If you’re a fan of our beloved genre then chances are you’re also a fan of the classic exploitation films of the 1970s and 1980s. If this is indeed the case then boy do I have a treat to tell you about today!
I’m talking about a documentary heading our way called MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED. And yeah, it’s basically exactly what it sounds like.
Buxom beauties. Bizarre creatures. Gratuitous violence. Gratuitous buxomness. To the exploitation filmmakers of the 1970s and ’80s who sought artistic freedom in the towns and jungles of the Philippines, there was no stunt too risky, no story too ridiculous, and no clothing that could not be removed in the name of mass entertainment. The story of these undaunted, occasionally uninoculated movie makers and stars is told in Machete Maidens Unleashed, an eye-popping examination of an often overlooked grindhouse subgenre.
According to a recent press release Dark Sky Films are planning on dropping this little puppy onto DVD starting July 26th. Being an Official Selection at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, the 2010 Philadelphia International Film Festival and many more, MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED sounds like something you might want to take a look at. Don’t take my word for it though, scope out the press release:
With Machete Maidens Unleashed, AFI Award-winning filmmaker Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood) dives head-first into the hidden history of the American-backed Philippine production boom. Filled with outrageous footage from this lost era and firsthand accounts from Roger Corman, Joe Dante, John Landis, Jack Hill and a host of others who experienced the madness live and in person, Machete Maidens Unleashed is a delirious ride through an exhilarating period of film history.
With their frequently insane plots involving midget James Bond clones, papier-mâché monsters and, of course, imprisoned busty babes who work the sugar cane fields by day and take group showers by night, these humid hits fed the grindhouses of 42nd Street and elsewhere, as well as late-night cable TV. Also paying tribute to the films and no-holds-barred filmmakers in this rowdy, one-of-a-kind celebration are genre icons Sid Haig, Pam Grier, R. Lee Ermey and Dick Miller. Fans will have a field day spotting old favorites like Colleen Camp, Judith Brown, Leigh Christian and Andrea Cagan.
You know you want to see this shite. Go ahead and mark it on your calenders folks – MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED hits DVD on July 26th!
MACHETE’s Electra & Elise Avellan… just because.
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