The 2010 documentary AMERICAN GRINDHOUSE is an exhaustive look at the exploitation film from the first day of movies through today.
These are the pictures most of us remember playing as double features in the drive-ins of the sixties of the seventies, right through the horror splatter films of the early 80's and beyond.
Director Elijah Drenner has brought together an interesting & eclectic group of filmmarkers like John Landis, Joe Dante, Hershel Gordon Lewis to comment on the film history and brought Robert Forster in to narrate the journey through film history.
This is an adult documentary, with fascinating looks at the early sex films masquerading as documentaries of the 50s (with separate shows for BOYS and GIRLS, 16 and above please) all the way through the biker films of the sixties, the emergence of mainstream pornography in the late sixties and how they are all related as uniquely American film genres.
The glimpses at the theatres of the time, original trailers and films and the humorous and insightful (but mostly funny) observations of the filmmakers makes for an interesting documentary.
Recommended for film buffs who aren't easily offended, its a solid B.
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