WARNING! The following motion pictures depict acts of an offensive and extreme nature. Because of the numerous scenes of unremitting savagery, violence and sexual depravity, absolutely no one under 18 will be permitted to view these pictures!

13. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 1974
"What happened was true...the most bizarre and brutal series of crimes in America."

I remember when this first hit videocassette, one of the local video stores had this huge ad from Media Entertainment heralding the films arrival on VHS with that classic blurb from Rex Reed at the top. Since my parents had recently divorced, I was free to see as many horrors as I could lay my hands on and having seen PIECES on tape around the same time (catching that films trailer on TV followed by incessant begging to see it at our local bijou was a futile attempt knowing how my mother felt about movies that starred loud power tools), sitting down to some TEXAS CHAINSAW mayhem was a no-brainer.

The power of Hooper's movie relied not in its supposed gore quotient, but in its ability to get under your skin by what you don't see, enabling your mind to fill in the blanks. I remember my mom describing the scene where Leatherface supposedly severs William Vail's limbs with his chainsaw, the sight of which was never, ever shown. Itself influenced by real life psycho Ed Gein, TCM has bred a slew of movies in which a group of individuals take a wrong turn, or end up at some isolated location out in the middle of nowhere never to be seen again. DELIVERANCE (1972) made a dark, if glossy and polished version of this concept. TEXAS CHAINSAW was simply cheap, raw and dirty.

Years later, Australian Peter Jackson, over a decade before helming the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, paid tribute to The Saw in his hilarious gore-comedy BAD TASTE (1987) with arguably the greatest in-joke in horror history.
The biggest foreign influence in recent years comes from the delightfully downbeat French Renaissance of Horror that emerged approximately ten years ago with a surge of movies with roots ripped straight from Hooper's film. It's interesting to note how these French filmmakers produce predominantly new product displaying their influences while the American companies are content with remaking the originals.
"This is the movie that is just as real...just as close...just as terrifying as being there. Even if one of them survives, what will be left? THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE...after you stop screaming, you'll start talking about it."


One of the most popular distribution devices at the time for enterprising promoters saddled with a box office no-show was to re-release the same movie under different titles in the hopes of a film finding its audience. Hooper's Southern Gothic follow-up never found its audience despite siring multiple titles such as STARLIGHT SLAUGHTER, HORROR HOTEL and once more in 1983 with LEGEND OF THE BAYOU, the latter of which even experimented with some creative license with the poster imagery for Hooper's THE FUNHOUSE (1981). In all these examples, you will notice the mention of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE somewhere on the advertising.

William Girdler's THREE ON A MEATHOOK from 1973 had a father and son living on an isolated farmhouse, the setting where a handful of beautiful girls disappeared. Dead girls dangling from meathooks, death by axe, shotgun and cannibalism are all on the menu in this cheap early 70s drive in flick. The former has acquired a healthy cult following over the years while the latter, while largely forgettable, has some trashy merits, but remains languishing in obscurity.
Hooper's original Meat Movie champion managed to accrue three sequels, a remake, a sequel to the remake and a proposed television series of all things. TCM is so deeply entrenched within America's pop culture lexicon, I don't think it's possible to see a movie with a chainsaw being used without an image of Leatherface doing his dance of death entering the mind. You don't just watch THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, you experience it. You'll never see the slamming of a metal door the same way again.

14. ILSA, SHE-WOLF OF THE SS 1974
"The ultimate in screen terror! Raw horror that was the Nazi nightmare explodes on the screen!"

The high quotient of sex and nudity present in ILSA, SHE-WOLF OF THE SS (1974) didn't go unnoticed in such major publications as Playboy Magazine, which featured an image of a fully nude Peggy Sipots slowly hanging herself while standing atop a block of ice in the 'Sex In Cinema' article from the November 1975 issue.

