American Grindhouse
| American Grindhouse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Elijah Drenner |
| Produced by |
Jeff Broadstreet Elijah Drenner Dan Greene Ingo Jucht Calum Waddell |
| Written by |
Elijah Drenner Calum Waddell |
| Narrated by | Robert Forester |
| Music by | Jason Brandt |
| Cinematography | Dan Greene |
| Edited by |
Elijah Drenner Andrew Goldenberg Dan Greene |
Production company |
Lux Digital Pictures End Films |
| Distributed by | Lorber Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
American Grindhouse is a 2010 documentary directed and produced by Elijah Drenner. The film made its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas on March 13, 2010.[1]
Overview
The documentary chronicles the history of the American exploitation film from the days of Thomas Edison to contemporary films of the 21st century. The film features interviews with John Landis, Joe Dante, Jack Hill, Don Edmonds, Fred Williamson, Allison Anders, James Gordon White, Larry Cohen, William Lustig, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Judy Brown, Jeremy Kasten, Jonathan Kaplan, Bob Minor, Lewis Teague, David Hess and Fred Olen Ray. The documentary also features film historians Eddie Muller, Kim Morgan and Eric Schaefer. The narration is by actor Robert Forster.
Films referenced
A lot of film titles and posters get shown in passing, but this is a list of the films that get a mention in the voiceover or by the interviewees, because they received some commentary and analysis. Although the list is in chronological order, some of the films are mentioned in the documentary out of that sequence to fit with the themes. The main films referenced in the documentary are:
- The Great Train Robbery (1903)
- Traffic in Souls (1913)
- Dracula (1931)
- Frankenstein (1931)
- Freaks (1932)
- Maniac (1934)
- You Can't Beat the Rap! (1936)
- I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
- Mom and Dad (1945)
- Because of Eve (1948)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- Blackboard Jungle (1955)
- I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957)
- The Tingler (1959)
- The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959)
- Psycho (1960)
- Scum of the Earth! (1963)
- Blood Feast (1963)
- Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
- Olga's House of Shame (1964)
- The Wild Angels (1966)
- Lord Love a Duck (1966)
- The Lusting Hours (1967)
- The Trip (1967)
- She-Devils on Wheels (1968)
- Easy Rider (1969)
- Midnight Cowboy (1969)
- Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
- The Corpse Grinders (1971)
- The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971)
- The Tormentors (1971)
- The Big Doll House (1971)
- The Big Bird Cage (1972)
- The Last House on the Left (1972)
- Night of the Lepus (1972)
- Deep Throat (1972)
- Schlock (1973)
- Black Caesar (1973)
- Coffy (1973)
- Truck Turner (1974)
- Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975)
- Jaws (1975)
- Eaten Alive (1977)
- Piranha (1978)
- Alligator (1980)
- The Passion of the Christ (2004)
- Hostel (2005)
- Grindhouse (2007)
- American Gangster (2007)
- Hell Ride (2008)
- Black Dynamite (2009)
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes, the review aggregator, gave the film an 86%.[2]
See also
- Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!, a 2008 documentary about Australian exploitation, Ozploitation, films
References
- ↑ "American Grindhouse Preview at SXSW '10". Dread Central. March 3, 2010.
- ↑ American Grindhouse at Rotten Tomatoes
External links
- Official website
- American Grindhouse at the Grindhouse Database
- American Grindhouse at the Internet Movie Database
- American Grindhouse at AllMovie
- American Grindhouse at Box Office Mojo
- "Gravitas Ventures Gets Video On Demand Rights to American Grindhouse". Dread Central. March 10, 2010.
Reviews
- Holcomb, Mark (February 2, 2011). "American Grindhouse Traces the Lineage of Cheapjack Cinematic Slop". Village Voice.
- Hale, Mike (February 3, 2011). "Exploitation 101". The New York Times.