Friday, May 29, 2015

Your 2015 Junesploitation Primer

by Patrick Bromley
Next week can't come fast enough!

We're just days away from launching our third-annual Junesploitation, a month-long celebration of exploitation and genre movies. If you were with us last year, you're undoubtedly excited about doing it again. If you're new to Junesploitation (and many of you have said as much). WELCOME! We promise you're going to love it.

So let's talk about getting ready for the next 30 days. If you're unfamiliar with exploitation movies, they're basically any movie built around an exploitable element -- a "hook" that can easily be sold to audiences who want to see that sort of thing. Extreme violence and sex are common elements of exploitation movies, but they aren't necessary; pretty much every category we'll be covering in the month of June can be considered the exploitable element (cars, ninjas, slashers, cannibals). While the exploitation genre as we now know it became most prevalent in the 1960s and '70s thanks to drive-ins and 24-hour movie theaters, exploitation has been around as long as movies have.
So how do you choose what you're going to watch? A great place to start is with look at our first and second Junesploitations -- you can check out everyone's choices and capsule reviews here (I've gone back and read them to get some ideas for stuff I want to watch this year). Lots of great stuff.

You can also check out The Deuce, an unbelievable database of grindhouse and exploitation movies.

Some of this year's categories are self-explanatory; others are a bit tricker, so below we've included links to lists of titles within that genre. The Video Nasties link will take you to a list of all the movies that were banned and/or classified as such and then taken off the list. On Scream Factory day, you don't have to watch the actual Scream Factory release of whatever movie you choose; it's great if you do because we want to support them, but just watching a title that's in their library will work. In the case of Troma Day, it's a link to the studio's YouTube page, where a whole bunch of their movies are available to watch for FREE.

Should you find any of the categories unclear, let us know. One that might not be totally self-evident is "Icons!" day, but that's what it sounds like -- watch any movie from an icon of exploitation or genre movies: Pam Grier, Roger Corman, Ciro Santiago, Charles Band, Jack Hill, Henry Silva, Charles Bronson, Debbie Rochon...you get the picture.
Yes, Debbie Rochon, I will marry you
The thing to remember is that you should be enjoying what you're seeing and choosing anything you see as fitting into the categories. Don't push yourself to watch a bunch of super low-budget '70s sleaze if that's not your bag (and no one blames you if it isn't). If you don't like Troma movies (and no one blames you if you don't), you can take that day off. OR you can watch one of the feature-length 'making of' documentaries on their YouTube channel, which are in some cases more entertaining than their actual movies and offer an insanely honest look at the realities of ultra independent filmmaking.

If you're looking for an easy way to watch these movies without having to track them all down, you might consider signing up for one month of Full Moon Streaming. I've written about it a number of times, but the service really does come in handy during a month like this. If you're not a fan of Full Moon's movies, that's ok; there is a separate "Grindhouse" channel full of stuff from Bill Lustig's Blue Underground label. There are Fulci movies and Jess Franco movies giallo movies and '80s horror movies and much, much more. For Spaghetti Western day (June 15), I highly recommend Mannaja (aka A Man Called Blade), which kicks ass. Plus, this year they've begun adding titles from the Something Weird library, which includes some really crazy early exploitation. The service is $6.99 for one month; if you sign up using the ad at the right, Full Moon even throws a tiny (TINY) bit of money our way and helps keeps the lights on.
Click on the links in each of the categories below. On those hard-to-choose days, at least you'll have an idea of stuff to pick from. Just keep in mind that you can really watch ANYTHING that you think fits into the category, whether it appears on any of these lists or not. That's the fun of Junesploitation!

I've literally been so excited that I haven't been sleeping. I hope you guys are excited too.

1. Zombies!
2. Sci-fi!
3. Animals!
4. Cops!
5. ’80s Action!
6. Scream Factory!
7. Drugs!
8. Slashers!
9. Revenge!
10. Free Space!
11. Ninjas!
12. Troma!
13. Video Nasties!
14. Bugs!
15. Spaghetti Western!
16. New horror!
17. Icons!
18. Kung Fu!
19. Cannon!
20. Free Space!
21. Italian Horror!
22. Robots!
23. Blaxploitation!
24. Teenagers!
25. ‘90s Action!
26. Cannibals!
27. Cars!
28. Free Space!
29. Rock and Roll!
30. '80s Horror!

26 comments:

  1. What is this travesty of a database "The Deuce" that only has 29 Zombie films and only 9 Ninja films listed?! Lost all credibility with me :)

    I'm fired up for Junesploitation as I'm sure you are aware!

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    1. So there are MORE than 9 ninja movies?

      I know. Weak.

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    2. Honestly if you'd asked me to name 10 ninja movies, and I couldn't include Beverly Hills Ninja or the Three Ninjas franchise, I'd probably be stumped.

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  2. Super pumped! My plan is to make sure I cover every category by finding movies that cover more than one when I have to skip town for a couple days here and there.