Cinepix, the Canadian distribution company that handled the previous two ILSA's, got behind the third film in the series--ILSA, THE TIGRESS OF SIBERIA (1977)--which ended up being a radical departure from the dominatrix's previous installments. The first half is traditional Fraulein territory (this time set in the frozen Siberian wasteland), but the latter half takes on a spy style narrative that jumps ahead 24 years later to find Ilsa covertly running a prostitution ring in modern day Canada! What makes this entry of particular interest is the participation of Roger Corman, Ivan Reitman--who directed CANNIBAL GIRLS (1972) and GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)--and director Jean LeFleur, whose previous credits were handling less salacious fare.
"For some, there was death... slow... brutal... for others, the chosen few... there was only Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS!"

"Together with her Black Widows, she committed crimes so terrible, even the SS feared her!"

With a budget allotted at $250,000, the plot would also have bore some resemblance to Don Edmond's earlier examples of Ilsa, but cutting back on the level of sexual shenanigans. Amazingly, Ilsa was to have fallen in love with Bruce Lee who would use his hold over her to bring about her demise; a story conceit which pretty much sealed her fate in the previous two movies. For whatever reason, this gem of an idea seemingly never got passed the idea stage. Incidentally, the enterprising Dunning also envisioned further adventures of the Nazi sex fiend such ILSA, SHE LION OF THE MAU MAU!
15. THE STREET FIGHTER 1974
"Terry Tsuguri... 6 foot 6 of half-breed fury! But he's got a little problem... he has a hard time making friends!"

It's Chiba's performance that stands out above the generous amount of bright red gushing about. To call it over the top is an understatement. With Chiba's constant mugging, bizarre facial contortions and animal noises, it's impossible to take your eyes off him. The actor was graced with a uniquely intimidating face that spoke volumes without the use of dialog. His fists and feet did most of the talking anyways.

Like its Japanese unveiling, RETURN OF THE STREET FIGHTER (1974) was rapidly released in America to maintain Chiba's momentum, itself riding the coattails of the Hong Kong kung fu wave. Yet again, the gore was drastically cut and it didn't help that the film contained a lot of stock footage from part one in flashback sequences. Terry Levene of Aquarius Releasing dusted off Chiba's BODYGUARD KIBA from 1973 and released it in 1976 as simply THE BODYGUARD (or, VIVA, CHIBA! THE BODYGUARD as is seen on the opening credits) and bearing one of the decades most outrageous trailers.
"I'll kill Tsurugi now, I owe it to him!"

Technically not an exploitation movie, it did frequently wallow in extreme violence such as geysers of blood, broken bones and a show-stopping sequence where a gangster has his penis severed and fed to a dog! And this picture is based on a true story(!) regarding the Japanese martial arts master, Doshin So, who brought Chinese martial arts to Japan. Notice the poster artwork manages to squeeze in a mention of 'STREETFIGHTER' between the actors name.
"You beat a man they call you tough! You beat an army they call you... THE STREET FIGHTER!"


Hoping to ride the STAR WARS wave with their acquisition of Toei's elaborately gaudy imitation, Kenji Fukasaku's MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978)--at one time the most expensive Japanese production up to that time--United Artists discovered too late that the Force wasn't with them. Chiba was merely a co-star here, but the film is indeed a lot of fun, and Lucas would seem to have borrowed elements from Fukasaku's film for his later science fiction epics.

Chiba's legacy lived on in the minds of those who witnessed his special brand of brutality and even led to a handful of co-starring roles in low budget American actioners during the 1990s. Airings of his hit Japanese ninja show, SHADOW WARRIORS, kept him in the public eye particularly for those on the west coast. Regardless of what some may think of of him, Quentin Tarantino was instrumental in getting the uncut version of THE STREET FIGHTER out on VHS and laserdisc and re-familiarizing the western world with the Incredible Sonny Chiba.
16. THE FLYING GUILLOTINE 1975
"Hold onto your heads!"

