Southern Comforts (1971)

Are you ready for another round of Bethel Buckalew hicksploitation drive-in sleaze?  That's a rhetorical question.  I know you are.

The Night Hustlers (1968)

A couple police officers tell their stories to a French author to give him inspiration for his new novel.  Throughout, the author gets numerous booty calls from his various lovers.  It's an odd flick from Florida that warrants a look.

In the Sign of the Lion (1976)

In the seventies, Denmark released a series of comedy films, each relating to an astrological sign.  We've reviewed a couple so far: In the Sign of the Gemini (1975) and In the Sign of Scorpio (1977).  What's unique about these films is that they are well directed, well acted, and fairly big budget (all things considered)... and yet they could be downright hardcore at times.  This is what film-making looks like when any remnant of sexual taboo and puritanism is removed from society.  Just picture a Mel Brooks spy spoof - but with graphic nudity throughout.  We'd be outraged and need our smelling salts to revive us from the indecency of seeing this on the big screen today - but, evidently, in 1970s Denmark, it was all good.

Busted (1997)

There's so much sad backstory here, I had to take a look.  Cory Haim was apparently doing so much drugs at the time, it affected his work to the point where Cory Feldman had to fire him.  Feldman has since said it was one of the most painful things he's ever had to do.  Plus, it stars Elliot Gould...

For those that don't remember the seventies, you don't understand how bad of a fall from grace this is.  Gould was THE man for several years in the seventies; an A-List dude that ended up declaring bankruptcy and starring in a Cory Feldman shitshow to pay the bills! This demands our attention..

Up! (1976)

Directed by Russ Meyer, written by Roger Ebert, and starring Raven De La Croix - Up! is an insane film, and "A Robust American Fun Movie".

Libido: The Urge to Love (1971)

Je suis une nymphomane (original title) - Sandra Julien is the titular nymphomaniac.  She's got a problem that is ruining her life - what will become of this rabid French nympho?

Prison Heat (1993)

I don't know if there is a film genre that follows the playbook as diligently as the Women In Prison (WIP).  We all know slasher films have a rule set (as outlined in Scream), but that's nothing compared to the WIP film, which follow the template to the letter, without fail.

Play Motel (1979)

I thought the giallo genre was more-or-less finished by the end of the seventies - I guess my timeline was a bit off.  Play Motel has all the tropes we've come to know from these Italian mystery/thrillers: groovy music, hot ladies, mysterious gloved killers, all done with a unmistakably Italian flair.  By 1979 the tropes had been done to death (pardon the pun), but as this film demonstrates, there was still room for more.  Of course, the level of sex and violence had been kicked up about a hundred notches since the days of Bava - but a giallo all the same.  Let's have a look at this decadent late seventies example of the genre...

Miami Models (1994)

Five girls are recruited by a modelling agency.  Little do they know, it's a complete fraud.  Get ready for lots of hot girls and precious little plot.

Teenage Innocence (1973)

A swingin' seventies bachelor picks up a couple hitch hikers, and nothing could have prepared him for what follows.  Let's have a look.

Up Your Teddy Bear (1970)

The Seduction of a Nerd was the title upon DVD release (via Troma), but it originally went by Up Your Teddy Bear and Hot Mother.  This oddball obscurity stars Wally Cox, Julie Newmar, Victor Buono and music by Quincy Jones!

Escape from Hell (1980)

Femmine infernali (original title) - A Women In Prison (WIP) flick set deep in the rainforest.  It contains all the usual tropes - wicked wardens, shower scenes, escapes, and, of course the shy girl always gets killed.  But there's more here than a cookie-cutter WIP - upon the oh-so-familiar template, the director has built something substantial. Let's have a look.

Vampire Hookers (1978)

 A trio of vampire hotties lure men to their cemetery lair where they suck their blood... but, "Warm Blood Isn't All They Suck."

Diamonds of Kilimandjaro (1983)

El tesoro de la diosa blanca (original title);  A search party goes looking for the daughter of a wealthy woman lost in the dense jungles of Africa.

Deep Jaws (1976)

Universal Studios threatened to sue the producers of this film over the title.  The title stayed, thankfully, and we get this wild glimpse into the cocaine-fueled disco-porno world of the seventies. 

Dance with Death (1992)

There were so many films like this in the nineties (and latter half of the eighties).  There's a string of strippers murdered, so a cop or reporter must go undercover as a stripper to catch the killer.  It was a genre unto itself.  Along the way, there's tons of red herrings and overlong striptease performances which pad the film from beginning to end.

I suppose it was a cheap way to make an erotic thriller: half the film is just shooting stripteases and the script is a ready-made cookie-cutter template.  Perhaps the biggest success was Stripped to Kill (which spawned sequels), but the legion of lesser known flicks within this odd genre are endless.  Let's have a look at one I'd never heard of - Dance With Death.

Booby Trap (1970)

"The book no one had the guts to publish, Harry Novak makes into this year's most sensational film!!"

Sisters in Leather (1969)

A guy is blackmailed by a gang of biker gang lesbians who try to enlist his wife into their ranks.  Truly "no man (or woman) was safe from these love hungry hell-cats!"

Schulmädchen-Report 4 (1972)

There were a number of Schulmädchen-Report (Schoolgirl Report) films put out by Germany, and they all came to the US with more catchy titles.  Schulmädchen-Report 4 became "Campus Swingers" and then "Sex Education" for the VHS release...

Sexbomb (1989)

A Fred Olen Ray production featuring Linnea Quigley as a scream queen (imagine that!) and Delia Shepard as a murderous golddigger.... all on the set of a B-movie production.

The Pigkeeper's Daughter (1972)

 Hicksploitation was big in the seventies. You had the action variety like White Lightning (1973) which featured lots of car chases and sweaty hairy chests.  You also had the sexy variety featuring naked farmer's daughters and such [see Tobacco Roody (1970), Sweet Georgia (1972), Sassy Sue (1973)].  This definitely falls into category number two.