14th Annual Drive-in/Exploitation/B-Movie Challenge April 1-30, 2023

presents
The 14th Annual Drive-in/Exploitation/B-Movie Challenge April 1-30, 2023
The Challenge List thread
As with most challenges, the goal is to reach 100 movies. Your own goal might be higher or lower. Challenge begins April 1, 2023, 12:00 am EDT (or Dusk March 31) and ends May 1 at dawn.
Sex, violence, torn-from-today's-headlines shockers, fast cars, faster pussycats, psycho killers and kids run wild — throw a few (or all) of these ingredients into a pot, let the whole thing boil over, and you have the recipe for some tasty exploitation cinema.
What kinds of films are we talking about? Well, there is no hard and fast rule. This one is largely up to you.
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Rules
The Goal is 100 films. These type of films tend to be short, but they also might be a challenge to get through. Your personal goal might be higher or lower, depending on your tolerance for this type of cinema.
A film can only be counted once per list with the exception of riffed/commentaried films (see below).
This challenge is for Movies. Although we are not allowing TV shows, Made for TV Movies are allowed as are Direct to Video features.
We are allowing documentaries on Exploitation and Drive-ins and those involved with the production thereof. These should be features over 40 minutes.. We are also allowing trailer compilations, such as 42nd Street Forever and Something Weird compilations. Compilations should be at least an hour.
Throw a viewing party and show trailers between movies.
Mystery Science Theater 3000, Riff Trax, Cinematic Titanic, etc. are allowed. If there is a second riffed version (for example, MST3K did one, then Cinematic Titanic did the same movie) you may watch the second and any additional riffed versions for a full credit each, but I encourage you to just watch another movie, instead.
Commentaries. All commentaries count as views.
B-Movies are still included, but you are on your own with those. If you understand the actual concept of B-Movies and don't need individual confirmations on titles then you are welcome to have this be your challenge.
Films that have been nominated for Oscars are discouraged but not banned. I had originally wanted this to be the only hard rule, but I came across too many exceptions.
Drive-In exception rule: Any film seen in an actual Drive-In during the challenge 2023, regardless of other qualification, counts toward your list.. Please note that it was a Drive-In Movie.
Mini-series and Serials: We will go with the Sci-Fi rule on TV Mini-series (one "night" equals an entry), on Serials (we'll go with an hour's worth per entry), provided they actually were theatrical serials. A serial episode is about 15-20 minutes, so an hour's worth counts as an entry. Four-15 minute ones or Three-20 minute episodes. You can round up. This goes for other shorts and compilations as well.
There are 3 Wild Cards for non-conforming films. These are ones that are close but may have some doubts about.
For fun, keep a running tally of "before they were famous" appearances in your list.
Please number your lists. Also, it is helpful to put a link to your list in your signature. This makes it easier for others to check out your list.
Please tally your totals including "new views" at the end of the challenge.
"I still don't understand what kinds of movies you are talking about."
This list is not exclusive nor definitive, but these are the most representative movies for the challenge:
Italian (or European) films of the following Genres:
* Giallo/Krimi
* Sword & Sandal
* Spaghetti Western
* Cannibal Film
Martial Arts film:
* Bruce Lee-sploitation (Starring any variation on Bruce Li, Le, etc.)
* Hong Kong (or other Asian) film
* American film
* Any "Ninja" film
* Bonus* Actual Bruce Lee film
Asian Action Film
Biker Film
Stoner Film
Carsploitation Film
FADsploitation
Blaxploitation
Sexploitation:
* Any type
* Nudie Cutie
* Roughie
* 70s Porn (film)
* Emmanuelle Film
* Teen Sex Comedy
Nunsploitation
Shocksploitation
Rape/Revenge Film
Vigilante Film
Women in Prison
Nazisploitation
Eschploitation (religious end times, or general religious exploitation)
Hixploitation/Moonshiners
Roadshow Exploitation/30s-40s "Cautionary" films
Juvenile Delinquent Film
60s Beach Movie
Film starring Musical Group or Music Star (that did not become a legit actor)
* *Bonus* Elvis film
Ozploitation
(NEW) Canuxploitation
Mexican Wrestling Film
Foreign "Ripoff" film (such as Turkish cinema)
Eco-Terror Film
Pre-90s Post-Apocalyptic film
Plague-sploitation
Mockbuster
"Mondo" Film
Documentary ABOUT Exploitation/Drive-ins or those involved in their production
Video Nasty
Critical Bomb (Less than 20% Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic or IMDB Bottom 100 {Bottom 100 archive})
Financial Bomb
Razzie Winner or Nominee
MST3K/RiffTrax (or Cinematic Titanic) version of a film
Trailer Compilation (feature length)
LGBTQ film
Great resource for movies: Letterboxd user Andrew Liverod has curated Genre: Exploitation (100 Years: 1896-1995). The nice thing about Letterboxd is that you can filter to see what's available to stream on your services. For instance, there are presently 205 titles from that comprehensive list presently streaming on Paramount+. In the notes for that list are links to sub-genre lists, including (I think) all the ones in the checklist and several more. Now that Spring has begun, for instance, beach movies come to mind. Selecting the Genre: Exploitation - Beach Party Movies (100 Years: 1896-1995) list shows eleven Beach Party movies streaming on Paramount+.
In the WIKI is a list of filmmakers and actors that by their very presence make a film "safe". While some of these people (actors especially) might have some exceptions in their credits (like Star Trek for William Shatner), generally films with the listed creative talent are safe for the challenge. Questions? Ask in the thread.
Last edited by caligulathegod; 03-31-23 at 11:40 PM.
