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.