Bordering on horror movie conventions, Ho Meng Hua's classic film was a hit in Asia and America. So much so, that a whole sub genre of guillotine movies began flying out of nowhere ready to snatch the money from the hands of eager patrons. Warner's handled North American distribution and at one point, the film played a double bill with the notorious SNUFF (1976). You'll notice from the artwork above that Warner's accurately conveyed the cast and director credits. Out of the numerous knock-offs, an official FG sequel, THE FLYING GUILLOTINE 2 (1978) also played American theaters. A modern remake is currently in production. Also, the title cutlery was recently the subject of a Discovery Channel documentary series.
SEX & THE KUNG FU CONNECTION!
Inside, you'll discover the ancient secrets of the 'Love Making Techniques From the Kung Fu Sex Manual'! This article, illustrated with a topless man and woman wearing martial arts pants, are depicted "psyching up sexually" prior to the act itself. Said to be translated from an old silk scroll residing in a Hangchow museum put in book form by Chinese sexologists, variables of foreplay are explored-- "he who will take pleasure from sex must first give pleasure in sex; and he who will give pleasure in sex must first prepare his mind to meet that of his mate." An interesting read, it's also an early example wherein kung fu and karate are discussed as if they are the same thing.
17. MANDINGO 1975
"All the shocking realism! All the magnificence and depravity!"

At the time this was widely considered cinematic garbage by most critics who were only too eager to pan the film for its barrage of interracial sexual content and racially incendiary scenes and dialog. As is often the case, condemning a movie for its offensiveness only acts to increase ticket sales resulting in MANDINGO being a resounding success story.
On a number of occasions, major studios had attempted to steal a huge chunk of the smaller guys exploitation pie, but never had a big budget picture depicted such scenes of shocking depravity and taboo barriers broken; even the trailer was an incredible display of offending imagery and dialog. The films poster artwork even goes so far as to imitate the famous pose of Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh on the promotional materials for GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) by showcasing Ken Norton and Susan George in a passionate embrace and also Perry King carrying off a swooning Brenda Sykes.

"MANDINGO! The pride of his masters! MANDINGO! The strongest and the bravest! MANDINGO is the first true motion picture epic of the old South!"

Like UNCLE TOM before it, FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE had a spotty release that also yielded a myriad of alternate titles including I HATE YOUR GUTS and STAYIN' ALIVE, the latter of which was geared towards black audiences. Sometime this year, the cruel vices of slavery will once again be explored, this time by America's celebrated, if highly unoriginal film director, Quentin Tarantino. His film, DJANGO UNCHAINED, is no doubt another mishmash of assorted genre conventions. The plot involves revenge and slaves in what has more in common with Fred Williamson's THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLEY (1972) than it does Sergio Corbucci's genre defining Euro western, DJANGO (1966).
18. BLOODSUCKING FREAKS 1976
"A show that will make anyone RETCH!"

While it's essentially played for kicks, the all powerful Women Against Pornography weren't laughing resulting in that group relentlessly protesting the picture. Women seen in the film are constantly naked, tortured, maimed and killed in the most demeaning, sadistic ways imaginable. It's all supposedly a fake Grand Guignol styled theatrical display, but it turns out the stage shows run by Sardu and his maniac midget partner are all too real. Women are used as dart boards, dinner tables (complete with candles with hot wax spilling onto their naked backs), decapitated, dismembered and one poor lady has all her teeth removed, her head shaved, a hole drilled through her skull and her brain sucked out through a straw!
"Sardu... Evil genius of pain with the most bizarre machines and tools ever created to torture the body of woman!"

This film is special to me as I first became aware of through a review from famed cult film critic, Joe Bob Briggs, who saw it under its original TORTURE SHOW title. Discovering VHS mail order outlets in the late 80s was a goldmine of grotesqueries for this now damaged brained youth. I secretly spent $20 of my allowance on the Vestron tape of BLOODSUCKING FREAKS from Video Mania. Unfortunately, during this time, VHS tapes were terribly expensive, so many times, the closest I got to owning some of these (outside of renting) were these mail order catalogs.
19. SNUFF 1976
"The film that could only be made in South America...where life is CHEAP!"

This classick of the historical 70s exploitation canon is among the group of pictures whose reputation far exceeds the product itself. Strictly of curiosity value, it's still an important, and influential piece of trash filmmaking that only fueled the supposed existence of snuff movies, despite one of them never being uncovered.

* Most of the poster images are from Wrong Side of the Art.*
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3...