Exploitation Film

An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudity, gore, destruction, rebellion, mayhem, and the bizarre. While often associated with low-budget "B movies", some exploitation films have influenced popular culture, attracted critical attention, gained historical significance, and developed cult followings.

History

While their modern form first appeared in the early 1920s, the peak periods of exploitation films were mainly the 1960s through the early 1980s, with a few earlier and later outliers. Early exploitation of the 1930s and the 1940s were often disguised as "educational" but were really sensationalist. These were shown in traveling roadshows, skirting censorship under the guise of moral instruction. 1950s saw low-budget sci-fi, monster movies, and teen rebellion films. They were still tame by later standards, but laid the groundwork. The 1960s, with the collapse of the Production Code and the rise of drive-ins and grindhouses, became fertile ground for exploitation films, which introduced sex, gore, and shock value. The 1970s are widely considered the golden age of exploitation films, with independent producers thriving in grindhouse cinemas and drive-ins. In the early 1980s, the home video explosion gave exploitation filmmakers a new playground, with VHS allowing for direct-to-video content. The MPAA crackdown and increasing mainstream competition began to dull the edge mid-decade. Starting with the late 1980s, exploitation films started to fade or become self-aware.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA), founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) and known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) from 1945 until September 2019, was established to protect the interests and image of the American film industry. In 1930, it introduced the Motion Picture Production Code — commonly known as the Hays Code — which imposed strict guidelines on film content. This code remained in effect until 1968, when it was replaced by a voluntary film rating system, administered by the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA). While the MPA collaborated with censorship boards and grassroots organizations to promote a "clean" image of Hollywood, exploitation filmmakers often operated outside this system. They embraced controversy, using it as free publicity, and relied on sensational content to attract audiences lost to television.

The definition of “exploitation” is flexible and often shaped by the viewer’s perception as much as the film’s actual content. Titillating and artistic elements frequently coexist; many art films rejected by the Hays Code were screened in the same grindhouses as exploitation films. Exploitation films share a willingness to explore "disreputable" material, much like the transgressive works of European auteurs. Numerous films now regarded as classics contain levels of sex, violence, and shock once relegated to the realm of exploitation. Both art house and exploitation audiences are often united by their rejection of mainstream Hollywood conventions.

Since the 1990s, exploitation cinema has garnered increasing academic interest and is sometimes referred to as paracinema.

Grindhouses and drive-ins

A grindhouse, also known as an action house, is an American term for a theater that primarily showcased low-budget exploitation films aimed at adult audiences. These theaters gained peak popularity in the 1970s and early 1980s, particularly in New York City and other urban centers across North America. Historian David Church notes that the term “grindhouse” originates from the "grind policy" — a film programming strategy from the 1920s involving continuous showings at discounted prices that increased throughout the day. This approach contrasted sharply with the era's more traditional exhibition model, which featured fewer daily screenings and tiered ticket pricing based on seating, typically in large, studio-owned theaters. Grindhouses began to decline in the mid-1980s with the rise of home video.

A drive-in theater is an outdoor movie venue featuring a large screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a parking area where patrons can watch films from the comfort of their cars. These theaters evolved over time in both structure and technology. Initially, audio was delivered through speakers on the screen or individual wired speakers hooked to car windows, but this system was eventually replaced by microbroadcasting the film’s soundtrack to car radios, offering better sound quality and eliminating the risk of damaging windows or cords. As drive-ins began to decline in popularity during the 1960s and 1970s, theater owners sought to attract audiences by screening low-cost exploitation films, dubbed "drive-in" films. Some producers even made films specifically for this market, and the constant demand for new content led to the theory that they would "grind out" films — an idea that may have influenced the term “grindhouse”.

Major subgenres

Exploitation films may adopt the subject matter and styling of regular film genres, particularly horror films and documentary films, and their themes are sometimes influenced by other so-called exploitative media, such as pulp magazines. They often blur the distinctions between genres by containing elements of two or more genres at a time. Their subgenres are identifiable by the characteristics they use.

