Exploitation

If you can't get to Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival to catch the highly anticipated documentary American Grindhouse, don't fret! You might have to wait a little bit longer to catch Elijah Drenner's promising feature, but it'll be making its way into the confines of your living room soon enough!

The name Duke Mitchell may not be recognizable to a lot of our readers, but fans of exploitation have probably heard of his first film as a writer/director, 1974’s Massacre Mafia Style, aka The Executioner. The next year he started filming a follow-up, then called Kiss the Ring, later given the awesome title of Gone with the Pope; however, Mitchell died before finishing the flick. Enter Grindhouse Releasing, which has undertaken a painstaking restoration.

Reviewed by MattFini Starring Orson Welles, Little Oral Annie Produced by Stephen Romano Distributed by Bloody Earth Films

The name Bill Landis might not be instantly recognizable to some of us, but for fans of exploitation cinema, he was truly an icon. So it is with much sadness that we pass on the news that Bill suffered a fatal heart attack yesterday.

All right, trying something a bit different here. Each week for countless years I’ve given you guys a full list of DVD releases hitting shelves, complete with my own descriptions of the film and links to buy 'em. The problem is that it’s a helluva lot of work and now that the Halloween season is upon us, my time is even more limited than before.

Written by Chas. Balun Published by Fantasma Books