SYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: How Exploitation Films Work

Summary

Podcast Summary: "SYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: How Exploitation Films Work"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Stuff You Should Know
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Episode: SYSK’s Summer Movie Playlist: How Exploitation Films Work
• Release Date: June 27, 2025

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Introduction to Exploitation Films

In this special summer edition of Stuff You Should Know (SYSK), hosts Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant delve deep into the intriguing world of exploitation films. Exploitation cinema, characterized by its over-the-top content and focus on taboo subjects, serves as the episode's focal point. Chuck initiates the discussion by highlighting the evolution of their podcast, hinting at the rich exploration ahead.

[05:02] Chuck Bryant: "This is all about movies. So by popular request to an extent, people want to see. They want to hear us talk about movies and just do a movie podcast."

Defining Exploitation Films

Josh and Chuck begin by unpacking the broad definition of exploitation films, emphasizing their tendency to exaggerate reality by focusing on elements like violence, sexuality, and societal fears. They acknowledge that even mainstream films like John Hughes' The Breakfast Club can technically fall under this category due to their heightened portrayal of teenage angst.

[07:01] Josh Clark: "A broader definition of exploitation films is basically anything that's really like over the top and beyond reality or that maybe focuses on people's fears, their sexuality, and basically just serves it up in a larger than life manner."

Historical Context and Evolution

The conversation transitions to the historical roots of exploitation cinema, tracing its origins back to the early 20th century. They discuss the impact of the Hays Code, a set of moral guidelines that restricted the depiction of controversial subjects in Hollywood films. The repeal of the Hays Code in the 1960s marked a pivotal shift, allowing exploitation films to flourish under the guise of grindhouse theaters.

[08:17] Chuck Bryant: "The Supreme Court said no more. And all of a sudden, exploitation films became a little bit more legit because the Hays Code kind of fell apart."

Key Figures and Influential Films

Josh and Chuck spotlight influential filmmakers and landmark films that shaped the exploitation genre. Russ Meyer, dubbed the "King of the Nudies," is highlighted for his pioneering work in integrating nudity with compelling narratives. They also discuss Blood Feast by Herschell Gordon Lewis, recognized as one of the first gore-centric exploitation films, setting the stage for future horror and slasher movies.

[16:09] Josh Clark: "Russ Meyer also little known fact. Another movie that's mentioned in this article... Russ Meyer directed a movie called Beyond the Valley of the Dolls 2, which was the bastard son of the legitimate film Beyond the Valley of Dolls, a jiggle fest written by none other than Roger Ebert."

Subgenres of Exploitation Films

The duo explores various subgenres that emerged from the foundation laid by early exploitation films:

1. Blaxploitation: Originating in the 1970s, this subgenre featured African American protagonists and addressed themes related to the civil rights movement. Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song by Melvin Van Peebles is cited as a groundbreaking film that not only provided representation but also influenced major studio productions like Superfly and Shaft.

   [20:03] Josh Clark: "Melvin Van Peebles made this movie. He produced it, he raised the money for it, he wrote it, he directed it, he starred in it, and it was the beginning of the blaxploitation subgenre, which is one of the most important genres of any American cinema."

2. Gore and Slasher Films: Films like Last House on the Left and the works of Wes Craven are discussed for their intense violence and psychological horror, which pushed the boundaries of on-screen brutality.

   [19:30] Chuck Bryant: "Last House on the Left is kind of regarded as the first teenager slasher film."

3. Nudist and Sexploitation: These films often masqueraded as documentaries to showcase nudity and sexual content, thereby circumventing censorship laws.

   [14:00] Josh Clark: "Post World War II led to another subgenre of exploitation film, the nudist Colony Film which were pawned off as documentaries a lot."

4. Nazi Exploitation: The late 1970s saw the rise of Nazi exploitation films, exemplified by the Ilsa series, which blended sex, violence, and authoritarian themes.

   [43:44] Chuck Bryant: "In the late 70s, we got Nazi exploitation movies... Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS."

Modern Influence and Legacy

Josh and Chuck connect the dots between classic exploitation films and their modern counterparts, illustrating the genre’s enduring legacy. They reference Quentin Tarantino’s body of work, noting how films like Inglourious Basterds and Death Proof draw heavily from exploitation aesthetics and themes.

