B-Movie's, Cult, and Exploitation Cinema

[lordofdance]

Well, there are different types of violent women movies that I've seen. There are Women In Prison movies where the violence is generally confined to a prison-type setting, of which a huge number exist. I think they go as far back as the 50's and were still being cranked out well into the 80's, at least. Then there are the girl gang movies, like She-Devils on Wheels and Switchblade Sisters. Then there are the rape/revenge pictures, like I Spit On Your Grave, Ms. 45 and Thriller: A Cruel Picture. Or how about the crazy woman killer movies, like Confessions of a Psycho Cat, or even the Joan Crawford movie I just watched, Strait-Jacket?

I guess Faster, Pussycat! fits into the girl gang genre. Each one of the above is an individual sub-genre or maybe even sub-sub genre. I guess even female focused Blaxploitation movies like Foxy Brown or Cleopatra Jones could be some sort of "violent women" sub-genre.

[ie]

Yeah, I was familiar with the Women in Prison movies, but I think the answer I was looking for was Girl Gang movies. Like Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.


The reason why I asked was because on Monday (I asked that question, and thanks for the answer, at school where I was cut short before explaining this, so I'm glad you understood), I saw this movie in class that was really just decent at best, but it was interesting because it was equal parts high school movie made to look really hip and indie and equal parts girl gang revenge movie. I mean, literally, I wanted to say in class "well, if you liked this movie, you might want to check out its genre, the [girl gang] genre, with movies like Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, [Switchblade Sisters] and [She-Devils on Wheels]." There really was a distinct influence of those movies; even though I haven't seen any, I've been around here long enough to know the general idea.

I'm just kind of surprised that more feminists aren't fully aware / have Girl Gang movies listed among their favorite movies of all time, unless there's something about them that I'm missing since I haven't really seen any... ...

(And would you say that Grindhouse: Death Proof could go under that genre as well?)

[lordofdance]

Well, most girl gang movies seem to have two things: trash talk and beatings. There's probably going to be a really bitchy gang leader, as well. I guess Death Proof could be some sort of modern girl gang set-up, but it's still stretching the genre quite a bit. You might want to check out the Japanese girl gang movies from the Pinky Violence Collection: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BLI5UU/dvdaficionado. I own it and have watched a couple of them. They're stylish and brutal. I think two of them are being sold individually from the set. Switchblade Sisters is one of my favorite movies, so I'd recommend that one, too. There are quite a few movies in the genre if you're curious.

[criterionmaster]

I have seen Switchblade Sisters before, and probably some other girl gang films, I don't recall. It is a really funny, and fun, film. If you are looking to see a "girl gang" film, then that seems like a good place to start, since it would get a film by Jack Hill, who has made many different types of films, so it would open you to those or whatever (like Swinging Cheerleaders, Coffy, Foxy Brown, etc., etc.), in. The DVD is really cheap and features a fun commentary with the director and Tarantino.





It was also on Criterion laserdisc.

I need to check out some more films by Jack Hill, too.

[ie]

Yeah, then it sounds like the movie I saw was part Girl Gang. There was a bitchy girl in the group, and it was especially odd (slight spoiler) because after one of the girls died, they just brought in someone who looked exactly like her. Odd set up.

I have heard of some Japanese Girl Gang / Pinku eiga movies. Oh, that's another exploitation genre too. Pinku eiga.


Not sure when I'll check out Switchblade Sisters, but exploitation movies are fast becoming much more interesting to me than... dunno.



In other news...

VANISHING POINT!