Grindhouse Aficionado: Issue 6 (Feb. 08) by Kevin Klemm

Grindhouse Aficionado

Bringing you the best of Grindhouse cinema (without the sticky floors).

This month’s triple feature: Coffy, Black Devil Doll From Hell, and The Intruder.

Being that February is Black History Month, we here at the Grindhouse thought it would be appropriate if we took a look at some of our favorite “Blaxploitation” titles. I admit it, I love Blaxploitation films! Whether it’s the campy horror of “Dr Black and Mr. Hyde” or the groovy Pimp styling of “The Mack”, Blaxploitation films bring out my inner Soul Brother. This month we feature the sexy Pam Grier, a horny ventriloquist dummy, and a racist William Shatner. And even though Blaxploitation cinema lasted only a short 10 years (thanks to The Coalition Against Blaxploitation), we can still sit back in the comfort of our own homes, pop in a dvd, and enjoy huge afros, pimps, and street hustlers, gritty urban violence, and corrupt white policemen.

So grab some popcorn and a couple 40’s of Old English, the first feature is about to begin.

Reel 1:

COFFY (1973) Hands down, this is my favorite Pam Grier movie. This is also the one that put her on the map. Prior to this, she made a series of Woman in Prison films for Roger Corman, which coincidently also stared Sid Haig, with whom she shares the screen again in Coffy. In Coffy, Pam plays a nurse who finds out that her little sister is hooked on drugs, courtesy of the local pusher. That’s it! Time to deal out a little vigilante justice! So Coffy becomes Angel of Mercy during the day and the Angel of Death in the evening!

Coffy starts out with the pusher, and then systematically starts working her way up the food chain, killing as she goes along. Featuring some great cat fights, including one in which a woman grabs Coffy by the hair, only to get her hands sliced up. You see, Coffy thought ahead and placed razor blades up in her afro! How cool is that shit! So if you like your women Hot, and your revenge Cold, then Coffy is for you. An interesting side note, Coffy was remade in 1981 (with an all white cast) as “Lovely But Deadly”.

Reel 2:

BLACK DEVIL DOLL FROM HELL (1984) A piece of shit, shot on home video, by soon to be forgotten 80’s Blaxploitation auteur Chester Novell Turner. This movie is really bad, Really! But it is also really fuckin funny! In it, a homely church going virgin is captivated by a Rastafarian ventriloquist dummy and purchases it even though the clerk says there’s some sort of curse associated with owning the damn thing. She then takes it home and proceeds to set it on the toilet so it can watch her while she takes a shower. One look at her saggy, soapy breasts and our little black Pinocchio starts sprouting some wood. Before you can say “Charlie McCarthy”, our ol Devil Doll is blowing bad breath in the young ladies direction and spouting such sweet nothings as “I’m going to pop your cherry, bitch!”

We are then subjected to around six minutes of puppet fucking that will leave you on the floor, laughing your ass off. This film probably would have disappeared into the mists of time, if it wasn’t so funny. It seems to have made a big impression on other people as well. Brothers Shawn and Jonathan Lewis (of Rotten Cotton T-Shirts Fame), have put together not a re-make, but more of a homage, or re-telling of the Black Devil Doll saga. No saggy ass boobs in this version. The new Black Devil Doll features more huge breasts than a Russ Meyer film. God bless the Lewis brothers!! They have also created the coolest Blaxploitation movie poster since the 1970’s. Watch out world! The Black Devil Doll is coming! “He’s a lover, He’s a killer, He’s a Muthafuckin Puppet”. Visit their website and MySpace page for more info. http://www.blackdevildoll.com/index.html http://www.myspace.com/blackdevildolldvd

Reel 3:

THE INTRUDER (1962) I think most people will be shocked by this film. First they’ll be shocked that this film was directed by Roger Corman, Second, they’ll be shocked at how good of an actor William Shatner is in this film, and third, they’ll be shocked at hearing our future Capt. Kirk using the “N” word over and over again. Shot in 1962, The Intruder was probably Roger Corman’s most personal film. Shot at the beginning of racial integration in the South, The Intruder follows William Shatner’s “Adam Cramer” as he arrives in a small town in the south, on the eve of court ordered integration of the schools. He wastes no time whipping the townsfolk into an anti-black frenzy and then proceeds to watch helplessly as it grows larger than even he can handle. This is an interesting picture.

At its heart it’s an exploitation film, but its soul is something bigger, monumental even. Roger Corman crafted an amazing film at a very historic crossroads in our nation’s history. This film will stay with you long after you’ve finished watching it. William Shatner literally burns with charisma in this movie. It has to be the best acting of this career. I don’t understand what happened to his acting chops after this film. He really was extraordinary in this film. This film had the reputation of being the only film Roger Corman made, that didn’t turn a profit. I’m so glad this film has been rescued from obscurity and is now available as a dvd special edition. Highly recommended!

