Venus In Furs (1969)

The meeting point between exploitation demands and arthouse pretensions is ideal cinematic terrain to my mind. Base pleasures that Venus In Furs (1969) – directed by Jess Franco – offers is nudity and sex (well, what accounts for it late 1960s international cinema) with Maria Rohm nude in a fur coat with stockings and a […]

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973)

The Female Prisoner Scorpion series are a quartet of Japanese exploitation action thrillers centred around the explosive character of Nami Matsushima aka “Scorpion”, unforgettably portrayed by Meiko Kaji in an indomitable performance. Arrow Video remastered and released the movies in a box-set, and they are available to stream on Tubi – though bizarrely the second […]

Deadbeat At Dawn (1988)

Deadbeat At Dawn (1988) is a splatter-punk symphony on a beer can budget. Directed, written, and starring Jim Van Bebber, a film school drop-out who put everything into this low-budget action flick, even choreographing the fights and stunts. With gang members in ripped denim and head-bands, sporting switch-blades and nunchaka, this movie has been compared […]

The Iron Rose (1973)

The Iron Rose (1973; La Rose de Fer) is the third film I’ve seen from French director Jean Rollin, and along with Spanish filmmaker Jess Franco, their names represent a quintessential arty Euro-horror milieu. Rollin is known for low-budget genre flicks, usually concerning vampires, where there’s nudity and blood, and actors wandering around castles and […]

Eaten Alive (1976)

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 […]