[44:19] Chuck Bryant: "One could argue that Quentin Tarantino has made nothing but exploitation films since Pulp Fiction because the Kill Bills were definitely martial arts exploitation."

The discussion also touches on contemporary filmmakers like Peter Jackson, whose early works such as Bad Taste and Dead Alive embody the schlocky, over-the-top elements synonymous with exploitation cinema.

[33:35] Josh Clark: "Bad Taste by Peter Jackson is a great example of Schlock that came out of Toxic Avenger."

Notable Quotes and Insights

Throughout the episode, Josh and Chuck pepper their discussion with memorable quotes that capture the essence of exploitation films:

• On the nature of exploitation films:

  [09:01] Chuck Bryant: "The director was like to his girlfriend, hey, would you mind taking your clothes off for the camera."

• On the impact of Raefer Madness:

  [35:03] Chuck Bryant: "That was the excellent Reefer Madness, which was an exploitation, a drug exploitation film."

• On the transformation of Reefer Madness into a cult classic:

  [37:22] Josh Clark: "Reefer Madness basically dares you to go further. So it's kind of the opposite of what I think its original intent was."

Listener Engagement and Recommendations

In addition to the in-depth analysis, Josh and Chuck encourage listeners to further explore the world of exploitation films. They recommend reading the article "10 Noteworthy Exploitation Films" on the HowStuffWorks website for extended insights and suggest watching documentaries like American Grindhouse to gain a comprehensive understanding of the genre's impact.

[46:50] Josh Clark: "Our message to everybody is, number one, go onto the site, read 10 Noteworthy Exploitation Films. Number two, if that interests you... go watch some exploitation movies and enjoy them."

Conclusion

Wrapping up the episode, Josh and Chuck emphasize the significance of exploitation films in shaping modern cinema. They highlight how the genre's fearless exploration of controversial topics and its tendency to push boundaries have left a lasting imprint on filmmakers and audiences alike. The hosts conclude by inviting listeners to share their favorite exploitation films and engage with the podcast’s community through social media platforms.

[50:08] Josh Clark: "If you want to follow us, we have our own Twitter feed. Seriously? It's called SYSK podcast."

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Key Takeaways:

• Exploitation Films Defined: Over-the-top genres focusing on taboo subjects like violence, sex, and societal fears.
• Historical Evolution: From early 20th-century roots, through the Hays Code era, to the rise of grindhouse and modern blockbusters.
• Influential Figures and Films: Highlighting key directors like Russ Meyer and landmark films that shaped the genre.
• Subgenres Explored: Including blaxploitation, gore/slasher, nudist, and Nazi exploitation films.
• Enduring Legacy: Modern filmmakers continue to draw inspiration from exploitation cinema, ensuring its lasting influence.

For those eager to delve deeper into the world of exploitation films, Josh and Chuck's comprehensive discussion offers both a historical framework and a pathway to contemporary interpretations, making this episode a must-listen for cinema enthusiasts.

Transcript

[Josh Clark]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Chuck Bryant]

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[Josh Clark]

Oh yes, I know what we're doing.

[Chuck Bryant]

Go ahead, get us going here we.

[Josh Clark]

Well Chuck, the other night you may have noticed. I know you did, because I watched you watch this. Just kind of creepy. But not really. You and I were on tv.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

On the Science Channel.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. We did the little shorts, and we're actually proud of how these turned out, which is a rarity for us. When there's a camera.

[Josh Clark]

It is. So we have more shorts coming up on Science Channel. They're running Saturdays and Sundays until, I think, the first week of May or something, right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes. And now they're all running between 10 and 10:30 now, supposedly.

[Josh Clark]

Okay.

[Chuck Bryant]

During the shows, I think on Saturdays is Oddities, which is an awesome and weird show.

[Josh Clark]

It is.

[Chuck Bryant]

And then Sundays, it's just Firefly, which is. Everyone loves Firefly.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. I mean, I actually consider it an honor to be played during Firefly.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, me too.

[Josh Clark]

Even though the cast of Firefly has no idea that this is going on because it's prerecorded.