Blaxploitation films

In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the Black civil rights movement, the black power movement, and the Black Panther Party, political and sociological circumstances that facilitated Black artists reclaiming their power of the Representation of the Black ethnic identity in the arts. The term ''blaxploitation'' is a portmanteau of the words ''Black'' and ''exploitation'', coined by Junius Griffin, president of the Beverly Hills–Hollywood branch of the NAACP in 1972. In criticizing the Hollywood portrayal of the multiracial society of the US, Griffin said that the ''blaxploitation'' genre was "proliferating offenses" to and against the Black community, by perpetuating racist stereotypes of inherent criminality.

After the cultural misrepresentation of Black people in the race films of the 1940s, the 1950s, and the 1960s, the Blaxploitation movie genre presented Black characters and Black communities as the protagonists and the places of the story, rather than as background or secondary characters in the story, such as the Magical negro or as the victims of criminals. To counter the racist misrepresentations of Blackness in the American movie business, UCLA financially assisted Black students to attend film school. The cultural emergence of the Blaxploitation subgenre was facilitated by the Hollywood movie studios adopting a permissive system of film ratings in 1968.

Initially, blaxploitation films were black cinema produced for the entertainment of Black people in the cities of the US, but the entertainment appeal of the Black characters and human stories extended into the mainstream cinema of corporate Hollywood. Recognizing the profitability of the financially inexpensive blaxploitation films, the corporate movie studios then produced blaxploitation movies specifically for the cultural sensibilities of mainstream viewers. Blaxploitation films were the first to feature soundtracks of funk and soul music.

The first and perhaps most iconic examples of blaxploitation were made in the 1970s. A prime example of the genre is ''Shaft'' (1971), directed by Gordon Parks and starring Richard Roundtree in the title role. Collaboration between director Jack Hill and actress Pam Grier gave birth to two of the most famous female-led blaxploitation films; '' Coffy'' (1973) and '' Foxy Brown'' (1974). '' The Wiz'' (1978) reimagines the classic children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum with an African American cast, staring singers Diana Ross and Michael Jackson in the lead roles. 1980s blaxploitation films include '' Action Jackson'' (1988) and the blaxploitation parody film '' I'm Gonna Git You Sucka'' (1988).

Cannibal films

Cannibal films, alternatively known as the cannibal boom films, are a subgenre of horror films made predominantly by Italian filmmakers during the 1970s and 1980s. This subgenre is a collection of graphically violent movies that usually depict cannibalism by primitive, Stone Age natives deep within the Asian or South American rainforests. While cannibalism is the uniting feature of these films, the general emphasis focuses on various forms of shocking, realistic and graphic violence, typically including torture, rape and genuine cruelty to animals. This subject matter was often used as the main advertising draw of cannibal films in combination with exaggerated or sensational claims regarding the films' reputations.

Ruggero Deodato's '' Cannibal Holocaust'' (1980) is often considered to be the best-known film of the genre due to the significant controversy surrounding its release, and is one of the few films of the genre to garner mainstream attention. Another famous film of the genre is Umberto Lenzi's '' Cannibal Ferox'' (1981).

Canuxploitation films

"Canuxploitation" is a neologism that was coined in 1999 by the magazine '' Broken Pencil'', in the article "Canuxploitation! Goin' Down the Road with the Cannibal Girls that Ate Black Christmas. Your Complete Guide to the Canadian B-Movie", to refer to Canadian-made B-movies.Walz, Eugene P. ''Canada's Best Features: Critical Essays on 15 Canadian Films'' Rodopi, 2002. P. xvii. Most mainstream critical analysis of this period in Canadian film history, however, refers to it as the "tax-shelter era"."The History of the Canadian Film Industry"
The Canadian Encyclopedia.

