Not Quite Hollywood, 2008 - ★★★
REVIEWED
Viewed as part of my Beware the Docs of March Marathon 1. A look back at the history of ozploitation movies, from its humble origins in smut with "The Naked Bunyip" through to world hits like "Mad Max" & "Lost Weekend" right up to its modern revival with "Wolf Creek".
Its hugely entertaining but as a documentary its pretty standard fair. Its a familiar talking head format mixed with film clips, the archive interviews and set footage look like they're just ripped from DVD extras.
It shockingly seems to cover a surprising amount of time on overseas stars as much as its home grown ones. These include George Lazenby, Dennis Hopper, Steve Railsback and Jamie Lee Curtis, who all made movies there. They didn't always get their own way, Jamie Lee Curtis recounts feeling like an outcast and being made to feel like she'd taken a job from one of their own actors. While Hopper recalls being so in trouble for road offences he was banned for being caught in a vehicle (be it as a driver or passanger).
Highlight for me was the final segment covering the amazing Brian Trenchard-Smith's movies, hes championed by super fan Quentin Tarantino who likens BTS's movies to his own. He really knew how to make damned entertaining flicks, many being personal faves of my own from my youth.
[PRFR: Personal Reasons For Remembering]
Learning about the film "Next of Kin", Humphries amusing digs at homosexuality, censorship the English, and exploitation legend the Trench.
Originally taken from Letterboxd
REVIEWED
"I'm sorry about Mr Prouse's absence, I've been told he'd have given his right hand to be here"Barry Humphries (About one armed film censor Richard Prouse)
Its hugely entertaining but as a documentary its pretty standard fair. Its a familiar talking head format mixed with film clips, the archive interviews and set footage look like they're just ripped from DVD extras.
It shockingly seems to cover a surprising amount of time on overseas stars as much as its home grown ones. These include George Lazenby, Dennis Hopper, Steve Railsback and Jamie Lee Curtis, who all made movies there. They didn't always get their own way, Jamie Lee Curtis recounts feeling like an outcast and being made to feel like she'd taken a job from one of their own actors. While Hopper recalls being so in trouble for road offences he was banned for being caught in a vehicle (be it as a driver or passanger).
Highlight for me was the final segment covering the amazing Brian Trenchard-Smith's movies, hes championed by super fan Quentin Tarantino who likens BTS's movies to his own. He really knew how to make damned entertaining flicks, many being personal faves of my own from my youth.
[PRFR: Personal Reasons For Remembering]
Learning about the film "Next of Kin", Humphries amusing digs at homosexuality, censorship the English, and exploitation legend the Trench.
Originally taken from Letterboxd
An in depth look at the 39 titles that were successfully prosecuted in UK courts and deemed liable to deprave and corrupt, all preceded by reviews and analysis of the film in question, including why the film was selected for inclusion on the DPP's list in the first
Herschell Gordon Lewis documentary 
Moviemaking is no way to spend a life.
Realizing the urban legend of their youth has actually come true; two filmmakers delve into the mystery surrounding five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.
S&MAN begins with footage from Michael Powell's exploration of voyeurism, "Peeping Tom." Director JT Petty uses this footage as a starting point to examine the classic comparison between filmmaking and voyeurism, particularly within the horror genre. He goes on to investigate this connection further, but rather than looking to classic horror films, Petty explores the seedy underground genre of fetish films. These movies are basically simulated snuff films where victims are raped and murdered in a variety of fantasy scenarios. The most notorious of these is a series called "S&Man," where voyeurism takes center stage as people are unknowingly followed with a camera. Petty plunges headfirst into this world of bizarre fetish films, and comes up with mesmerizing interviews with the producers and actors of these movies. Much of the footage from these videos will shock and disturb even the most seasoned horror veteran.
A look at the making of the film Troll 2 (1990) and its journey from being crowned the "worst film of all time" to a cherished cult classic.
An exploration of the appeal of horror films, with interviews of many legendary directors in the genre.
A documentary team takes on an expedition to an exotic country in Southeast Asia in search of paranormal phenomena. What they never expected is a horrifying journey with encounters of unexplained occurrences. Led by a notable parapsychologist, the encounters are so gruesome and bone chilling beyond what they can bear, ranging from paranormal phenomenon such as poltergeist, exorcism, haunted houses to supernatural forces like witchcraft, spells, voodoo, curse, etc.
Third instalment in the This Is America trilogy the segments in this entry include gun conventions, the cremation of Satan Claus, sorority house atrocities, Nazi & white power organizations and bank robberies.
Romano Vanderbes, the American shockumentary king, reaches new extremes in the sequel to THIS IS AMERICA. The atrocities on display here include animal motels, Captain Sticky- a fat, bearded American super-hero whose mission is to fight evil, restaurants that offer genital-shaped foods, topless car wash, homeless bums living in the sewers of New York, biker gangs, piranhas, kids drinking "worm juice", Christian people sniffing coke inside churches and more!
Inspired by shock-documentaries like Mondo Cane, this film looks at the wilder side of life in America. Starting off with the bloodier side of the American car culture by showing a series of crashes at race events, the film then goes on to lesser-known sexual practices. Included among these is a porno movie award show, a nude beauty contest, a sex therapy session, and a detailed explanation of where dildos come from.