As with most challenges, the goal is to reach 100 movies. Your own goal might be higher or lower. Challenge begins April 1, 2025, 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.

What is an exploitation movie? Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex, violence, romance, etc. An exploitation film, however, relies heavily on sensationalist advertising and broad and lurid overstatement of the issues depicted, regardless of the intrinsic quality of the film. Very often, exploitation films are of low quality in every sense. However, this has not always been the case. Exploitation films sometimes attract critical attention and cult followings.

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 2025, 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
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.

It's that time again. Old business? New business? Looking forward to the challenge this year. Just upgraded my TV so TV's a novelty for a while. I had been using a projector and even though it was 4K, it really didn't pop with the colors of 4K sets.

There's this great 4K Blaxploitation box set that is coming out in May, of course.

As a newly minted Stoner since the last challenge, I am looking forward to this even more than ever this year.

Maybe it’s time to whack through my Sniper six-pack.

I'm making a list of potential watches. This challenge is the one that has most effected my viewing habits, introducing me to whole genres that I wrote off as not for me. As such, I have a slew of new discs to open and watch - way more than I could possibly get through in one month. I'll also be traveling most weekends in April so my numbers might not be as good as past years, but it'll still be nice to snuggle in to marathon some weird movies. I've already been getting in the mood by watching five made-for-tv movies that Kino Lorber put on as part of their Kino Cult line. All were charming for 70s television flair, especially since there was crossover with some of the makers of the soap opera Dark Shadows.

^ Same here. Started on a Google Doc over the weekend. Plus found quite a few roku and other free stream channels when I don't feel like something I own. Just got Infra Man on DVD as well as 5 Ultraman movies on Blu Ray today as well as a Mill Creek 50 movie martial arts set coming from eBay.

I'll do the usual reminder about getting a month's subscription to the ARROW and NIght Flight plus apps. A lot of good stuff for a small month charge or even free trial.

This just occurred to me yesterday, but given the movie and this challenge thought I'd share. Cheech and Chong's Final Movie is due to release on 4/20. Easter this year too.

Might manage a double feature today. Debating Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974) and maybe One More Time (1970), unless something else piques my interest.

I was stuck at home yesterday with my connection down. With no other options I just whipped out some discs and could not believe just how incredibly relieving and refreshing it was to watch movies back-to-back with NO AD INTERRUPTIONS!!! You guys should try this

I've skipped this challenge a few times because I don't enjoy trying to figure out what is eligible, but I'm participating in a Low IMDb Rating Challenge, so I'll be watching some that count. Plus I just got some movies from Shout Factory's Roger Corman/New World Pictures sale (ending today) that I'm eager to watch. I'll count movies that feel right for the challenge, instead of worrying about what the budget was.

I think it's pretty liberal, the eligible titles. Pretty much anything non-mainstream. Easier 80s and earlier. Right now I'm watching Invasion of the Bee Girls. Not quite Anora. The safe lists are an aid, not a limiter. With, say, Horror movie actors it's harder. Vincent Price was largely a character actor during his career who did the occasional horror movie. If you see William Smith or John Saxon in a movie, then it's one of ours. Most of these actors ONLY appeared in these types of movies.

That said, this is likely my last one. Forum has kind of died off. The Horror Challenge is still active, but even it's gotten so top heavy with structure I've lost interest. I'll have to see. These things pretty much run themselves by this point.

I've been using the suggested letterboxd Genre: Exploitation (100 Years: 1896-1995) for most of my picks. I just choose a decade and browse until I find something that tickles my fancy. For my critical bomb pick, I went with The DarK Tower (2017), with a Rotten Tomato score of 17% (woof), I figured it embraces the spirit of the Challenge. I may not be much good about getting more than one movie a night these days, but I am bloody consistent about getting in that one flick, for the most part.

While I agree that the forum is dying off, the main reason for my recent absences for both this challenge and the horror challenge was that I had really burnt myself out with these marathons. I saw way too much way too fast. And if this is your last time doing this, then I tip my hat to you for keeping this going as long as you did. *salutes!*

Damnit I was going to do this for the first time this year and I totally spaced.

Who knows. I talk myself back into it every year. It might just become a yearly list. Maybe we'll go to 20.

I really dove into my unwatched animal/eco terror pile the last week.
Took a small break last night with Mac & Me and Amanda & the Alien, but not sure if they count. Silly drivel nonetheless.

Yep. All count.

I started off strong but got caught up in spring cleaning and get togethers with friends and family later in the month. (Over the weekend, my family and I marathoned The Lord of the Rings trilogy which is the opposite of exploitation.) I've made a small dent in the pile of movies I've purchased during Kino Lorber sales. Ten of the nineteen films I watched for the challenger were discs distributed by them, and some were purchased specifically to watch this month. They're such a great resource for older, weirdo films.

I got a late start. Only participated in the last nine days. Made a huge dent in my unwatched pile though. 29 first time watches.

Watched a Netflix 2024 DTV starring former Disney Channel star Dylan Sprouse in Aftermath, or Die Hard on a Bridge. Pretty much what you’d expect, and only 84 minutes.