If you are interested in purchasing any of these films, Coffy and The Intruder can be found at any of your favorite dvd retailers. Black Devil Doll From Hell has yet to see a legitimate dvd release, but can be purchased at Shocking Videos (http://www.revengeismydestiny.com/index.htm)

That’s it for this month. Thanks for visiting the Grindhouse. Next month we have midgets and incredible 73 inch breasts, as we take a look at Secret Agents- Grindhouse style! See you then. -Kevin Klemm

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Grindhouse Aficionado: Issue #5: SUMMER EDITION. (July.07) by Kevin Klemm

Grindhouse Aficionado Bringing you the best of Grindhouse cinema (without the sticky floors). This month, a summer movie guide- Grindhouse style! I know, I know. I’ve been a slacker lately about getting out the Grindhouse Aficionado columns. Between Girls and Corpses Magazine (we are now an honest to God print mag), and various other projects I’m working on, Grindhouse Aficionado had been pushed to the back burner. But no more! I am back from hiatus, and it’s time to give you some DVD suggestions to help you get through the dog days of summer. West Coast, East Coast, and every where in between, it’s been a fucking hot summer already! Here in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, it’s been over 100 degrees for 10 straight days. Normally we don’t see that kind of temps until August. Whether it’s global warming or what, I’m not stepping outside for nothing. I am going to be like a vampire and only go out at night when the sun goes down, and the Earth cools off some. I have Netflix, Deep Discount DVD, and Amazon to keep me supplied with movies. I can order liquor online from BevMo, and can get any kind of food I can think of, delivered right to my door. As long as my air conditioning and credit cards hold out, I’m set for the summer. Like most people, I am not all about Grindhouse cinema, or all about horror etc... I love all kinds of films and that is going to be the slight deviation from my regular column. What I’ve done is compile a list of Grindhouse, horror, Film Noir, Hell, I even threw an Elvis movie into the mix for your enjoyment. The summer is a great time to revisit old favorites and discover some new ones. I’ve gone through my movie collection and divided the films up into double features. I hope you enjoy my picks. So grab some popcorn and a Gin and Tonic, the first feature is about to begin.

Double Feature #1:
	The Hidden, 1987. This film kicks major ass! A cross between Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Terminator, The Hidden is chock full of Gun Fights, Car Chases and a great rock soundtrack. Nemesis, 1993. I love this movie. This one is definitely a guilty pleasure. Nemesis plays like a low budget Blade Runner, and stars French Kickboxer Olivier Gruner, a mono syllabic actor who makes Arnold Schwarzenegger seem like fucking Laurence Oliver, and genre favorite Tim Thomerson. This film has it all, non-stop action, full frontal female nudity, and if you are into it, Thomas Jane’s wang.

Double Feature #2:
	Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, 1965. This is the Citizen Kane of exploitation films. Three strippers spend a weekend racing cars, kicking ass and showing major cleavage, all the while leaving a trail of dead men in their wake. Tura Satana shines as the greatest Bad Girl ever put on celluloid. The Big Bird Cage, 1972. Another classic women in prison movie directed by the John Ford of Exploitation cinema, Jack Hill. Staring Pam Grier, an actress with great acting ability and even greater hooters, and former Price is Right beauty Anitra Ford. Also starring in this film is that other staple of Roger Corman’s WIP movies, Sid Haig. This film has it all, boobs, guns and explosions. What more could a man want? FYI- Seven years later another film shot at this location. That film was Apocalypse Now.

Double Feature #3:
	Shakes the Clown, 1992. Next to Clown Porn, this is my favorite clown movie. An alcoholic clown bones Florence Henderson and beats the shit out of mimes. How great is that? Porky’s, 1982. Bob Clark’s first box office hit. Many believe, including myself, that this was the best teen comedy of the 1980’s. Boobs and laughs a plenty.

Double Feature #4:
	Class of 1984, 1982. Written by our buddy Tom Holland, this film riffs on the 1955 film The Blackboard Jungle and updates it nicely to the 80’s punk rock esthetic. I saw this in a double feature with The Warriors at the Edmondson Drive-in in Baltimore. The Wanderers, 1979. Next to Porky’s, this is one of my all time favorite teen comedies. Director Philip Kaufman really captured lightning in a bottle with this film. Featuring an amazing ensemble cast including Ken Wahl and Karen Allen and boasting a killer soundtrack, this film is a must have for your collection.

Double Feature #5:
	Jailhouse Rock, 1957. An Elvis Presley movie? Hell yes! Elvis kicks ass in this Film Noir looking musical. He rules! Bubba Ho-Tep, 2002. My Favorite Don Coscarelli movie. Elvis still kicks major ass as he takes on an ancient Egyptian mummy that is killing off patients in a East Texas nursing home. He may be old, and he may use a walker, but Elvis still has some sweet Kung Fu moves, and as far as the ladies go, he still has lead in his pencil.

Double Feature #6:
	The Sword and the Sorcerer, 1982. The first film by the director of Nemesis, Albert Pyun. This may have ridden the wave of Conan the Barbarian wanna be’s, but I still really like it a lot. Another guilty pleasure for me. The Beastmaster, 1982. Yes, 1982 was the year of the Barbarian. This one was by Don Coscarelli and it, along with the Sword and the Sorcerer, were the only good barbarian films to come out post Conan. Marc Singer is buff enough to pull off the barbarian angle and the film also features former Charlie’s Angel, Tanya Roberts. Yum!

Double Feature #7:
	Humanoids from the Deep, 1980. This is another film that I saw for the first time at the Drive-in. This is a great monster movie featuring horny Fishman that only want to bone women and kill the men. Just might be one of the greatest Drive-in movies of all time. The Hitcher, 1986. Forget the Michael Bay piece of shit that came out this year. This is the Old School version, and it kick major ass! Written by one of my favorite genre writers, Eric Red (Near Dark, Blue Steel), The Hitcher is an 80’s thrill ride that you have to see to believe.

