// BEGIN editorial data var i = 0; var exploitation_movies = new Array(); exploitation_movies.ID = "exploitation_movies"; exploitation_movies.ID_WB = 17874385; exploitation_movies.sPubDate = "4/4/2007 4:00:24 PM GMT"; exploitation_movies.navsectionID = "3032428" exploitation_movies.appFmt = 2; exploitation_movies.itemsPerPage = 1; exploitation_movies.appWidth = 624; exploitation_movies.appHeader = ""; exploitation_movies.appFooter = "Peter Hartlaub reviews movies and writes about pop culture for the San Francisco Chronicle."; exploitation_movies.appNavStyle = 3; exploitation_movies.bDhtml = 0; exploitation_movies.appLayout = 3; exploitation_movies.copyWidth = 500; exploitation_movies.copyMargin = 9; exploitation_movies.headlineStyle = "color:#990000"; exploitation_movies.sBodyFont = "line-height:18px;font-size:12px;"; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","Intro","Rose McGowan is a lethal weapon in \"Grindhouse.\"","http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070330/070330_grindhouse_hmed_12p.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Weinstein Company", "165", "298", "", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = "“Grindhouse” is Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’ tribute to exploitation films. But even as the film is released this Friday, the real grindhouses — run-down inner-city theaters that showed double and triple bills of B movies — disappeared a long time ago. Thankfully, the rapidly expanding DVD market has made it easier than ever to turn your home into a shady den of gratuitous violence, naked flesh and assorted mayhem. This list of essential exploitation films has something for almost every fetish, including a campy film written by Roger Ebert, a women-in-prison movie directed by Jonathan Demme and a cannibal flick that led to the arrest of its director — and later inspired a modern horror classic. "; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"Reefer Madness\"","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_Reefer%20Madness.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Madacy Records ", "298", "206", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1937)
Paid for by a church group that wanted to save the children from the evils of marijuana, this film instead provided multiple generations of pot users with something hilarious to watch when the “Scooby Doo” episodes run out. In the blunt morality tale, experimentation with cannabis leads to sexual depravity, murder, an apparent hit-and-run fatality and a suicide. “Reefer Madness” was rediscovered in the 1970s when it became a grindhouse and college campus favorite, and the film was colorized in 2004.
"; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"Hells Angels on Wheels\"","","http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_Hells%20Angels%20on%20Wheels.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Image Entertainment ", "298", "209", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1967)
There were a lot of low-budget Hell’s Angels-related biker films in the late 1960s and early 1970s. But only one starred three-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson, who played “Poet,” a gas station attendant who becomes an Angel and falls in love with the leader’s old lady. “Hells Angels on Wheels” is almost too polished to be considered exploitation, but the over-the-top fistfights and campy dialogue still guarantee that Nicholson will never be questioned about this movie on “Inside the Actor’s Studio.“ Real-life Angels including Sonny Barger were extras in the film.
"; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"Beyond the Valley of the Dolls\"","","http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_Beyond%20the%20Valley%20of%20the%20Dolls.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Fox", "298", "210", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1970)
Roger Ebert is known for giving his opinions of movies, but he also had a short career writing some of the campiest films of the 1970s. B-movie demigod Russ Meyer directed this sex-filled X-rated film which was definitely not a sequel to “Valley of the Dolls.” The characters included a porn actress, a sex-hungry lesbian and an all-female rock band that falls under the spell of a Phil Spector-like record producer. Credit Ebert for embracing his exploitation screenwriting past, and providing commentary on the DVD.
"; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"The Last House on the Left\"","","http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_The%20Last%20House%20on%20the%20Left.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "MGM", "298", "210", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1972)
Wes Craven wrote and directed this sadistic bloodbath, which starts out with two teen girls getting raped and murdered, before their killers show up at the home of their vengeance-minded parents — and things really get crazy. The movie was filled with over-the-top depravity, even by “The Hills Have Eyes” director Craven’s standards. While Craven went on to direct the “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies, “Last House” producer Sean S. Cunningham helped launch the “Friday the 13th” franchise.
"; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"Caged Heat\"","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_Caged%20Heat.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Buena Vista Home Entertainment ", "298", "207", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1974)
Women-in-prison movies were plentiful in the 1970s, but no sexploitation film had as much behind-the-camera talent as “Caged Heat.” The cat fight extravaganza produced by Roger Corman marked the directorial debut of Jonathan Demme — who later won an Academy Award for “Silence of the Lambs.” Made for less than $200,000, it actually featured some socially redeeming values. “Caged Heat” was followed much later by “Caged Heat II: Stripped to Freedom” and “Caged Heat 3000.” (Demme didn’t return for either one.)
"; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"Death Race 2000\"","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_Death%20Race%202000.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Buena Vista Home Entertainment ", "298", "204", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1975)
Produced by Roger Corman (the Orson Welles of exploitation films), this celebration of vehicle-related mayhem features a pre-“Rocky” Sylvester Stallone and “Kung Fu” practitioner David Carradine. But the movie is remembered mostly for its ultra-violent New York-to-Los Angeles road race, where drivers received 40 points for running over teens, 100 points for mowing down senior citizens and a 10-point bonus for victims that are female. Carradine’s character aims to assassinate the president — and he’s the good guy.
"; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"Dolemite\"","","http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_Dolemite.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Vivendi Visual Entertainment", "298", "203", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1975)
“Superfly” had a better soundtrack and “Shaft” got the remake that starred Samuel L. Jackson. But for pure blaxploitation entertainment value, it’s hard to beat “Dolemite,” which is incompetently made but also funnier than most movies in the genre. After Dolemite the hustler gets released from jail, he takes the opportunity to have sex and use his Kung Fu skills to kill as many people as possible. The character was the creation of comedian Rudy Ray Moore, who starred in, produced and co-wrote the film. "; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"Zombi 2\"","","http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_Zombi%202.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Shriek Show ", "298", "205", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1979)
This Italian zombie movie nearly made George A. Romero’s violent “Dawn of the Dead” look like an episode of “The Jeffersons” by comparison. Lucio Fulci’s film featured an eye-gouging scene that still hasn’t been matched, and the sheer volume of gore along with the downbeat plot was emotionally exhausting, yet still thrilling. “Zombi 2” was billed as a sequel to “Dawn,” even though it had no connection to the movie. It was unrated in the U.S. and was too gory for release in Great Britain and several other countries.
"; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"Cannibal Holocaust\"","","http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_Cannibal%20Holocaust.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Grindhouse Releasing ", "298", "209", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1980)
“The Blair Witch Project” owes much of its success to “Cannibal Holocaust,\" a film with documentary-style elements about a film crew that gets captured and eaten by a primitive tribe in South America. More polished than a lot of exploitation films, and extremely controversial when it was released, the movie still has a steady following who insist it's art. Bonus exploitation points: “Cannibal Holocaust” director Ruggero Deodato was arrested on obscenity charges after the film premiered, and his film was banned in Italy."; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"The Toxic Avenger\"","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_The%20Toxic%20Avenger.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Troma Entertainment", "298", "209", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (1985)
It’s the Charles Atlas story meets Chernobyl, with weakling Melvin getting doused by toxic waste and taking out his anger on bad guys in Tromaville. Filmed long after the peak of exploitation films, “The Toxic Avenger” has a sense of humor about its low-budget leanings, while still providing plenty of violence, gore and sexual content. Arguably the best of the exploitation films from Troma Studios, which include “Tromeo and Juliet” and “Cannibal! The Musical,” an early film from “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
"; exploitation_movies[i++] = new Array("","\"The Devil’s Rejects\"","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070327/dvd_The%20Devils%20Rejects.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Lionsgate", "298", "218", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); exploitation_movies[i-1].body = " (2005)
Before he completed “Grindhouse,” Quentin Tarantino included exploitation elements in his “Kill Bill” movies. But the best exploitation movie of the 21st Century is Rob Zombie’s “The Devil’s Rejects,” an insanely violent, morally bleak and undeniably great movie about a family of serial killers. The nods to old exploitation films are plentiful, including a cast filled with B-movie actors from the 1970s and 80s. And the music is great, including a classic final scene set to the Lynyrd Skynrd song “Free Bird.”
"; // END editorial data