Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies

Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)

**** (out of 4)

Only God himself knows how many documentaries I've seen on "B" movies because I've really lost count over the years. However, I do know this here is probably the best of the bunch as it sinks its teeth into the exploitation flicks of the 30's, the low-budget teenage films of the 50's and more explicit sexploitation films of the 60's. Roger Corman, Forrest J. Ackerman, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Peter Bogdanovich, Doris Wishman, David Friendman, Dick Miller, Harry Novak and even Vampira are interviewed among others. The documentary does a great job at telling how the studio system was bombing at the box office and the likes of Corman were making millions by spending very little. The doc also does a great job at showing how difficult it was to make these films with some of them coming in in just three days. Clips from various classics are shown as well.

This documentary is loaded with fascinating clips and interviews with people involved with exploitation films of the 50's and 60's. Such people as Roger Corman, Doris Wishman, Harry Novack and others give insight into the making of horror, sex, and other low-budget movies that makes one wish that era was still around.

It's great to see a clip of the beautifully strange Pat Barrington in The Agony of Love (an interesting film you should check out). Someone should make a film of Ms. Barrington's life. Vampira even pops up here! I recommend this highly and have seen many of the films mentioned. Drive-in movies had a special quality of their own and it's a shame there are so few left in America.

It says a lot about my movie collection that I could identify the movie before it was mentioned, and I own the vast majority of them. This probably wasn't meant to be a promotional piece for Something Weird Video, but if you like the movies talked about in this excellent documentary, the vast majority are available from SWV.

a good look at the whole exploitation phenomenon that began in the 50s. unlike "mau mau sex sex," this film does a really good job of informing the viewer how and why exploitation movies became so popular. it looks at social and political forces that guided the rise and demise of the industry. it looks at landmark films, directors and producers. and rather than focus just on their effect on exploitation films, it looks at their effect on mainstream films as well. if you want to know about exploitation films of the 50s and 60s, this is the documentary to check out. as one reviewer noted, many of the films mentioned are released by "something weird video," another label to explore is "troma" which has many similar titles. B+.

"Schlock" is a fascinating, feature length documentary about the "exploitation" films of the 50s and 60s and their lasting impact upon the film industry. It also provides an insightful look into what the word "exploitation" really means.

"Schlock" introduces the viewer to the world of art-house and grindhouse flicks, everything from Nudie Cuties and Roughies right up to the Gore of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Few of these films ever saw a major theatrical release, but nevertheless managed to lure in viewers by the thousands...and dollars by the millions, influencing a whole new generation of filmmakers including Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdonovich and Sam Peckinpah. Among the interviewed are Roger Corman, the legendary Doris Wishman, Forrest Ackerman, Samuel Arkoff and Maila Nurmi, all of whom provide fascinating glimpses into a world of skin, sin and blood which not even the censors could stop.

Films featured and discussed include "The Defilers" "Bucket of Blood" "The Terror" "The Immoral Mr. Teas" "Carnival of Souls" "Kiss Me Quick" and "Bad Girls Go To Hell" to name only a few. The clips themselves are bright with candy colored lights and lots of healthy T&A, or dark with menacing shadows and splattered with blood. Either way, the viewing experience here is much like indulging in a rich feast, and is almost as good as seeing the original films themselves. From the lasting effects of World War 2, the threat of nuclear annihilation and the bloody upheaval of America in the 1960s, "Schlock" shows us the sometimes ugly, sometimes funny but always entertaining truth about the origins of these powerful films and their own lasting influence upon modern day Hollywood.

Absolutely engrossing!