[Chuck Bryant]

Exactly, Josh. So this. What's today? Thursday, obviously. Yeah, Saturday and Sunday night. This weekend on the Science Channel. That is the Science Channel. It's part of the Discovery Networks. Between 10 and 10:30, set your little DVR. And then, look, they run during the commercial breaks.

[Josh Clark]

Or if you're not so fancy that you have a dvr, you can actually watch it as it happens.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right. And we are able to run a few of these online now. Not the ones that are on tv, but there are three funny ones. If you know how to navigate to the video page of howstuffworks.com do that. Or you can just type in How Stuff Works Video into Google and it'll take you straight to the video page.

[Josh Clark]

You could also search Stuff you Should Know, Colon Large Hadron Collider Stuff you Should Know, Colon Body Farms and Stuff you Should Know, Mirror Neurons on the search engine. And it should take you right there.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

If it doesn't, you tell us, and we will talk to those search engines.

[Chuck Bryant]

And if you just get to the video page, you can search Stuff you should Know and Search Videos and it'll bring up the. That and a couple of other little funny things we've done.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, that's it. We just tacked like 10 minutes onto this episode.

[Chuck Bryant]

I know. We appreciate your support.

[Josh Clark]

Who, mine?

[Chuck Bryant]

No. Everyone that wants to watch these.

[Josh Clark]

Agreed.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

Okay. So you ready? Okay. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. This is Stuff youf Should Know, the podcast, and kind of a special edition. Frankly, I. I am a little excited, Chuck. I'm a little giddy.

[Chuck Bryant]

Shut your mouth.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, okay, sure. This is our first ever movie centric podcast, right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Movie centric for sure. Yeah, we've mentioned movies, of course. All the time. But this one is like, this is all about movies.

[Josh Clark]

This is by popular request to an extent. People want to see. They want to hear us talk about movies and just do a movie podcast. So we decided to focus on exploitation films.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

This is also probably the first podcast that we're going to say. If you are a teacher of children in 8th grade or younger and you're using this as a teaching tool, you might want to go to the one before this or the one after. We don't generally try to alienate audiences. We're not attempting to now. It's just a natural byproduct of the exploitation film.

[Chuck Bryant]

Can't talk about exploitation films without talking about some lurid subject matter.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, you can't say exploitation without ploid.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, they weren't exploiting, just people being nice.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Niceploitation.

[Josh Clark]

So, Chuck, I went and saw a movie the other day called I Saw the Devil. It's a Korean movie. It's by the guy who did A Tale of Two Sisters.

[Chuck Bryant]

I think he said more violent than old boy.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, Oldboy is one of the main characters. And I've seen Oldboy. I've seen. What's the other one he did? The vampire movie.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Thirst.

[Chuck Bryant]

I didn't see that one.

[Josh Clark]

I think it's pretty good. It was okay. This one is. It's the most violent thing I've ever seen in my life. It's the most graphically violent movie I've ever seen in my life. The only reason I was able to complete is because I'm like, this is. It's a movie. But I walked out of it. Like, it's so over the top. It's so gory. It's clearly an exploitation film.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Alive and well.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. But the problem is really, if you start to look around, John Hughes films technically are exploitation films. The Breakfast Club is technically an exploitation film.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. There was a big wave of teen exploitation films and we'll get to that. But yeah, you're right.

[Josh Clark]

So one of the broader definitions of exploitation films is basically anything that's really like over the top is beyond reality or that maybe focuses on people's fears, their sexuality, and basically just kind of serves it up in a larger than life manner. That's one way of looking at exploitation films.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. You're basically. They're exploiting some of the seedier aspects of humanity most times.

[Josh Clark]

Sure. Like murder or sex. Like weird sex, that kind of thing.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, exactly.

[Josh Clark]

Sex, drugs, weird sex.

[Chuck Bryant]

Teenagers rebelling against parents, that kind of thing.

[Josh Clark]

Like Weird science. Have you ever been to a party where a couch shot out of the chimney and into the pond? I mean, it's a pretty nice party. I don't think it's ever really happened, you know, so that's the vast definition of exploitation. But you and I are kind of qualified to teach a cinema class at like maybe a low level community college at this point. After the amount of research we've done in this.

[Chuck Bryant]

Sure.

[Josh Clark]

And we found that academically there's a. There's a much more distinct definition for exploitation and it's seemingly interchangeable. Term Grindhouse. Right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. What's the. Is there a definition? Definition?

