Monday, December 16, 2013

Machete Maidens Unleashed!

Writer Director Mark Hartley is back after his debut of Not Quite Hollywood about the grindhouse flicks shot in Australia with one about the B features shot in The Philippines.

Edited with the same fast energy and filled with clip highlights from numerous films, Machete Maidens Unleashed is a fascinating and entertaining look at predominantly 70's grindhouse filmmaking, mostly for Roger Corman's New World Studios, covering the rise and fall of this particular shooting location.

Hartley has collected many interviews from directors, actors, producers and King Corman himself as they tell an interesting tale of low budget film production.  As a fan of B flicks I have to admit so many are crap except for a scene or two, and it is awesome to have essentially a highlight reel of 30 years worth of cheesy greatness.  Aside from the cool on-set stories from all those involved is an interesting concept that a few of the actresses bring up.  While they admit that the were used to titillate as their tops were constantly being torn off, they point out that these were the only pictures with tough female leads who rescued themselves at the time.  Taking it one step further some of these female leads were also racial minorities in roles that could have been played by an actress of any race.

I ask this as a follow up; When these women had their shirts ripped in fight scenes, should we not look at them like any other action hero Stallone, Arnold or Van Damme who constantly loose their shirts while killing truck loads of extras?

...But anyway , if you're a sucker for B Flicks like I am you can't go wrong with Machete Maidens Unleashed!

Currently Available on Netflix instant streaming.  

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