Upcoming grindhouse flicks stay true to definition (Podcast)
Podcast can be listened to here.
TRANSCRIPT: It seems that there will always be a handful of people in Hollywood satisfying our indecent thirsts for visual depictions of exploitation in cinema. From 42nd Street in New York City, a broad genre called ‘Grindhouse’ emerged, combining sex, violence, drug use, cannibalism, car chases, and a long list of other abused low-budget film subject matters. John Landis, director of Animal House, gives a great explanation of the Grindhouse theatre, which you can hear in the podcast.
In 2007 Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez teamed up to release the high concept double feature Grindhouse in American theatres, which consisted of two feature-length segments, bookended with fake trailers, advertisements, and announcements. The Rodriguez-directed Planet Terror and Tarantino-directed Death Proof were both critical successes.
Enter 2010. Three years later and the Grindhouse hype has come and gone… or has it?
SlashFilm.com announced this month that director Bruce McDonald, who’s brought us Hard Core Logo, The Tracey Fragments, and Pontypool, is currently working on his women in prison martial arts revenge film, titled Lucky Ho, which follows a 18-year-old school girl who is set up for murder. Lucky is sent to a prison filled with the most dismaying criminals and a corrupt warden who has an attraction for his female prisoners. She must fight and kill in an after hours fight club in order to save both herself from bloodthirsty thrill-seeking inmates and her younger sister from their sexually abusive stepfather. The plot reminds me of the low-budget film Riki-Oh: The Story of Riki, which featured over-the-top gore-filled fight scenes and cheesy dialogue. I recommend it to the most dedicated grindhouse fans only. Lucky Ho is set to begin production this summer.
In the meantime, a few of the fake trailers shown in between the earlier mentioned Grindhouse double feature are in either production or post-production and will be released starting this September with the Robert Rodriguez-directed Machete, starring Danny Trejo. The trailer can be seen below, along with the trailer for the Edgar Wright-directed faux trailer Don’t. DISCLAIMER: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE AND NUDITY ARE PRESENT WITHIN.
Related Sites:
The Grind-House – foreign and domestic movie posters, t-shirts, and hoodies
The Deuce – grindhouse cinema database