Found a few new streaming channels perfect for the Challenge. NightFlight Plus has a lot of genre flicks, heavily into music films. I think they have a 7 day free trial but it's only $5 a month or $3.33 if you get the year plan. Arrow is another new one that could likely sustain the challenge all on its own. It's a bit more expensive at $7 a month, or $5.83 if you get the year but they have a 30 day free trial perfect for the 30 challenge.
Last edited by caligulathegod; 03-17-23 at 03:00 PM.
This year i am a VS subscriber... so far lots of stuff.
also Laat Drive in w. JBB announced for a 4/21 debut.
I've actually held off watching any cult/b movies the past month so I can save up for this challenge. Really looking forward to it.
I've actually held off watching any cult/b movies the past month so I can save up for this challenge. Really looking forward to it.
Once again, I plan on digging into a few box sets. I don't wanna focus too much on any particular one and make a repeat mistake of suffering through too much of the same crap (i.e. Andy Milligan). The Shawscope V2 and the Steckler set will probably be the big ones, and hope to squeeze in quite a few more.
Sadly, I didn't get anything else in yesterday, because I ended up losing power for a third time for most of the afternoon. I have a home office too, and that makes movie watching easy to do.
Still have box sets of Andy Milligan and Al Adamson to complete and added Ray Dennis Steckler. I'm a glutton for punishment.
I started out watching a smattering of movies from sets / collections that I've acquired over the last year. I watched Police Story 2 which I enjoyed more than the first movie. While the action set pieces don't hit the heights of those in the first movie, I enjoyed all the story bits between the action set pieces quite a bit more. Yesterday, I did a double-feature of Unashamed: A Romance and Shaolin Kung Fu which were great. The former is a nudism movie that touches on racism and unrequited love... and ventriloquism. The latter is part of Eureka's "Cinematic Vengeance" collection of Joseph Kuo's movies. It is the most Shaw-Brothers-esque of the Kuo films that I've watched so far.
Still have box sets of Andy Milligan and Al Adamson to complete and added Ray Dennis Steckler. I'm a glutton for punishment.
That also reminds me of a question I've been pondering for awhile - how would you rank these director sets from worst to "best"?
?. Doris Wishman (counting all 3 AGFA sets as one)
?. William Grefé
?. Bill Rebane
?. Ray Dennis Steckler
?. Al Adamson
I'm guessing for most either Milligan or Wishman would be the toughest hurdle to get through? I don't think I'd personally be able to fully answer that question for roughly 20 years at the rate I'm going.

Andy Milligan is kind of like a canker sore in the mouth. It's bad but you keep poking it with your tongue on purpose. There's just something deliciously odd about his films. I watched a marathon of 8 films in a row back in '21. Since he used his house for a lot of his films, you get to recognize it pretty well. He also has a lot of tropes he tends to repeat, like family relationships involving arguments and incest. He really had a passion for telling his stories and they seem really personal. I really gained an affection for his films but there's no way to recommend him to people not already on board with this level of filmmaking. The best thing I can recommend is the Severin Fillms podcast episode about their Milligan set. it kind of sets up how to appreciate him. I think I'm ready to dive back into that set and finish it off. If you want a sample, there are a handful on the Arrow Channel app. 30 day free trial. They also have the complete Shaw Bros vol 1 and 2 on there.
Al Adamson is another one I liked. He's bad and likes to take his films and refurbish them into new films and then do it again, so be prepared for that. I liked that his films are nearly all different genres with an emphasis on Horror. Haven't gotten through them all, so I can't say too much. I don't think he's boring.
I've only watched one Ray Dennis Steckler fillm, the Mixed up Zombie one. I first read about him back when the Golden Turkey Awards books came out. Those books were great if you took them ironically. The descriptions of ineptitude made the movies sound fun. Of course it was years before we all found out what a pill the Medveds were and they weren't being ironic, just bitching about what they thought were bad films. Those books gave me a bad impression of Steckler, though, and I never bothered to see his films. I was tricked into buying the set after listening to the Severin Films podcast dedicated to him. I have almost no hope of enjoying him but will give it a chance. I just really hated Incredibly Strange Creatures that Stopped Living and Became Mixed up Zombies. It was exactly what I expected.
I don't have the William Grefe one, ,but that one really intrigues me. I just ordered it.
I don't have the Bill Rebane one, but I do have an autographed posted of the Giant Spider Invasion hanging in my house. I might pick him up.
Another one I enjoyed was the Norman J Warren set. Sleazy with a touch of Hammer. Insemenoid was a lot of fun.
Take it as you will. My taste is odd. I "enjoyed" Bat Pussy but was angry watching Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey and would not cross the street to piss on the guy that made that. There's bad, then there's bad.
As to Sartana, I'm not sure why he's not as well known as Django. They were just as entertaining. They aren't Leone level or Corbucci, but they are never boring. I can't say they make perfect sense. But even that made them entertaining. I fully endorse the set.
An interview with Arch Hall Jr. (star of Wild Guitar) got me interested in his movies. Both of his earlier pictures, The Choppers and Eegah are free if you have Amazon Prime. The Choppers is a good, low budget JD film about a teenage gang who strips abandoned cars and sells the parts to a sleazy junk yard owner. This is worth seeing. Eegah is really slow moving and is best seen in the MST3K version. I also watched The Sadist (on Blu-ray under an alternate title, Sweet Baby Charlie) in which Arch does a decent job playing a psychotic killer but what really makes this a good watch is the pacing and cinematography.
For a change, I tried a Maria Ford movie Future Fear. Seeing a lot of Maria was good but the rest of the film was pretty bad. Tonight, a women in prison double feature.