The phenomenon emerged in 1974, when the government of Canada introduced new regulations to jumpstart the then-underdeveloped Canadian film industry, increasing the Capital Cost Allowance tax credit from 60 per cent to 100 per cent. Geoff Pevere and Greig Dymond, '' Mondo Canuck: A Canadian Pop Culture Odyssey''. Prentice Hall, 1996. . Chapter "Go Boom Fall Down: The Tax-Shelter Film Follies", pp. 214–217. While some important and noteworthy films were made under the program, and some film directors who cut their teeth in the "tax shelter" era emerged as among Canada's most important and influential filmmakers, the new regulations also had an entirely unforeseen side effect: a sudden rush of low-budget horror and genre films, intended as pure tax shelters since they were designed not to turn a conventional profit. Many of the films, in fact, were made by American filmmakers, whose projects had been rejected by the Hollywood studio system as not commercially viable, giving rise to the Hollywood North phenomenon. '' Variety'' dubbed the genre "maple syrup porno".

The period officially ended in 1982, when the Capital Cost Allowance was reduced to 50 per cent, although films that had entered production under the program continued to be released for another few years afterward. However, at least one Canadian film blog extends the "Canuxploitation" term to refer to any Canadian horror, thriller or science fiction film made up to the present day.

David Cronenberg stands out as the most important director of this era, with the films '' Shivers'' (1975), '' Rabid'' (1977), '' The Brood'' (1979), '' Scanners'' (1981) and '' Videodrome'' (1983). Certain important Canuxploitation films were slashers, like '' Black Christmas'' (1974), '' Prom Night'' (1980), '' Terror Train'' (1980), '' Happy Birthday to Me'' (1981) and '' My Bloody Valentine'' (1981). Other important Canuxploitation films include '' Porky's'' (1981) and ''Class of 1984'' (1982).

Chanbara films

''Chanbara'', meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of ''jidaigeki'', which equates to period drama. While earlier samurai period pieces were more dramatic rather than action-based, samurai films produced after World War II have become more action-based, with darker and more violent characters. Historically, the genre is usually set during the Tokugawa era (1600–1868).

In the 1950s and the 1960s, famous Japanese directors like Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Hiroshi Inagaki, Masaki Kobayashi, Kaneto Shindo and Kihachi Okamoto made samurai-themed films. However, none of these films fall under the category of exploitation cinema. While some may contain violence, samurai action, or supernatural elements, they are all recognized as artistically significant works by acclaimed directors.

In the 1970s, a revisionist, non-traditional style of samurai film achieved some popularity in Japan. It became known as ''chanbara'', an onomatopoeia describing the clash of swords. ''Chanbara'' features few of the stoic, formal sensibilities of earlier ''jidaigeki'' films – the new ''chanbara'' featured revenge-driven antihero protagonists, nudity, sex scenes, swordplay and blood. This new subgenre is mostly associated with 1970s samurai manga by Kazuo Koike.

The most famous films based on Koike's work are as follows: '' Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance'' (1972), directed by Kenji Misumi and starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, tells the story of Ogami Ittō, a wandering assassin for hire who is accompanied by his young son, Daigoro. It is the first in a series of six films in the ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' series. '' Shogun Assassin'' (1980), directed by Robert Houston, was edited and compiled from the first two films in the series. '' Lady Snowblood'' (1973), directed by Toshiya Fujita and starring Meiko Kaji, recounts the tale of Yuki, a woman who seeks vengeance upon three of the people who raped her mother and killed her half brother.

Eurospy films

Eurospy film (or Spaghetti spy film, when referring to Italian-produced films in the genre), is a genre of spy films produced in Europe, especially in Italy, France, and Spain, that either sincerely imitated or else parodied the British James Bond spy series feature films. The genre was an offshoot of the wider 1960s spy craze that had begun with James Bond in 1962 and had taken root across the Western world, lasting into the early-to-mid '70s in countries such as the UK. Britain participated in the Eurospy movement it had inspired, albeit spreading its output across lower-budget Eurospy-style copycat media and more serious productions with higher budgets than were typical of the genre.

