Category: Exploitation Cinema

• 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.

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  The New Kids (1985)

  December 16, 2021

  1980s, Action, B Movie, Exploitation Cinema, Family, High School Movies, Horror, Teen Movies, Thriller

  The New Kids (1985) is a better poster than a movie. Along with the VHS cover to Class Of 1999, this was a poster that I became obsessed with, the teen gang horror vibes, on the level of an illustrated paperback cover, the heightened drama and off-frame implication. The movie itself, which sets its climax… Read.

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  Massacre At Central High (1976)

  September 4, 2021

  1970s, B Movie, Drama, Exploitation Cinema, High School Movies, Horror, Satire, Teen Movies, Thriller

  Reading about Massacre At Central High (1976) in Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2 when I was in high school, leafing through the copy in the school library, really disturbed me. The details of its plot and its accompanying photos made me think of it as a low budget sicko movie about teens killing each other… Read.

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  Walking The Edge (1985)

  August 17, 2021

  1980s, Action, B Movie, Crime, Drama, Exploitation Cinema, Los Angeles, Thriller

  Walking The Edge (1985) had been discussed so much on the Pure Cinema Podcast that when Fun City Editions put out their Blu-ray, I had to get a copy. Mid-1980s revenge thriller starring the late, great Robert Forster? I’m there! Factor in lots of driving scenes across LA and a pumping synth-and-sax score by Jay… Read.

• Blood Feast (1963)

  July 29, 2021

  1960s, B Movie, Exploitation Cinema, Horror

  Herschell Gordon Lewis is a name I’ve often heard about but never really been keen to explore; the archetypal still from one of his 1960s-era movies in my mind’s eye is a leering sadist at a table where a nubile woman is submerged in shiny guts and paint-thick blood. Much like Troma cinema, I’m happy… Read.