You want to surprise your film buff this holiday season?
Here’s a sure way to make a loved one smile…
Talk about a happy holiday! Sure, you can buy Oscar-winning films, acclaimed documentaries, and “Breaking Bad” box sets – OR you can go a different direction…
Remember what they said: to each his own – and let’s be honest, it’s virtually ALL “his own” when it comes to this type of film – that said, I have gotten a lot of interest from female fans of exploitation films as well – especially movies like this:
Behold Japan’s “Machine Girl!” Trust me when I tell you she has revenge on her mind – a a HUGE machine gun attached to her arm! This new genre of “J-sploitation” is a great holiday gift, as well as some of these more aggressively outrageous films in the exploitation genre, like:
It’s An “Exploitation” Holiday!
If you want to give your film fanatic a thrill this holiday season, I’ve got just the gifts for you! Time to look at ten of the wildest “sexploitation” classics you can buy this holiday for the film buff in your life! I will share some, shall we say, “obscure” titles…
And I will share some that are among the most legendary films ever committed to celluloid – and are just plain, well – WRONG:
They are ALL fascinating examples of a bygone era of movie making – and thanks to some great independent film companies, you can enjoy them now as well!
“Sexploitation” Lives!
If you are new to the genre, “Sexploitation” describes a class of low-budget film generally associated with the 1960s and 70′s and serving largely, as wikipedia describes:
“A vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity.”
Can’t argue with that! And if you do, you can expect to get roughed up a bit:
This is the classic sexploitation film “Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” And there are a number of legendary sexploitation stars as well…like Christina Lindberg!
“The Godfather” Of Grindhouse!
Let’s get started with your shopping list – the ten wildest sexploitation movies ever, beginning with “The Godfather” of the genre, starring Christina Lindberg of course!
#10 – Thriller: A Cruel Picture – AKA “They Call Her One Eye!”
Yes, I started with the most controversial exploitation film of them all – and to many fans, the best one as well!
I have posted about this several times already – it is the “Godfather of Grindhouse”…and one of the most legendary as well! It was originally released on grindhouse screens in the US in the early 70′s as “They Call Her One-Eye” – and even “Hooker’s Revenge”, although she’s not a hooker!
Director Quentin Tarantino expressed his admiration for both the film and Lindberg’s performance, and she later served as an inspiration for Darryl Hannah’s character in Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” films.
Here is Quentin more recently with Christina, who he greatly admired, for good reason!
Take a look at the classic trailer, with the US grindhouse title:
Lindberg plays Frigga, who lives with her parents on their farm. Unable to speak after being horrifically raped by an elderly man when she was young, her parents spend the majority of their money on speech therapy classes for their daughter in the hope that one day, she will speak again. One day, Frigga misses the bus to get to her speech therapy class.
She accepts a ride off a suave looking gentlemen named Tony who pulls up beside her. Once they are in town, he takes her for a meal. Afterwards, he takes Frigga back to what appears to be his bachelor pad. He gives her wine that has been drugged, as she passes out.
The man then takes no time in bringing a crooked doctor in to get her fixed on high class heroin.
But Christina escapes after being partially blinded in a brutal attack, and trains herself for the ultimate revenge!
“The Roughest Revenge Movie Ever Made!” Sez Quentin Tarantino!
“Thriller” is a classic of the genre – chock full of sex, violence and revenge!
Quentin Tarantino called it “the roughest revenge movie ever made”, and recommended that actress Daryl Hannah watch the film to prepare for her role in “Kill Bill” as the one-eyed killer Elle Driver.
A long standing rumor surrounding the film was that a real corpse was used for the scene where Madeleine’s eye is taken out with a scalpel. In a March 2006 interview, Christina Lindberg confirmed this. The body was of a young girl who had committed suicide. Makeup was added to the eye, and the shot was filmed in the hospital that had received the body!
If you don’t appreciate grindhouse cinema, DO NOT buy this one. But these films were all european made, and they exhibit a style and mood that is unlike some of the more outrageous US releases at the time…and they are an important part of film history as well…
Honorable mention: ALL other Christina Lindberg movies!
Yes, EVERY single Christina Lindberg film is a sexploitation classic! “Exposed” is one of her great movies, “Anita” is another!
As you can see, Christina Lindberg was the “Queen Of Artsploitation!”