[Josh Clark]

It's more like a time frame.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

So from like 1919, when they really first started making movies TO I think 1960, 1959, when the Hays act went away, that was exploitation. And then after that it became grindhouse.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay, gotcha.

[Josh Clark]

It's my understanding. Okay, so let's do this.

[Chuck Bryant]

All right. Well, that's the old joke was that in the awesome documentary American Grindhouse, which documents this era of filmmaking, the old joke, one of the guys says is that exploitation films began five minutes after the camera was invented, the motion picture camera.

[Josh Clark]

Because the guy was like. The director was like. To his girlfriend, hey, would you mind taking your clothes off for the camera?

[Chuck Bryant]

Exactly. So it says something about the human condition that you invent the film camera. And the first moving images were often lurid. Edison's film, it showed clips of decapitations and violence and guys fighting and naked women as film tests. So that says a lot about people. Like, all right, now we know how to capture things. So let's capture sex and violence.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

First.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And although that really kind of jibed with public taste, or at least public fascination, it didn't jibe with the prevailing standards, the agreed upon standards. Right, right.

[Chuck Bryant]

I think you said 1919, but the first exploitation film was 1913.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, okay.

[Chuck Bryant]

Traffic in Souls or While New York Sleeps.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And that, like you said, exploitation often plays into fears. That played into the fear at of the white slave trade. Budget of 57 grand and grossed $450,000, which. 1913. That's a lot of dough.

[Josh Clark]

That is a ton of dough.

[Chuck Bryant]

And that was Universal Pictures and they went, hey, got onto something here.

[Josh Clark]

Right after that was released, the Hays Code. Will Hays was the Postmaster General and Presbyterian elder, and he was making 100 grand a year during the Depression.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's unbelievable.

[Josh Clark]

Right? He. He basically said, like, look, we need. We need to apply some moral standards to filmmaking. There's Decapitation. There's naked breasts. There's. There's white. White slavery. Like, we need to. We need to pure this up.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right? Well, actually, there wasn't nudity yet. Like those early test films. There were, but nudity. We'll get to that later.

[Josh Clark]

Okay.

[Chuck Bryant]

But, yes, that's what Hayes tried to do. And like, prohibition didn't exactly quelled drinking. The Hays Code actually sort of gave rise to the exploitation movement.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, it's just like. Just like Prohibition. Just like marijuana prohibition. Just like. Well, any drug prohibition. Anytime you say you can't do this, you can't have something that you want, somebody else is going to operate in a black market. A black market is going to spring up. Simple economics. And that's exactly what happened. And that's where exploitation cinema came up. It's like, you can't get this from Hollywood because Hollywood has to play by the rules. But my production studio is my Model T, and let's go make this movie. Give me some money. I'm going to film a child being born close up and put it in the movies.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes. And you can do that. You can make your movies all day long, but if they're never exhibited, then what good are you doing? Or not. Like, they were trying to do some good, but you're not making any scratch. So the 40 thieves they talk about in the documentary were these filmmakers and exhibitors basically, that traveled around like carnies, setting up these sort of guerrilla film screenings in some places, sort of out of the way where they can't get caught. And that was for the first time, you know, they were taking films outside of the mainstream. Different. Sometimes they weren't even theaters. They would show them in, like, VFW halls. If you want to go see Birth of a Baby films. Apparently they were popular.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, that was a whole genre, early genre of exploitation.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, and so was early on, a lot of the films centered around, like, how to wear a condom and sex. Hygiene films.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Because there was no information about that out there. And so exploitation filmmakers, whether disingenuously or genuinely, were presenting their stuff like, this is a public service. People need to know this.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

And making movies about it. But also. And people were going on that excuse as well, like, well, I need to know about this. But at the same time, it's like, I want to see this. The craziest thing I'll ever see in my life.

[Chuck Bryant]

Exactly.

[Josh Clark]

You know, on screen.

[Chuck Bryant]

Or they argued a lot of times that they were cautionary tales. If they were about drugs or violence, they would say, hey, this could happen to you, so you should educate yourself. But what they really want to do.

[Josh Clark]

Is get their movie seen and make some money.