    An informal challenge to my genre-loving Ffriends (new site name: Ffilm Ffriends - WE'LL know what the extra F stands for - also just kidding, that's terrible): Does anyone know of a movie that covers Bugs! Video Nasties! and Troma!? Or what about Cars! and Cannibals!?

    June has always been my favourite month - Junesploitation turns it up to 11!

    P.S. I did not know who Debbie Rochon was (shame on me) but somehow I knew she was Canadian.

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    1. Troma isn't on the Video Nasties official list so you'll have to get really creative and maybe find a link between directors, producers, actors and such. Then throwing in the Bug thing might make it a bit of a real challenge.

      Cars and Cannibals? i can't think of a direct link but I'm sure there are cars in certain Cannibal films. I haven't yet seen it, but I would try - "We're Going to Eat You" - 1980 Hong Kong film. You can also knock out Italian Horror with it because it steals music from "Susperia"!

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    2. Ah crap, yeah the Video Nasties things is a bit of a limiting category - I might have to check it off with The Burning on Scream Factory! day and scratch off Troma! and Bugs! with Bugged (though boy that looks pretty awful).

      We're Going to Eat You looks like some batshit fun but I just watched the trailer and there was nary a car to be seen. Rollerskates? Yes. I might abandon that particular combo as I just remembered I've been sitting on a Criterion Eating Raoul blu-ray for awhile now.

      Thanks Chaybee!

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    3. Far be it from me to stand in the way of you watching Eating Raoul (which I STILL have never seen), but I know Doomsday has cars and cannibals in it. And, if everything goes according to plan, would tie in nicely to an upcoming podcast (hint hint).

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    4. we're going to eat you is on my list this year! i am pretty psyched for that one.

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    5. Yeah, I definitely gotta check it out too!

      No problem, Sol!

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    6. Nice one, Patrick - I even have that sucker on blu-ray - I would be very interested to hear an F'ing of it because I recall it had all of the ingredients of something I should love but I didn't love it - my tastes have shifted somewhat in the past few years so I'd definitely give it a second chance - thanks for the tip!

      Eating Raoul was a late-night movie discovery I made when I was like 10 and haven't seen since so I can't speak to how worth your time it. It does have Mary Woronov's boobs in it if that helps. Come on, she's a very handsome woman! Maybe I'll just watch that tonight... #nostalgiaboner

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  3. I love Junesploitation even though I've been more of just a spectator the last 2 years. With my schedule (and by schedule I mean I have 2 small children that take up most of my time) I'd never be able to do all 30 days, but I'm gonna try and actually get in on the fun for as many days as I can this year.

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  4. Just ordered Raw Force a few days ago in anticipation. Thanks for getting me extra pumped. In other news, just saw that a friend will be screening the new Revenge Of The Ninja blu ray at SLC's Tower Theater. Yes! We're pretty proud of ROTN's local origins around these parts.

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    1. ROTN - Best Ninja movie EVER. Got my Blu Ray yesterday and going to watch the commentary this weekend. Amped!

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  5. I had no idea Troma had put their films on YouTube, that's excellent. The only Troma movie I've seen is The Toxic Avenger and I'm not a fan, but I'll see something from them. Sploitation.

    Also found several video nasties on YouTube in their entirety, so got that covered. Now I think I'll have something for every category, even though I'm not sure if I'll be able to participate every day. But when I do, I'll have a pick ready. Sploitation.

    I fear some of my choices are obvious and unimaginative, like Planet Terror for Zombies! day and Death Proof for Cars! day, but what the hell, I wanna watch those movies and they definitely fit. There will be some weird shit in there too to balance it off. Sploitation.

    Can't wait for Monday. Sploitation.

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  6. Oh man I'm super excited. I don't know how deep my selections are going to be since I'm just going off of what I've already got/what I can find at my local used dvd store, and also this is my first Junesploitation so I'm not super certain what I'm looking for. What I do know is that it's going to be loads of fun, because whenever all us F Heads get together we have a great time. Can't wait for Monday to grace us with it's zombie presence.

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  7. I think this is my first time with F This Movie for Junesploitation, but I'm going to try to participate! I've got a nice list lined up with most of the categories filled in, but I was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions for the animal category?

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    1. Check out the netflix this movie column and you'll have four

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    2. Wes, depends on what you want. I would suggest "Burning Bright" if you want something more recent. I thought that film was pretty awesome, it's underrated, under-watched and it's accessible. There are a TON that I could recommend but I would need more info as to your criteria.

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  8. Hmmm…wondering if I should watch American Ninja on ninja day or Cannon movies day. Decisions, decisions.

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    1. You could do one for the first and one of the sequels for the second? I know American Ninja 2 is on Netflix right now.

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  9. Replies
    1. I tried to explain it in the post; basically any movie starring or directed by or produced by or catered by someone associated with exploitation or genre movies. Make sense?

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    2. I just learned how to read so I missed that you exactly explained it in the post. I ask that my stupid question be stricken from the record. No, wait...leave it...as a reminder.

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