Click on the story below to find out all about this fascinating woman – and see more of her classic films!
Now, we continue in Europe for what is, for me, one of the wildest, most depraved grindhouse films found by the Danish!
9 – The Sinful Dwarf!
Let’s take a look at “THE MOTHER OF ALL DWARFSPLOITATION FILMS!!”
This 1974 Danish film was recently uncovered after years of being lost, and let me tell you, they found a wild wild WILD movie!
“A young bride, left alone to the lewd passions of an evil dwarf!”
Meet the film’s star – the diminutive former kiddie-show host Torben Bille – who looks disturbingly like Jack Black in a trash compactor -
The Sinful Dwarf is the pint-sized pervert who imprisons drugged teenage sex slaves in the attic of his drunken mother’s decrepit rooming house…and that’s just the first ten minutes!
Poor Anne Sparrow!
Anne Sparrow stars in the film as well. Just look at this description of her, from the cover art on the DVD:
“The delicious Anne Sparrow – in her first and understandably only screen role – co-stars in this towering achievement in graphic depravity, now fully restored from a 35mm print discovered hidden in a janitor’s closet at the Danish Film Institute!”
Anne Sparrow certainly had a good reason NEVER TO ACT AGAIN – Oh, did I mention that our Sinful Dwarf has a Mom – a Mom who is CRAZY – and yes, she SINGS!
You will never clean your ears the same way again…and yes, that’s right – this movie was not only found in a janitor’s closet in Denmark – but they chose not to throw it out!
You will NEVER see a more bizarre film than “The Sinful Dwarf” – and yes, it’s as “euro-sleazy” as they come…this is grindhouse at its best – or worst!
#8 – Mantis In Lace!
Here’s another classic for you – with a plot that is almost “too wild” to believe!
Lila is a good-natured go-go dancer who strips at a seedy topless bar on the Sunset Strip. After ingesting LSD, Lila becomes a psychopathic serial killer.
Read This Carefully!
Now listen to how crazy this plot gets: she continues to pick up men at the bar where she is employed, but:
after her sanity is lost she routinely is interrupted mid-coitus by psychedelic bad trips in which she visualizes a balding, half-naked old man clutching wads of cash in one hand and a bunch of bananas in the other.
Yes, you read that right! Here is what that “half-naked old man clutching wads of cash” looks like:
And of course, the poster for this classic piece of sexploitation lives forever – behind The President and Vice President! How funny that Obama and Biden visited a hamburger stand that proudly showcased the film right behind them!
Well, it could have been worse, I suppose….perhaps like this?
#7 – Lorna The Exorcist!
Legendary softcore filmmaker Jess Franco made a ton of great sexploitation movies: stuff like “The Hot Nights Of Linda” and “Female Vampire”, both starring sex kitten Lina Romay…
Did I mention she was his wife and longtime creative partner? One of their most shocking films of all is this strange classic:
“Lorna The Exorcist” is a pure european arthouse shocker: like many of the Christina Lindberg films, there are long, moody shots interrupted by a surprisingly amount of nudity – and Lina was an exhibitionist – so the nudity part was never a problem…
You can read more about this fascinating Actress – and the Director who filmed her wildest movies – by clicking on the link here:
And you have to see the end of “Lorna”, which has Lina’s most dramatic acting ever!
Time to head back to the states and praise a maverick Director who let his passions – and obsessions – play out on drive-in movie screens across America!
#6 – Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
It’s got one of the greatest – and most iconic – movie titles in film history: and it also introduced the world to the toughest, most independent – and yes, most liberated women in exploitation!
Director Russ Meyer LOVED women – and he loved to highlight them in his films, which were full of liberated, progressive, ASS-KICKING LADIES!
There is no denying the impact “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” had in America. It tore down all sorts of barriers in films: lots of sex, violence, and nudity – plus a strong, feminist point of view! For that, Meyer deserves some credit, even though his films certainly oogled his female stars in pure “sexploitation” fashion…
As Russ Meyer would say himself, one is never enough, so to see ALL of his amazing work, head to the post I have right here:
http://johnrieber.com/2012/03/16/sexploitation-classics-the-russ-meyer-edition/
“Giallo” To You, Too!
