Category: Exploitation Cinema

• 

  Eaten Alive (1976)

  September 21, 2022

  1970s, B Movie, Exploitation Cinema, Gothic, Horror, Thriller, Uncategorized

  Look, I really liked Ti West’s 1970s horror throwback X, but when you catch up with something like Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive (1976; also known as Death Trap), I couldn’t help but think a little less of X. No doubt Eaten Alive is an acknowledged influence, but when it comes to exploitation hicksville horror, there’s… Read.

• 

  Friday Foster (1975)

  August 30, 2022

  1970s, Action, B Movie, Black American Cinema, Blaxploitation, Comedy, Comicbook Movies, Crime, Exploitation Cinema, Mystery, Noir, Thriller

  While it has violence and nudity, there’s something lighter and frothier about the blaxploitation film, Friday Foster (1975); it’s almost ready to be a crowd-pleasing TV movie pilot, maybe because the film is being based on a comic strip (comparable to Modesty Blaise in terms of syndicated newspaper comics). A vehicle for the great Pam… Read.

• 

  Lone Wolf And Cub: Baby Cart To Hades (1972)

  August 27, 2022

  1970s, Action, Exploitation Cinema, History, Japanese Cinema, Road Movie, Sequels, Thriller, Western

  There’s something about Tomisaburo Wakayama’s portly stature and sullen demeanour as Ogami Itto, the wandering ronin, at the centre of the Lone Wolf And Cub series. A highly skilled and almost invincible assassin, Wakayama grounds everything with his grumpy stoicism and physicality, particularly in the face of enemy hordes and gushing blood sprays. Or in… Read.

• 

  Blastfighter (1984)

  August 16, 2022

  1980s, Action, Adventure, B Movie, Exploitation Cinema, Italian Cinema, Thriller

  One golden rule about Italian genre flicks if you can’t get Franco Nero as the lead, then get a guy who looks him. Maurizio Merli was busy, so for the motion picture titled Blastfighter (1984) Michael Sopkiw steps in with an effective moustache, playing the role of “Tiger” Sharp, an ex-cop released from prison for… Read.

• Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)

  July 5, 2022

  1970s, Action, Drama, Exploitation Cinema, Japanese Cinema, Prison Movies, Thriller

  Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) belongs undeniably to a sleazy exploitation category, the “women in prison” sub-genre. Yet if you can stomach that grubbiness, this entry proves to be an artistic triumph because of two strong elements: (1) the theatrical and surreal style that director Shunya Ito (his debut film!) brings to it, and (2)… Read.