[Chuck Bryant]

Exactly. Paramount decision of 1948. This is pretty big. The Supreme Court voted that movie studios could no longer own their own movie theaters. At the time, you know, there would be, like, the Paramount Theater in Hollywood from the Paramount Film production company. They would show their movies. Supreme Court said no more. And all of a sudden, exploitation films became a little bit more legit because the Hays Code kind of fell apart.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And this is post World War II.

[Josh Clark]

So people had seen a lot of death recently.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, a lot of death.

[Josh Clark]

And then grown up a little more.

[Chuck Bryant]

They thought ladies in suggestive roles were good for morale. And there was a little bit of loosening on the sex thing a little bit.

[Josh Clark]

Post World War II, enough that led to another subgenre of exploitation film, the nudist Colony Film which were pawned off as documentaries a lot. Well, most of these were pawned off as documentaries which legitimized them. But really it was maybe. Maybe it actually was filmed at a nudist camp. Probably not. Mostly there were actors and actresses just engaged in archery. Naked or long walks. Naked.

[Chuck Bryant]

There could be no sex still. That was still taboo, but it was.

[Josh Clark]

Just like naked, pretty people.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

At a nudist colony. Which is interesting because you're not a nudist. So come learn about them.

[Chuck Bryant]

Exactly.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

After that, through the history, we had things like the teen. Like you said, the teen rebellion of the 50s with Rebel Without a Cause and Blackboard Jungle and movies like that all of a sudden were targeted specifically at teens, which was new. And then drive in theaters were built so teenagers could see movies where their parents weren't gonna be. Apparently the adults didn't go to drive ins a lot at first. Oh, yeah, it was all kids.

[Josh Clark]

I didn't know that.

[Chuck Bryant]

So they showed exploitation films and then later the beach films, which were marketed as. It's silly, it's Frankie Avalon. But they were decidedly weird and overtly sexual sometimes.

[Josh Clark]

And then, Chuck, if you'll notice, we're kind of progressing along in this chronological order, and each thing is kind of being built on the last.

[Chuck Bryant]

It was very much a step process.

[Josh Clark]

Right. And apparently that was kind of the form that exploitation filmmaking followed until 1960. It was just. It was centered around drugs, violence, sex. And in a lot of ways, they were presented as documentaries. They might not have a plot. And basically it was. One person would make some film and it would just break all the rules. And then a bunch of other people would make similar films. And that was the way it went. And then in the 1960s, things just started to go every which way, all sorts of directions. Right. So nudity, nudie films were a long standing thread of exploitation films. And then they probably reached their pinnacle with Russ Meyers. Right. King of the Nudies is what he's called.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, he was the first guy to. He's significant because he was the first director to have films featuring nudity that actually were dramatic narratives and had plots and characters and they weren't classified as documentaries anymore. And then the Ruffies came along and they offered up violence for the. Not the first time, but big time for the first time.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And that has a lot to do with the fact that it was the 60s and Kennedy was shot and the United States was just becoming increasingly violent.

[Josh Clark]

America lost its innocence.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And the other thing that really happened in the 1960s was the Hays code officially went away, was replaced by the mpaa. And I guess the long standing prohibition on Hollywood producing exploitation films was lessened, decreased, and so studios were like, oh, we can make money over here too. Well, let's start making exploitation films. And this is where grindhouse is born. So my cinema professor definition of grindhouse is big budget, studio backed exploitation films.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

Okay. Yeah, that's. That's mine.

[Chuck Bryant]

I like it.

[Josh Clark]

That's gonna be a quiz question later.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, I'll go with that. Actually, back up one second. We gotta mention Herschel Gordon Lewis. He was a director who had a co director. I can't remember the other guy's name. Do you? Anyway, he was, he was a co director and he was one of these exploitation guys that was getting frustrated because there weren't a lot of places to show your movie. So it was a pretty crowded marketplace.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

So he said, what's the one taboo that people will pay to see that you're allowed to show in theaters but that studios won't make? And it was gore.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

He was the first guy to start showing really disgusting bloody scenes in his movie Blood Feast. Blood Feast, Yeah. Which actually was three years after Psycho. And Psycho also did a lot for the mainstream, ushering in of sure little bit of gore in that, but nothing.