Double Feature #8:
	Fright Night, 1985. Tom Holland hit it out of the park, with this his directorial debut. A loving homage to the Horror Hosts of our youth, Famous Monsters of Filmland, and the old Universal monster movies, this film influenced a generation of future horror film directors. Bordello of Blood, 1996. I admit it. I love the film spinoffs of the Tales from the Crypt TV series. This one especially. Who doesn’t love Vampire Hookers? Boobs, Blood and Angie Everhart. A fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Double Feature #9:
	Bad Boys, 1983. First off, this is the OG version with Sean Penn, not the Michael Bay piece of shit with Will Smith. Sean Penn literally simmers on the screen as young man sentenced to do time in a juvi prison. See why people called him the Marlon Brando of his generation. Girls in Prison, 1984. This is one of the episodes of a Showtime series called “ Rebel Highway”. This series paired directors such as Robert Rodriquez, Joe Dante, and Alan Arkush with old AIP exploitation film properties and let them remake them into a 80 to 90 min feature. This one features the yummy Ione Skye (Say Anything) as she is sentenced to a woman’s prison where she gets naked and has many steamy lesbian encounters. BTW, this one was directed by John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer).

Double Feature #10:
	Double Indemnity, 1944. This film is one of the greatest film noirs ever made. Directed by Billy Wilder, and based on the novel by James M. Caine, Double Indemnity is a must see. The Last Seduction, 1994. Linda Fiorentino channels Barbara Stanwyck in this modern day Noir classic. “Who does a woman have to blow to get a drink around here?” Nice…..

Double Feature #11:
	Cut Throats Nine, 1972. The most hardcore violent Erowestern ever made, An army officer and his daughter are transporting a group of rapists and murderers to prison. They are ambushed by a group of thieves that heard that gold was being transported along with the prisoners. Now with the wagon destroyed and the horses dead, the army officer and his daughter lead the prisoners by foot over the snow covered mountain. All is well until the prisoners learn that the chain that binds them is made out of solid gold. Uh Oh…. Westworld, 1973. One of my favorite films of all time. Westworld concerns a series of adult theme parks, Westworld, Roman World, and Medieval World. Here you can pay to totally immerse yourself into the Milieu of your choice. At Westworld, you feel like you are living in the honest to God Wild West. You can be a gunslinger or the sheriff, get in gunfights. The interesting thing is that other then your fellow guests, everyone in town is a Robot. You are perfectly safe, until some of the advance robots go postal and start killing everyone in sight. Even though this film is over 30 years old, it will still keep you on the edge of your seat.

Double Feature #12:
	Rock ‘n” Roll High School, 1979. This film needs no introduction. Roger Corman and The Ramones. Nuff Said. Streets of Fire, 1984. Directed by one of my favorite directors, Walter Hill, (The Warriors, Hard Times), Streets of Fire kicks ass on so many levels. Great cast, great action, and great music. What more could you possibly want? A great popcorn movie.

That’s it for now. Thanks for visiting The Grindhouse. See you next month.

-Kevin Klemm

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Grindhouse Aficionado: Issue #4 (Nov.06) by Kevin Klemm

Grindhouse Aficionado

Bringing you the best of Grindhouse cinema (without the sticky floors).

This month’s Double Feature: 42nd Street Forever Vol 1 and 42nd Street Forever Vol 2: The Deuce

This month we take a look at two DVD’s that highlight the real reason we risked life and limb by venturing into The Deuce- the previews!

So grab your popcorn (I sure hope that’s butter) and settle in for four full hours of Grindhouse excitement.

Reel 1: 42nd Street Forever, Volume 1

As I mentioned before, half the fun of visiting a grindhouse theatre was watching the coming attractions. It took a special kind of film to play The Deuce, and the coming attractions really played up the exploitation elements of the movie. Its job was to hook you and reel you in so you would come back week after week…kind of like a cinema drug addict. A lot of the times the previews were actually better then the movie itself, but hey, you were here to have fun!

I thought I had seen a good portion of what the Deuce had to offer, but after watching this DVD, I found that I had missed out on quite a few of them. There is a great mix of films here, Horror, Sexploitation, Blaxsploitation, Monsters etc... There are some of my favorites… Ginger, Matango, The Crippled Masters, They Call Her One Eye and of course, The Deadly Spawn. There are also a few films that I wish I could see, particularly The Pink Angels, a gay biker film starring Dan Haggerty of Grizzly Adams fame. If you are a fan of Grindhouse cinema, this one is a must buy!

• The Undertaker and His Pals
• Flesh And Blood Show
• Women and Bloody Terror/Night of Bloody Horror
• I Dismember Mama/The Blood Spattered Bride
• Corruption
• The Butcher of Binbrook
• Ginger
• Italian Stallion
• Creampuffs
• The Three Dimensions of Greta
• Hard Candy
• The Centerfold Girls
• Panorama Blue
• Wicked Wicked
• Teenage Mother
• Charlie and the Hooker
• Matango
• The Green Slime
• Destroy All Monsters
• The Crippled Masters
• Werewolves on Wheels
• The Pink Angels
• The Depraved
• They Call Her One
• Maid in Sweden
• Behind Convent Walls
• Secret Africa
• Shocking Asia
• Chappaqua
• Welcome Home Brother Charles
• The Legend of Nigger Charlie
• Boss Nigger
• The .44 Specialist
• The Bullet Machine
• Death Drive
• The Raiders of Atlantis
• Star Crash
• Confessions of a Summer Camp Counselor
• Sunset Cove
• Superfuzz
• Death Will Have Your Eyes
• Death Has Blue Eyes
• A Black Veil for Lisa
• Ironmaster
• The Deadly Spawn
• The Rape of the Sabines
• The Devil's Nightmare

Reel 2: 42nd Street Forever, Volume 2: The Deuce

Ahhh, exploitation trailers in high-definition. Volume two really delivers the goods right out of the gate. The first three trailers are all grindhouse classics, and I can’t help but wonder if Rolling Thunder is ever going to come out on DVD! Another Grindhouse favorite of mine, Savage Sisters is still unavailable on DVD as well. While were at it, how about a nice wide-screen presentation of my favorite Blaxploitation zombie movie, Sugar Hill? All in all, this volume is as strong as the first one, and should be considered an essential part of anyone’s exploitation film collection.