Eurospy films are better categorized as "spy action" films because they emphasize stylized action, gadgets, and exotic locales over the psychological tension and realism typical of "spy thrillers" which are not action-oriented. An important example is the French film '' The Professional'' (1981).

Giallo films

In Italian cinema, ''giallo'' is a genre of murder mystery fiction that often contains slasher, thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural horror elements.

This particular style of Italian-produced murder mystery horror-thriller film usually blends the atmosphere and suspense of thriller fiction with elements of horror fiction and eroticism, and often involves a mysterious killer whose identity is not revealed until the final act of the film. The genre developed in the mid-to-late 1960s, peaked in popularity during the 1970s, and subsequently declined in commercial mainstream filmmaking over the next few decades, though examples continue to be produced. It was a predecessor to, and had significant influence on, the later slasher film genre.

The first notable examples of ''giallo'' were made by Mario Bava, which include '' Blood and Black Lace'' (1964) and '' A Bay of Blood'' (1971). However, the most famous examples were made by Dario Argento in the 1970s and 1980s, which include '' The Bird with the Crystal Plumage'' (1970), ''The Cat o' Nine Tails'' (1971), '' Four Flies on Grey Velvet'' (1971), '' Deep Red'' (1975), '' Tenebrae'' (1982), ''Phenomena'' (1985) and ''Opera'' (1987). Lucio Fulci is another famous director of ''giallo'' films, which include '' Don't Torture a Duckling'' (1972) and '' The New York Ripper'' (1982).

Hippie exploitation films

Hippie film is a subgenre of films with hippie characters, films which portray the hippie subculture, and films which promote the non-materialistic hippie counterculture values of peace, love, natural living, communal lifestyles, freedom, spiritual exploration, creativity, travel and pilgrimage, the quest for truth, changing the world for the better, consciousness, and a meaningful life.

Hippie films were an American phenomenon, and they were popular from the late 1960s to the late 1970s, with important examples including '' Easy Rider'' (1969), '' Woodstock'' (1970), '' Zabriskie Point'' (1970), '' Let's Scare Jessica to Death'' (1971), '' Fritz the Cat'' (1972), '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1973) and ''Hair'' (1979).

Martial arts films

Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently featured in training scenes and other sequences in addition to fights. Martial arts films commonly include hand-to-hand combat along with other types of action, such as stuntwork, chases, and gunfights.

Martial arts films emerged as a mainly Hong Kong phenomenon. Bruce Lee is regarded as one of the most influential martial artists in the history of cinema. Known for his roles in five feature-length martial arts films, Lee is credited with helping to popularize martial arts films in the 1970s. These films are '' The Big Boss'' (1971), '' Fist of Fury'' (1972), ''The Way of the Dragon'' (1972), '' Enter the Dragon'' (1973) and ''Game of Death'' (1978). The first three of these movies are Hong Kong productions, while the last two are Hong Kong/USA co-productions, with the last film being released five years after Lee's death in 1973. The end of the 1970s also saw other important Hong Kong martial arts films, with Jackie Chan emerging as the next big martial arts talent. '' Snake in the Eagle's Shadow'' (1978) established Chan's slapstick kung fu comedy style, while also establishing the basic plot structure used in many martial arts films internationally since then. In the same year, Chan also starred in '' Drunken Master'' (1978), featuring much of the same crew as and bearing similarities in its story and style to the earlier film. Another important martial arts film from the same year is '' The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' (1978), starring Gordon Liu.

In the 1980s, Jackie Chan dominated the martial arts film scene, by starring in films like '' Project A'' (1983), '' Wheels on Meals'' (1984), '' Police Story'' (1985), '' Armour of God'' (1986) and '' Dragons Forever'' (1988). Apart from these Hong Kong films, notable American martial arts films were also made in the 1980s. The most notable star to emerge in the American martial arts film scene was Jean-Claude Van Damme, who starred in films like '' No Retreat, No Surrender'' (1985), '' Bloodsport'' (1988), ''Cyborg