American Grindhouse


American Grindhouse is a 2010 documentary directed and produced by Elijah Drenner. The film made its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas on March 13, 2010.

Overview

The documentary chronicles the history of the American exploitation film from the days of Thomas Edison to contemporary films of the 21st century. The film features interviews with John Landis, Joe Dante, Jack Hill, Don Edmonds, Fred Williamson, Allison Anders, James Gordon White, Larry Cohen, William Lustig, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Judy Brown, Jeremy Kasten, Jonathan Kaplan, Bob Minor, Lewis Teague, David Hess and Fred Olen Ray. The documentary also features film historians Eddie Muller, Kim Morgan and Eric Schaefer. Robert Forster narrates.

Films referenced

Many film titles and posters get shown in passing, but this is a list of the films that are commented on or analyzed in the voiceover or by the interviewees. The list is in chronological order, but some of the films are mentioned in the documentary out of that sequence to fit with the themes.
The main films referenced in the documentary are:

Reception

The film earned positive reviews from critics, with some like The Village Voices Mark Holcomb saying "nitpicky enough to please film-history nerds but lively in a way that should tickle the merely curious".