• Ms. 45
• Born Losers
• Rolling Thunder
•  Dixie Dynamite
• Hell's Angels on Wheels
• The Hellcats
• Dragstrip Riot
• Stingray
•  Van Nuys Blvd.
• Burnout
• Dirt
• Savage!
• Kenner
• tick…tick…tick…
• Take a Hard Ride
• Black Samson
• The Guy from Harlem
• Sugar Hill
• When Women Had Tails
• I, A Woman
• The Curious Female
• The Babysitter
• Street Girls
• College Girls
• The Pom-Pom Girls
• Helga
• Initiation to Ruin
• The Pick-Up
• Delinquent Schoolgirls
• Savage Sisters
• Female Jungle
• Gigantis, the Fire Monster
• The Giant Gila Monster
• The Hideous Sun Demon
• The Monster of Piedras Blancas
• Murders in the Rue Morgue
• The Woman Eater
• The Dark
• The Evil
• The Evictors
• Deadly Blessing
• Rabid
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• The Clones
• Mission Mars
• Mr. Billion
• Spy in Your Eye
• The Last of the Secret Agents?
• Trunk to Cairo
• Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die
• Amazons of Rome
• Samson and the Slave Queen
• Revolt of the Slaves
• Revenge of the Gladiators
• Shogun Assassin
• Skatetown U.S.A.

Both films are available from Synapse Films (www.synapse-films.com) and wherever DVD’s of questionable taste are sold.

That’s it for now. Thanks for visiting The Grindhouse. See you next month!

-Kevin Klemm

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Grindhouse Aficionado

Bringing you the best of Grindhouse cinema (without the sticky floors).

This months Triple Feature: The Crippled Masters, The Street Fighter, and Master Of The Flying Guillotine.

This month we take a look at some of the best exploitation that the Far East has to offer. First up is The Crippled Masters, a revenge saga from China, featuring real life cripples (one is missing arms, the other is missing legs) who learn Kung Fu and then team up to kick some major bad guy ass. Next up we have the OG Mofo, Sonny Chiba, in the movie that introduced him to American audiences, The Street Fighter. And the last film in our triple feature is truly a guilty pleasure- Master of the flying Guillotine.

So grab some take out and a couple tall Sapporos, the first feature is about to begin.

Reel 1:
	THE CRIPPLED MASTERS (1979)

This has to be the most exploitive Kung Fu film to ever come out of China.

Jimmy Wang Yu made a couple of cool films featuring a character known as “The One Armed Boxer”. In fact, our last film this month, Master of the Flying Guillotine, features that character, but Jimmy Wang Yu was not a real cripple. In both of the One Armed Boxer movies, you can tell that Jimmy has his arm taped to his chest and is just letting his shirt sleeve hang down. But that’s not the case with the Crippled Masters.

Both of the main actors in this film are honest to God cripples. One is missing a whole right arm and then just has a little deformed baby arm for his left, and the next guy has two very deformed stick legs that he keeps tucked in close to his body, and he basically gets around by walking on his hands.

This movie is very simplistic in its story structure. Both of our heroes work for the same master and end up pissing him off. Now it should be stated that their master is a really cranky guy because he has this really bad scar on his face and that makes it really hard for him to get laid.

So as a result, he takes out his frustration on the guys who work for him. Now, Hero #1 has done something really bad and he has to be punished. So the master’s thugs work him over a little bit and then the second in command gives the order to chop off his arms as punishment. He is then thrown out of the gates and into the street. He then wanders around, tries to get served lunch but everyone makes fun of him and kicks him out of the restaurant, he then runs into this former master’s thugs and they beat him up some more. For some odd reason Hero #1 never bled to death and is then nursed back to health by a kindly coffin maker. Once healthy, he journey’s to the outskirts of town where he can start strengthening his body and then have revenge on the people that put him in this state.

Meanwhile, the second in command of the grumpy master is in big trouble for trying to climb up the corporate ladder. His punishment is to have acid poured all over his legs and he is then left for dead on the side of the road.

Now as luck would have it, Hero #1 comes across his former enemy (now a cripple) and decides to drag him back to a cave where he can torture him in peace. But the Zen like Kung Fu Master who lives in the cave will have none of that nonsense. He tells them that each one of them is a half of a man and that only by working together will they be able to defeat their former master. They then begin training in the art of Kung Fu and prepare for the day that they will face their enemies in a final showdown.

This was a hard title to track down. I remember seeing this on Kung Fu Theatre back in the day, but had never been able to track it down until now. I found it as part of a DVD box set called “Tough Guys of Kung Fu”. So if you are a fan of strange cinema, this one is worth checking out.

Reel 2:
	THE STREET FIGHTER (1974) AKA: Sudden Attack: The Killing Fist (literal English title), Enter The Street Fighter.

Viva Chiba! With a tag line that read “If you’ve got to fight, fight dirty”, The Street Fighter exploded into Grindhouse Theatres like a kick to the balls. The first film to ever receive an X rating solely for violence, The Street Fighter had many intense fight scenes including a scene in which Sonny Chiba tears off a man’s penis with his bare hands (kind of gives new meaning to the word “Hand Job”). A direct response to the world wide success of “Enter the Dragon”, Japan’s Toei Company was hoping to make Sonny Chiba the next Bruce Lee. Although he never achieved the popularity of Bruce Lee, Chiba is one bad mother fucker. This is a seventies style bloodbath filled with crushed skulls, ripped out throats and more anti hero swagger than you can shake a stick at. And to top it all off, it has one of the coolest seventies soundtracks ever!