Time to head to Italy for what is a fascinating genre of film, most effectively captured in all of his nudity and bloodshed by the nicely titled:
#5 – Strip Nude For Your Killer!
This movie has a lurid title to be sure, but it’s really a well done suspense thriller about a killer on the loose in Rome.
A fashion photographer is suspected, and of course, he shoots LOTS of pictures of nude models, so it is up to him to solve the crime…
As I said, these italian suspense films were very popular in the 70′s, and they are good movies as well – even with outrageous titles!
If you are unfamiliar with the classic genre “italian giallo”, then click on here for find out all about Europe’s “pulp fiction”!
From Italy, time to head to the other side of the world, where they are indeed turning sexploitation upside down!
#4 – Robo Geisha!
RoboGeisha! - 2009. Yes, this is a film about a robotic Geisha. If you want to jump right into the deep end of the japanese j-sploitation “crazy pool”, this is the movie to start you off!
Here is the plot: Yoshie, the younger and ill-treated sister of a renowned Geisha, is discovered to have natural strength and fighting ability. She’s recruited into an army of Geisha assassins by the rich and powerful owner of a steel-works, Kageno. During training large (and interesting) parts of their bodies are altered into weaponry directly linked to their brains.
Let’s stop for a second and repeat one line:
parts of their bodies are altered into weaponry.
So what you see above you is a “buttsword”. Yes, it is. She has a sword that comes out of her butt. And that is just the beginning….they also have breast machine guns!
Did I mention that the film features Tengu Warriors – who wear red penis noses?
“Fried Shrimp!”
Did I mention that one girl plunges fried shrimp into the eyes of her enemy?
That’s right: FRIED SHRIMP!
And yes, she has a rotating buzzsaw face…but did you expect less? This movie is CRAZY!
Now, to continue our trip into fantasy land…
#3 – Alice In Wonderland
Yes, this is one of the strangest, and most erotic films of the 70′s – an adult telling of the story of Alice – but this trip is a completely DIFFERENT kind of wonderland!
In this notorious X-rated version of the story, Alice is a virginal librarian, cheerful and outgoing, who acts and dresses younger than her age. While daydreaming about reliving her life, a white rabbit taps her on the shoulder, and she follows him to Wonderland, where playful animals and people introduce her to her imagination and to pleasure.
Kristine DeBell stars as the virginal Alice, who learns alot obout life while down the rabbit hole…
This movie was a big hit – and a rare example of a sexploitation film that highlights comedy and characters over sex and violence…
Now, back to our buddy Jess Franco, and one of his action adventure films…
#2 – Countess Perverse!
Bullseye!
Here is another aspect of a classic sexploitation movie – with a classic film plot that gets twisted, exploitation style! In a play on “The Rules Of The Game”, Jess Franco takes the concept of hunting humans and puts his “euro-sleaze” take on it – he gets a woman to hunt down and kill people – naked!
Alice Arno stars as the naked hunter – and, since it is a Jess Franco film, Lina Romay is back – as the hunted!
The plot is simple: a young girl stumbled upon a castle on an island – and discovers that she is scheduled AS the next meal!
There is SO much nudity in this film that it’s almost hard to concentrate – but then again, that IS the point of the genre:
And once you see a naked woman hunt another naked woman with a bow and arrow, your life will never be the same…
So how this this whole genre begin? I’ve written about it before, but in a nutshell, the sexual revolution of the sixties created an opportunity for savvy Producers to sell “SEX SEX SEX” even if they really didn’t have any sex to show!
#1 – A Smell Of Honey, A Swallow Of Brine!
This film is #1 on my list of the greatest sexploitation movies because it encapsulates everything I have been talking about!
First of all, look at that title: pure sexploitation perfection! This early 60′s film is amazingly tame, even by sexploitation standards, but it acts like it’s a cautionary tale of drugs, sex and sin!
“I May Be A Bitch, But I’ll NEVER Be A Butch!”
Here is a brief scene from the movie that captures everything that makes early sexploitation films so much fun!
This is classic sexploitation: wayward young women discovering how gritty the streets of a big city can be:
Of course, these women grow up fast – meeting all the wrong guys, and finding themselves in the most adult of situations:
So there you have it – ten of the wildest movies you can give someone – films that celebrate an more innocent time, when audiences could still be shocked and amazed at the depravity all around them…enjoy your holiday viewing!
