Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies

2001
7.1| 1h29m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 02 April 2001 Released
Producted By: Protagonist
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Hollywood is a town of tinsel and glamour; but there is another Hollywood, a place where maverick independent exploitation filmmakers went toe to toe with the big guys and came out on top.

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Reviews

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Joe Stemme No one documentary could reasonably encompass the full range of the Exploitation Cinema, though SCHLOCK! gives it a decent go. By focusing in on just a few key figures, Director Greene gives us some depth into their careers, but limits the overall breadth of the subject.For those familiar with AIP & Roger Corman, the first section will probably contain nothing new. The dry, academic narration doesn't help matters. Countless articles, books and interviews with and by Corman and Sam Arkoff leave little room for anything fresh to be said. Some of their "discoveries" such as Peter Bogdanovich and Dick Miller also appear. The ID's on the clips are sketchy during this section as well (But improves for some reason during the rest of the film. The one glaring exception there is that the only example of early sexploitation in the cinema are excerpts from METROPOLIS of all things - AND, they're not ID'd).The Documentary kicks into gear with the long middle section focusing on David Friedman, Doris Wishman and Harry Novak and the less well known Nudist, Nudie Cutie and Roughie Sexploitation era. Friedman too has made the rounds the past couple of decades, but he's the consummate showman. The Documentary springs to life whenever he's on screen. Though there is a brief afterword on the post-Sexploitation era, the Documentary seems to take the point-of-view that Exploitation cinema ended in the early 70's when mainstream Hollywood began making the pictures that these pioneers had been making for decades (an opinion oft echoed). This short-changes the period of Drive-In Exploitation cinema that flourished in the 70s' and then had a brief revival during the VCR boom of the 80's and early-90's (This despite the fact that Corman was and IS active throughout this latter period. The film dismisses Corman's post-AIP career in a few seconds).A note on the DVD. The behind the scenes "tour" of Novak's studio/office is a fascinating peek at an era long-gone, and David Friedman shows off his best Carnival barker routine. Both pieces are fully worth the price of the DVD. In just the few years since this doc was made, the Cinema has lost both Doris Wishman and Samuel Z. Arkoff, making their inclusion here even more valuable.
shepardjessica This documentary is loaded with fascinating clips and interviews with people involved with exploitation films of the 50's and 60's. Such people as Roger Corman, Doris Wishman, Harry Novack and others give insight into the making of horror, sex, and other low-budget movies that makes one wish that era was still around.It's great to see a clip of the beautifully strange Pat Barrington in The Agony of Love (an interesting film you should check out). Someone should make a film of Ms. Barrington's life. Vampira even pops up here! I recommend this highly and have seen many of the films mentioned. Drive-in movies had a special quality of their own and it's a shame there are so few left in America.
chris miller a good look at the whole exploitation phenomenon that began in the 50s. unlike "mau mau sex sex," this film does a really good job of informing the viewer how and why exploitation movies became so popular. it looks at social and political forces that guided the rise and demise of the industry. it looks at landmark films, directors and producers. and rather than focus just on their effect on exploitation films, it looks at their effect on mainstream films as well. if you want to know about exploitation films of the 50s and 60s, this is the documentary to check out. as one reviewer noted, many of the films mentioned are released by "something weird video," another label to explore is "troma" which has many similar titles. B+.
garland-schaefers It says a lot about my movie collection that I could identify the movie before it was mentioned, and I own the vast majority of them. This probably wasn't meant to be a promotional piece for Something Weird Video, but if you like the movies talked about in this excellent documentary, the vast majority are available from SWV.