In it, Chiba plays Terry Tsurugi, the baddest of the bad, who for a price will do your dirty work for you. When a wealthy business man dies, the Yakuza hire Terry to kidnap the business man’s daughter, and only heir. But the Yakuza want their cake and eat it too, so they decide to save Terry’s fee by having him killed after he completes their job. Big mistake! Terry switches sides and begins guarding the girl and then starts moving on up the Yakuza food chain, killing everyone in his way.

Like Sonny Chiba himself, this movie is lean and mean and it gets down and dirty with the action sequences. Quentin Tarantino is a big Sonny Chiba fan and he put Street Fighter references in True Romance and later gave Sonny Chiba a role in Kill Bill Vol .1. The Street Fighter spawned three sequels (The Return of The Street Fighter, Street Fighters Last Revenge, and Sister Street Fighter), all are available on DVD, but I recommend the box set “The Street Fighter Saga”.

The Street Fighter series is a “Must Have” for any lovers of Grindhouse Cinema.

Reel 3:
	MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE (1975) AKA: One Armed Boxer II, The One Armed Boxser Vs. The Flying Guillotine.

One of the classics of Martial Arts Cinema, Master of the Flying Guillotine is the far superior follow up to Jimmy Wang Yu’s “One Armed Boxer”. In it, a blind assassin (the master of the flying guillotine) goes in search of the man who killed his two protégés. All he knows is that the man he is looking for has one arm. So along with his weapon (a metal hat attached to a long chain, the Flying Guillotine of the title), our blind and evil assassin hits the road for a little revenge.

During his travels he hears about a Martial Arts competition and decides to crash it, hoping his one armed nemesis has entered. It just so happens that the One Armed Boxer is in attendance, but as a spectator. When the blind assassin shows up and beheads another one armed man by accident, the One Armed Boxer knows he’s in trouble and beats feet out of there.

Teaming up with the students of his Kung Fu School, the One Armed Boxer lays a series of elaborate traps to try and gain the upper had against the Master of the Flying Guillotine. It all culminates in a kick ass battle in a coffin shop- Priceless!

This film is another favorite of Quentin Tarantino. He used various snatches of the film’s score in Kill Bill’s House of Blue Leaves sequence. It has also been said that Gogo Yubari’s unique weapon was inspired by the Flying Guillotine.

This wasn’t the only film featuring the Flying Guillotine. A year earlier, the Shaw Brothers released a film entitled “ Flying Guillotine” and Jimmy Wang Yu thought it was a great idea, so he took it, improved upon it, and made it his own. The Shaw Brothers would feature this unique weapon in two more films (The Flying Guillotine 2 and The Vengeful Beauty), but neither of them would achieve the success of Jimmy Wang Yu’s “Master of the Flying Guillotine”.

This film is available in a couple different versions, including a two disc Anniversary edition.

That’s it for this month. Thanks for visiting the Grindhouse. Next month we have midgets and incredible 73 inch breasts, as we take a look at Secret Agents- Grindhouse style! See you then.

-Kevin Klemm

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Grindhouse Aficionado: Issue 2 (July.06) by Kevin Klemm

Grindhouse Aficionado

Bringing you the best of Grindhouse cinema (without the sticky floors).

This months Triple Feature: Deadbeat At Dawn, Combat Shock, and Switchblade Sisters.

This month you are in for a special treat. We have Jim Van Bebber’s DIY gang masterpiece, “Deadbeat at Dawn”, followed by Buddy G’s hallucinatory Vietnam vet pic, “Combat Shock” and last but not least, “Switchblade Sisters”, by my favorite exploitation director- Jack Hill.

So grab your popcorn and your favorite beverage, the first feature is ready to begin.

Reel 1:
	DEADBEAT AT DAWN (1988)

When one thinks of cinematic hot spots, Cleveland Ohio doesn’t necessary jump to mind. But it was here that the outlaw film director Jim Van Bebber, directed his first full length feature film, “Deadbeat At Dawn”. Shot on 16mm, Deadbeat took over three years to make and was a homage to the AP biker films of the 70’s, such as Tom Laughlin’s “Born Losers”.

Its plot is simple- There are two rival gangs, the Ravens and the Spiders. Each one is vying for control of the streets. Goose (played by Van Bebber himself) is the leader of the Ravens. Goose is in love, and decides it’s time to leave the gang and settle down with his girlfriend. The only problem is, they’re broke and all they can afford is a shitty little slum apartment that doesn’t even have a proper lock on the door. For some strange reason, all it has is a hasp and a padlock on the outside of the door. I guess that’s ok if you want to lock the door while you are away, but what about when you are home? Do you move furniture against the door or maybe wedge a chair up under the doorknob?

I don’t know, but considering they live in a bad part of town, they are not very security conscious over at the Goose household. Even though he’s a bad ass mofo, Goose has a tender romantic side as well. He decides to take his girlfriend away for the weekend. So he takes his nunchucks, whacks a guy over the head, steals his motorcycle, and then picks up his girlfriend for their weekend getaway. After having a romantic tryst in the woods, Goose tells his Girlfriend that he is quitting the Ravens, but that he needs to do one last drug deal in order to get enough money for them to live happily ever after (where have we heard that before?) But, as in life, things don’t necessarily go as planned. Goose locks his Girlfriend in their apartment as he goes off to make his deal. While he’s gone, the Spiders pry open the lock and murder his girlfriend. This starts Goose’s downward spiral of violence and madness, that ultimately leads him to take on the Spiders in a massive Kung-fu showdown.

