starts off with a bang with aficionados of cinema’s dark underbelly, like directors John Landis, Joe Dante and William Lustig, exuberantly describing the seedy neighborhoods of Hollywood Boulevard and Times Square of the ’70s where one could go see gore, mayhem and nudity for cheap on the big screen.
- 2/13/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Mike Nelson, Kevin (Tom Servo) Murphy and Bill (Crow T. Robot) Corbett from the cult television hit Mystery Science Theater 3000 are returning to theaters across the Us this August with their web 2.0 project, RiffTrax.com, to bring their signature brand of rapid-fire comedy to the especially deserving marijuana exploitation film, Reefer Madness!
From the official press release:
Ncm Fathom, Something Awful and RiffTrax Team Up Again to Present “RiffTrax Live: Reefer Madness” in More than 470 Movie Theaters Nationwide
Centennial, Colo. – July 19, 2010 – Fans of the legendary hit show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and internet sensation RiffTrax.com are in for a hilarious night of live comedy on Thursday, August 19 when Ncm Fathom, Something Awful and RiffTrax team up again to present RiffTrax Live: Reefer Madness at 8:00 p.m. Eastern / 7:00 p.m. Central / 6:00 p.m. Mountain / 8:00 p.m. Pacific (tape delayed) with an encore on Tuesday,...
From the official press release:
Ncm Fathom, Something Awful and RiffTrax Team Up Again to Present “RiffTrax Live: Reefer Madness” in More than 470 Movie Theaters Nationwide
Centennial, Colo. – July 19, 2010 – Fans of the legendary hit show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and internet sensation RiffTrax.com are in for a hilarious night of live comedy on Thursday, August 19 when Ncm Fathom, Something Awful and RiffTrax team up again to present RiffTrax Live: Reefer Madness at 8:00 p.m. Eastern / 7:00 p.m. Central / 6:00 p.m. Mountain / 8:00 p.m. Pacific (tape delayed) with an encore on Tuesday,...
- 8/1/2010
- by Phil
- Nerdly
One of the perceptions about Academic Conferences is that they are dry dusty affairs with about as much excitement as ball of coughed up cat hair. However within the last decade, the perception is frankly untrue. More and more professors and academics are looking toward popular culture to study and talk about and horror is no exception. In fact, horror may be one of the biggest areas of study within the academy these days. Films, game, and sequential art studies are “popping” all over campuses. (I know guy here at Texas Tech University who is doing his dissertation on narrative structure within the Friday The 13th movie series. So for all you Fangoria readers, there do seem to be niches within the academy that is growing and growing.
Just a few weeks back, The Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association met for its 30th meeting in Albuquerque New Mexico.
Just a few weeks back, The Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Association met for its 30th meeting in Albuquerque New Mexico.
- 4/29/2009
- Fangoria
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