A roller-coaster ride through the history of American exploitation films, ranging from Roger Corman's sci-fi and horror monster movies, 1960s beach movies, H.G. Lewis' gore-fests, William Castle's schlocky theatrical gimmicks, to 1970s blaxploitation, pre-"Deep Throat" sex tease films, Russ Meyer's bosom-heavy masterpieces, etc, etc. Over 25 interviews of the greatest purveyors of weird films of all kind from 1940 to 1975. Illustrated with dozens of films clips, trailers, extra footage, etc. This documentary as a shorter companion piece focusing on exploitation king David F. Friedman.
In the late sixties, Spanish cinema began to produce a huge amount of horror genre films: international markets were opened, the production was continuous, a small star-system was created, as well as a solid group of specialized directors. Although foreign trends were imitated, Spanish horror offered a particular approach to sex, blood and violence. It was an extremely unusual artistic movement in Franco's Spain.
A documentary about the rise and fall of the Cannon Film Group, the legendary independent film company helmed by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.
A 60-minute salute to American International Pictures. Entertainment lawyer Samuel Z. Arkoff founded AIP (then called American Releasing Corporation) on a $3000 loan in 1954 with his partner, James H. Nicholson, a former West Coast exhibitor and distributor. The company made its mark by targeting teenagers with quickly produced films that exploited subjects mainstream films were reluctant to tackle.
Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Gilda Radner and Cheech and Chong present this compilation of classic bad films from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Special features on gorilla pictures, anti-marijuana films and a special tribute to the worst film maker of all-time, Ed Wood.
Cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus relive the creation, rise and fall of their independent film company, Cannon Films. This documentary recounts their many successes and discusses their eventual downfall.
Documentary on the life of legendary filmmaker Roger Corman, often referred to as the "Pope of Pop Cinema"
In the final decades of the 20th century, the Philippines was a country where low-budget exploitation-film producers were free to make nearly any kind of movie they wanted, any way they pleased. It was a country with extremely lax labor regulations and a very permissive attitude towards cultural expression. As a result, it became a hotbed for the production of cheapie movies. Their history and the genre itself are detailed in this breezy, nostalgic documentary.
Renato Polselli a Visioni Sconsigliate
A documentary exploring the fascinating life of Baltimore B-movie legend, and John Waters' favorite, George Stover.
Directed by UK-horror scene stalwart Calum Waddell and hosted by scream queen Debbie Rochon (Terror Firmer, Tromeo and Juliet) Scream Queens: Horror Heroines Exposed features, in a change of pace for horror documentaries, especially those focusing on females in the genre, an all-female line-up, discussing horror movies from their perspective – exploring the challenges of being an actress in a genre predominantly made by and for men, from how they came about to be defined as a “scream queen”, about the vagaries of the genre: nudity, violence, misogyny, etc., and about how they feel about the genre and the label
2 1/2 hour-documentary on the rise and fall of one of the most controversial Italian genres every created. Starting with Deep River Savages arriving to the infamous Cannibal Ferox.
A look at the history of British B-movies.
A history of the ill-fated 1994 production of “The Fantastic Four” that was executive produced by Roger Corman.
The "Great Communicator" -- the 40th U.S. president -- is the subject of this in-depth documentary that draws on the insights of Ronald Reagan's political allies and adversaries alike (Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush Sr. and Caspar Weinberger). Members of Reagan's family, including Nancy Reagan, Ron Reagan Jr. and Patti Davis, are also present to discuss his achievements and influence on the American political landscape.
Remake of the 1991 low-budget thriller. Jeff works the night shift, then comes home to his domineering mother, who has the grisly habit of slaughtering neighborhood children to satisfy her insatiable bloodlust.
A young German pacifist finds documents in an old castle that prove Hitler didn't kill himself in April 1945, but fled to Spain disguised as a monk, and now works as a comedian in a remote town. He finds the former Führer in a small theater rehearsing a Charlot parody.
A survival action thriller written and directed by Oikawa Ataru, who has been a leading figure on the Japanese low-budget horror scene since his breakthrough work Tomie. Its blood-drenched visuals tell a story of high school girls engaging in a battle to the death as part of a game organized by an underground website. School outcasts Rioka (Ishibashi Anna) and transfer student Yoshimura (Kirishima Rina) enter the world of a game run by an shady website on the invitation of their absent classmate Miki (Minami Yuki). Its objective is simple: a group of high school girls murder each other until one of them achieves seven kills.
An emergency-room doctor declares war on street crime after linking drug traffic to the federal government.
David Bono is a hitman hired to target Orshanabi Nazzar, a high-ranking priest-bureaucrat in a temple corporation in the fictional city of Babylonia (Brussels-based). The corporation has invented a way to avoid death by recording people's lives. While gathering information and preparing for the job, David meets Ellie, with whom they slept together. However, Ellie is a member of a cult called Children of Ishtar, and David's job would interrupt their life-recording ceremony. Facing an obsessive dilemma, David tries to find a way to do his mission without killing Ellie. First, he tries to convince Ellie not to attend the ceremony, and then he hires a local crook to kidnap her while he does the job. After the successful job, Ellie frees herself from the kidnapper, discovers the truth, and leaves for Akkadia. Meanwhile, David calls to receive the rest of his payment but gets ambushed by the contractor.