The cool thing about this film is that Van Bebber takes DIY to the extreme! He acted in and directed the film, he did all his own stunts, and he even did the special makeup effects. Speaking of makeup effects, Van Bebber couldn’t afford to use squibs for the bullet hits, so instead they filled condoms with fake blood, and then had someone with a good pitching arm throw a baseball at the actor and explode the blood pack. Then during the editing process he cut out any frames that showed the baseball.

Like others in our generation, Jim van Bebber was highly influenced by Drive-in Movies. In fact, one of his first jobs was working at the local Drive-in. And while other directors such as Quentin Tarantino were heavily influenced by working in the local video store, Jim van Bebber was soaking up the movies of the Drive-in circuit, particularly the films of Bruce Lee and other Far East Exploitation fare such as Five Fingers of Death. But it wasn’t until he saw “The Evil Dead”, that he decided that he was going to make his own feature film. That year, in college, Jim van Bebber started making a series of fight scene vignettes which ultimately grew into the feature length “Deadbeat at Dawn”. Originally conceived as a movie for the Drive-in circuit, the Drive-in as we know it was pretty much extinct by the time the film was finished, three years later.

Watching this film again, I definitely picked out a heavy Abel Ferrara influence, particularly “Ms 45”, if I ever run into Jim van Bebber; I will have to ask him about that. Another little piece of trivia concerning this picture, “Deadbeat at Dawn” was the last film to be put on the Video Nasties list and banned in Britain.

Deadbeat at Dawn is unfortunately out of print, but you might still find a copy on E-Bay.

Reel 2:
	COMBAT SHOCK (1984)

One of the masterpieces of nihilistic cinema, Combat Shock combines the grittiness of Taxi Driver, along with the fever dream hallucinations of Eraserhead. Originally filmed under the title “American Nightmare”, Combat Shock follows Vietnam War vet Frankie Dunlan as he tries to reinsert himself back into mainstream America. Only problem is, Frankie’s America is anything but mainstream. His is an America filled with far reaching unemployment, shit hole apartments, nagging wives, deformed babies, drug addicts, and thugs. Far from living the American Dream, Frankie Dunlan is living the American Nightmare.

Filmed entirely in and around Statten Island (including the Vietnam War Sequences), Combat Shock is another example of DIY filmmaking at it’s finest. Buddy G gives us an unflinching look at a young soldier’s descent into madness, and leaves the viewer wondering which was the worst war, the war in Vietnam or the war at home. Some of the most compelling sequences were the Vietnam flashbacks. It was here that Buddy G really showed some inventiveness. What he did is take the Vietnam footage and project it on the face of his brother Ricky (who chillingly portrayed Frankie Dunlan) and combined that with voices and sound effects to recreate the after effects of the madness of war.

Just be warned, this is not the feel good movie of the Summer. There is not a single light hearted moment in the entire film, and I dare say the last 10 minutes of the film will leave you squirming in your seat.

Buddy G felt that Combat Shock ruined his career. He has been quoted as saying that after Combat Shock he couldn’t even get a job directing bad horror films. He said that the producers would take one look at Combat Shock and say “God forbid this guy does it again”. He may be right. For the next ten years after Combat Shock, Buddy G taught filmmaking at New York’s School of Visual Arts and New York University. Now days it looks like Buddy G is directing German Television, which I find interesting. It also explains why Corpse Fucking Auteur Jorg Buttgereit (Nekromantik), joins him on the commentary track of the Combat Shock DVD.

I think Combat Shock is a brilliant film and I would love to see Buddy G come back to the States and make another feature. Hollywood, are you listening?

Combat Shock is available in a Director’s Cut through Troma DVD.

Reel 3:
	SWITCHBLADE SISTERS (1975) AKA: Playgirl Gang, The Jezebels.

Quentin Tarantino has called Jack Hill the Howard Hawks of Exploitation films. And you know what, he’s absolutely correct. Jack Hill has made some of the best genre films ever to grace the Drive-in screen. Fans of Woman Prison movies will recognize The Big Doll House and The Big Bird Cage, or are you a fan of Blaxploitation? Did you know that Jack Hill directed Coffy and Foxy Brown? Ever hear of Spider Baby? That was Jack Hill as well.

Jack Hill worked most of his career as a contract Director for Roger Corman and then later, Sam Arkoff. In those days, someone like Roger Corman would call you into his office and say “Jack, I’m sending you down to the Philippines to make a Women in Prison picture. You have 18 days to shoot it. Oh, and you are leaving next week.” So Jack would have to write a script, make sure he was including all the exploitive elements that were necessary for the Drive-in crowd, and make the picture in the allotted time. The cool thing about a Jack Hill movie is that it’s more than the sum of its parts. He may have been hired to shoot a Women in Prison movie, but as long as he included a shower scene and a fight in the mud, he could do whatever he wanted. And he took pride in his films and always managed to add a depth to them that couldn’t be found in your average Drive-in movie.

Switchblade Sisters is his foray into the Girl Gang genre. Originally filmed under the title “The Jezebels”, Switchblade Sisters follows the exploits of the Dagger Debs, the female counterpart to a male gang called the “Silver Daggers”. Lace is the tough talking leader of the Dagger Debs and the main squeeze of the leader of the Silver Daggers. Crossing their path is Maggie, a beautiful cheerleader type, who actually kicks major ass. What follows is an “Othello” like tale of betrayal and revenge, all set to a groovy 70’s vibe. An interesting side note, caustic comedian Lenny Bruce’s daughter appears in the film as the mascot of the Dagger Debs, the appropriately named “Donut”.

Switchblade Sisters is a fun film to watch, particularly the way Robbie Lee, who plays Lace, delivers her lines between clenched teeth when she wants to look tough. Another standout is the Roller Rink shootout- classic 70’s action.

