Directed by:
Mark HartleyScreenplay:
Mark HartleyCinematography:
Karl von MollerComposer:
Jamie BlanksCast:
Roger Corman, John Landis, Allan Arkush, Joe Dante, Dick Miller, Jonathan Kaplan, R. Lee Ermey, Sid Haig, Jack Hill, Jonathan Demme, Colleen Camp, Steve Carver (more)Plots(1)
In the 1960s and 70s, drive-in movie theaters and big city grindhouses were eager to book the wildest and most action-packed fare they could find, and low-budget producers were always on the lookout for something unique to offer their viewers. Many of them found it in the Philippines, a country full of exotic locations, cooperative officials and folks willing to work cheap. Local producer Eddie Romero began exporting his cut-rate horror and crime pictures to American distributors in the 60s, and before long U.S. filmmakers were traveling there to shoot crazed jungle epics, women in prison thrillers, bloody horror stories and violent wartime dramas. It certainly helped that Philippine extras and technicians would work hard for low pay, and that local stuntmen didn't seem to worry much about risking their necks for a good shot; as one producer put it, "Human life was cheap, film was cheap -- it was a great place to shoot a movie!" Filmmaker Mark Hartley, who shared the crazed true story of the Australian exploitation movie scene in his documentary Not Quite Hollywood, shares the inside scoop on the wild and wooly world of filmmaking in the Philippines in the 1960s and 70s in Machete Maidens Unleashed! (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Roger Corman
USA
Best movies:
The Godfather: A Novel for Television (1977) (series)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
John Landis
USA
Best movies:
Michael Jackson: Video Greatest Hits - HIStory (1995) (video compilation)
Dangerous: The Short Films (1993) (video compilation)
Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Allan Arkush
USA
Best movies:
Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
Grand Theft Auto (1977)
Joe Dante
USA
Best movies:
Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
Oscar (1991)
Dick Miller
USA
Best movies:
The Terminator (1984)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
V: The Final Battle (1984) (series)
Jonathan Kaplan
France
Best movies:
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
The Howling (1981)
Cannonball (1976)
R. Lee Ermey
USA
Best movies:
Se7en (1995)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Sid Haig
USA
Best movies:
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Jack Hill
USA
Best movies:
The Big Doll House (1971)
Jonathan Demme
USA
Best movies:
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
Into the Night (1985)
That Thing You Do! (1996)
Colleen Camp
USA
Best movies:
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
The Ice Storm (1997)
Steve Carver
USA
Gloria Hendry
USA
Best movies:
Live and Let Die (1973)
Across 110th Street (1972)
Black Belt Jones (1974)
Rosanne Katon
USA
Best movies:
Let's Do It Again (1975)
Bachelor Party (1984)
Motel Hell (1980)
Margaret Markov
USA
Best movies:
The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)
Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971)
Chained Women (1973)
Eddie Romero
Philippines
Joe Viola
Best movies:
Caged Heat (1974)
Patrick Wayne
USA
Best movies:
The Deserter (1971)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Shenandoah (1965)
Paul Koslo
German Empire
Best movies:
The Sacketts (1979) (TV movie)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (series)
Vanishing Point (1971)