So do yourself a favor and check out Switchblade Sisters. And while you are at it, visit some of Jack Hill’s other films, you’ll be glad you did.

That’s it for now. Thank you for visiting the Grindhouse. We’ll see you again next month. -Kevin Klemm.

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Grindhouse Aficionado: Issue 1 (May.06) by Kevin Klemm

Grindhouse Aficionado

Bringing you the best of Grindhouse cinema (without the sticky floors).

This months Triple Feature: Fight For Your Life, Thriller- A Cruel Picture, and I Spit On Your Grave.

Exploitation films have been with us since cinema’s infancy. Take for example this tag line from a poster, circa 1895, that is promoting their latest “Moving Picture”.

The Wonderful Mutoscope showing
MOVING PICURES PHOTGRAPHED FROM LIFE
Drop nickel in slot-Keep turning crank to the right,
And you will see

How the Porto Rican Girls Entertain Uncle Sam’s Soldiers.

Flash forward eighty five years and you see this tag line on a movie poster in front of a Grindhouse on 42 nd St.

THIS WOMAN HAS JUST CHOPPED, CRIPPLED AND MUTILATED FOUR MEN BEYOND RECOGNITION….

BUT NO JURY IN AMERICA WOULD EVER CONVICT HER!

I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE AKA DAY OF THE WOMAN

The term “Grindhouse”, is possibly culled from a myriad of sources. One being a term referring back to the theatres burlesque roots which typically ran “Bump and Grind” shows. Another refers to the Times Square movie houses of the 1970’s and 80's, which would “Grind out” films 24/7, specifically, exploitations films. Exploitation films generally mined areas such as explicit sex and violence, and other taboo content that Hollywood was afraid to tackle.

The following is a typical triple feature that would have played around the clock at various 42nd St Grindhouses, such as The Rialto or the Empire. They are part of a subcategory of exploitation films called Shock Exploitation, or Rape & Revenge flicks.

All of these films are currently available on DVD. So now you can watch them from the safety of your own couch, without the worry of thrown beer bottles or chicken hawks lurking in the bathroom (unless you’re into that at home).

Reel 1: Fight For Your Life (1977) AKA: Bloodbath at 1313 Fury Road, Getting Even, Held Hostage, I Hate Your Guts, Staying Alive, The Hostage’s Bloody Revenge. Every actor has skeletons in his closet. Usually these skeletons manifest themselves as less than stellar projects that the actor did early on in his career. This particular film is the skeleton in William Sanderson’s closet. Sanderson is a law school graduate who makes a living playing Hillbilly rednecks and assorted “Common” folk. He is probably best known for the role of J.S. Sebastian in Blade Runner. In Fight for your life, Sanderson plays Jesse Lee Kane, Murderer and racist redneck cracker, who along with two cohorts, escape from a prison transport and make a run for the Canadian Border. Along the way they steal a pimp’s car, put a gun to a toddler’s head, take a black family hostage, rape a couple of women and crush a kid’s skull with a rock. Add to that, dialogue that includes every racial slur your can think of, and you have the most fucked up movie you’ve ever seen! This is one movie we won’t have to worry about Michael Bay re-making. This film is all about Exploitation, and it wears its heart on its sleeve. Known as one of the most controversial films to ever play on 42 nd St, this film caused near riots where ever it was shown. One reviewer at the time commented that he couldn’t have been paid enough money to have been the only white man in the theatre, when this film played in Harlem. The film had an interesting run under a slew of titles. During the Disco era it was released as “Staying Alive”, for the Horror crowd it was called “Bloodbath at 1313 Fury Road”, and the southern fried chicken circuit saw it as “I Hate your Guts” or “ Fury Road”. The black inner city market saw it titled “Held Hostage”, “Getting Even” or “The Hostage’s Bloody Revenge”. Usually the inner city tag line said something like this - It will make you want to get down and shout “I am proud to be a black man!” Banned in Britain and placed on the video nasties list, Fight for your Life appeared on VHS very briefly in the early 80’s, before slowly fading into obscurity. Fast forward to 2004 and the announcement from Blue Underground that they are fully restoring Fight for your Life from the original camera negative. Poor William Sanderson’s bowels must have turned to ice water at the news. One other person was upset with the resurfacing of this exploitation classic- the director, Robert A. Endelson, who is now a Dentist on Long Island. Go Figure. Reel 2: Thriller- A Cruel Picture (1974) AKA: They Call Her One Eye, Hooker’s Revenge. This is one of my personal favorites. I saw it for the first time at a shitty drive-in in Baltimore, under the title “They Call Her One Eye”. Watching this movie, you find yourself wondering “Is this an art film, or an exploitation film”. Well, it’s a little of both. Director Bo Arne Vibenius worked as an Assistant Director to Swedish Director Ingmar Bergman, and the master’s film esthetic definitely rubbed off on Bo. The opening scene is very reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman. A little girl runs through the park, enjoying the fall weather. She stops, picks up a leaf and runs off to give it to an old man who we assume is her grandfather. He scoops her up in his arms and lifts her above his head and spins around in circles as the camera takes turns looking into their happy faces. But this idyllic autumn romp in the park is not what it seems. The scene now takes a sinister turn as the older gentleman turns out to not be a kindly Grandfather, but a Pedophile! We’ll call this “Fucked up Life Experience #1”. We now meet the girl ten years later. Madeleine (or Frigga, in the English Dub version) is working on her family farm. She has been made mute (Fucked up Life Experience #2) due to her rape as a child, and spends her time milking cows and attending therapy sessions. On this particular day, Madeleine misses her bus into town and accepts a ride from Tony the Pimp. Tony wines, dines and drugs poor Madeleine, and then takes her prisoner (Fucked up Life Experience #3). You see, Tony needs prostitutes, and he has a sure fire way to keep them in line- Addict them to Heroin. And that’s exactly what he does to Madeleine (Fucked up Life Experience #4). Tony then sends a letter to Madeleine’s parents, signed by Madeleine, saying that she hates them and hates living on the farm, and that she’s never coming back. From that point on, Madeleine is a kept woman. Every morning, Tony gives her a list of all the men and woman she is to fuck that day. But Madeleine gets uppity and scratches a johns face, so what does Tony do? He blinds her in one eye and then charges more money for johns who want to have sex with “The Pirate”. A couple more Fucked up Life Experiences happen and Madeleine starts saving her money for revenge. Even prostitute’s get days off, so during her free time Madeleine starts training in hand to hand combat, firearms and car handling skills. When Graduation Day arrives, Madeleine goes Postal! It is at the point that the movie becomes less Bergman and more Peckinpah. There are a lot of interesting directorial choices in this movie, including the inserting of hardcore sex scenes. Christina Lindberg, who played Madeleine, had no qualms about being naked in the film, but balked at really banging the actors. So Bo brought in some XXX performers and shot a bunch of insert shots of balls slapping against ass during the old in out, followed by a money shot. What was Bo thinking? I think it was a combination of shock value and his wanting to graphically show the degradation that Madeleine was going through. My opinion is that it was unnecessary. Those inserts disrupt the flow of the film and probably could have been left out. The other interesting directorial choice was made during the blinding of Madeleine. Bo, for the sake of realism, used an actual corpse’s eye in the blinding sequence. Christine Lindberg said that they went to a local hospital and were able to use the body of a young girl that had recently committed suicide. They added some eyeliner and then shot a close-up of a scalpel actually penetrating a real eye. Bo, you’re a wild man! I can only think of one other time that actual corpses were used in a feature film, and that was H.G. Lewis’s “Wizard of Gore”. In that particular film, Herschell had a scene that took place in a mortuary and the bodies you see in the background covered by sheets, were actual corpses! In case you don’t already know, Quentin Tarantino “Loves” this movie. In fact, this film was the direct inspiration for the Elle Driver character in Kill Bill. And as much as I enjoy Daryl Hannah, nobody can hold a candle to Christina Lindberg’s shotgun wielding killing machine. For those of you wanting to go out and purchase this film, you have two choices- the uncut version (Thriller- A Cruel Picture Special Edition) or the edited version that has had the hardcore sex and eye gouging removed (Thriller- They Call Her One Eye Vengeance Edition). But be warned, both titles are limited Editions. Buy now or be sorry! Reel 3: I Spit On Your Grave (1978) AKA: Day of the Woman, I Hate Your Guts, The Rape and Revenge of Jennifer Hill. This film is another anomaly of exploitation film history. It seems that Director Meir Zarchi set out to make a serious film exploring rape and its aftermath. His unflinching approach to the subject matter makes it uncomfortable to watch, which is both its greatest accomplishment and its downfall. In 1974, Meir Zarchi came across a woman who had just been savagely beaten and raped by two men at a park near his home. Those images would haunt him for years and provided the impetus for a film about the rape of a young woman and her quest for vengeance. Filmed under the title of Day of the Woman, it can almost be seen as a Greek Tragedy. No interesting plot twists, no character revealing dialogue, just a bare bones revenge story Camille Keaton (Granddaughter of Silent Film star Buster Keaton) stars as Jennifer Hill, a writer who has gone to the country for the summer in order to write her first novel. Once there, she is gang raped by four men who don’t have anything better to do, and then, once healed, she gets medieval on their asses. The rape scenes hit you like a punch to the stomach and stand in sharp contrast to the often confusing and hokey revenge sequences. Meir Zarchi took his film to the Cannes Film Festival and tried to line up a distribution agreement. He succeeded for Europe, but not North America, no one on this side of the atlantic would touch it. He decided to try to distribute it himself, but it ended up being a financial disaster. Then in March of 1980, Jerry Gross stepped in and bought the distribution rights with the stipulation that he could change the title to what ever he wanted. Meir agreed, and Day of the Woman became I Spit On Your Grave! So how did Meir Zarchi’s serious picture become the most vilified film in cinema history? Siskel and Ebert. In July of 1980, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, attended a screening of “I Spit On Your Grave”. What people didn’t realize at the time was that the R rated version of the film (which was trimmed by17 minutes) was secretly switched with the unrated version, and that was the version that was showing in Chicago that evening. All Hell broke loose at that point. Siskel and Ebert got on their television show and called I Spit On Your Grave the most disgusting movie ever made. They called for a boycott of the film and even showed up at theatres, trying to turn people away from seeing it. Their hard work paid off. Theatres started folding to the pressure and began to drop the film. Even Jerry Gross, the films distributor, dropped it. Siskel and Ebert had won… or had they? A funny thing happened. Video tapes were just starting to reach their stride in the market place. Consumers could now buy their favorite movies and watch them in the comfort of their own home. It was at this strategic time, that I Spit On Your Grave was released on Home Video. And sales went through the roof! I Spit On Your Grave became the #1 video seller of 1981, and fully cemented the film’s place in history as the most popular exploitation film of all time. If you have never seen it before, now is the time to check it out. It’s available through Elite Entertainment as part of their Millennium Editions. Here you can see it in its uncut glory, along with two separate audio commentaries, one with Director Meir Zarchi and the other with Cult Film Guru Joe Bob Briggs. That’s it for now folks. I hope you enjoyed your little visit to the Grindhouse. We’ll see you next month with another Triple Feature. -Kevin Klemm.

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