[Josh Clark]

Well, there's nothing like blood, a shot of blood following Janet Leigh's murder, you know, which I imagine is pretty graphic for Hollywood.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

And that's what you think of. You're like, oh, those stupid 60s. But that's, you know, they were so naive. Like that was controversial. Not really, though. Like, if you Step just slightly outside of Hollywood. You ran into things like Blood Feast.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

Or, you know, Last House on the Left. Yes, well, that's 1972, I think.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, Wes Craven. So that was important because all of a sudden a drugs started. Well, three things. Political themes started popping up.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Sexual freedom, the youth generation. Drugs started popping up in movies for the first time. Drug use. Well, not for the first time. We'll talk about reefer madness. But teenagers were depicted as victims of violence for the first time. Like Last House on the Left, I believe is kind of regarded as the first teenager slasher film. Yeah, Wes Craven.

[Josh Clark]

It was almost a snuff film. It was almost regarded like that.

[Chuck Bryant]

It's pretty hardcore.

[Josh Clark]

But yeah, it definitely. Blood Feast definitely allowed Last House on the Left to come around. But it also probably more directly formed the foundation for slasher exploitation like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street.

[Chuck Bryant]

Absolutely.

[Josh Clark]

My Bloody Valentine's. Another big one. The Crazy.

[Chuck Bryant]

Uh huh. Yeah, the crazy. Oh yeah, that was an original, right? There's a remake now, I think. Yeah, yeah, remakes. So that brings us. We're in the 70s. Politically charged movies brought race into the. To the mix. And all of a sudden we had black exploitation or black exploitation movement starting exploiting the civil rights movement, basically.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

But the cool thing about blaxploitation films is for the first time you had African Americans as heroes.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And not heroes in a typical sense, not even anti heroes, but heroes that were like, they didn't ride into town on a white horse or wearing a white hat. They very clearly wore black hats if need be. Like, they would engage in crime. They would murder people if need be. They were, they were basically like the face of black America coming out of the civil rights era. Like, we're ticked off.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. You know, and we're gonna stick it to the white man.

[Josh Clark]

Stick it to the man.

[Chuck Bryant]

And we're gonna do it in these movies.

[Josh Clark]

Chuck, I know the movie you're about to mention. Let's. This is it.

[Chuck Bryant]

You keep the face of me. Are you my man? You my favorite man. Can you take it?

B. So, yes, that was a landmark film for a lot of reasons. One, because it grossed 4 million bucks and it made the major studio say, hey, you know what? The black hero is marketable.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Well, you haven't said the title yet.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, I didn't?

[Josh Clark]

No.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

You gotta say it right, too.

[Chuck Bryant]

Melvin Van Peebles film. Sweet Sweetbacks. Badass song.

[Josh Clark]

Nice. That was well done. That was 1971. Melvin Van Peebles, whose last name may Sound familiar? He's the father of Mario Van Peebles. For you younger cats listening to this.

[Chuck Bryant]

One, Cats our age. Actually, younger cats, because he's kind of.

[Josh Clark]

Like, okay, so cats are age.

[Chuck Bryant]

Little plot stuff.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, that's Mario Van Peebles, dad. You know New Jack City.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, exactly.

[Josh Clark]

So Melvin Van Peebles made this movie. He produced it, he raised the money for it, he wrote it, he directed it, he starred in it, and it was the beginning of the blaxploitation subgenre, which is one of the most important genres of any American cinema.

[Chuck Bryant]

Absolutely.

[Josh Clark]

Ever.

[Chuck Bryant]

Absolutely.

[Josh Clark]

And so, considering how important that subgenre is, this quote from Time magazine's film critic Richard Corliss should really hit home. Sweet Sweetback is, quote, without question or competition, the most influential movie by a black filmmaker. So this is a really big deal, right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And it was just quickly on the plot. It was about a black man who was a gigolo who had.

[Josh Clark]

Which is a male prostitute for you younger cats.

[Chuck Bryant]

And he had a deal worked out with the cops where he said, you know, you can arrest me as much as you want. Release me right afterward. Fill your quota. It's all good. And then one day, while the arrest is going down, the cops attack a black panther, and Sweet Sweetback kills one of the cops and then just said he just goes on a rampage against a white man after that.

[Josh Clark]

Yep. So you've got prostitution, tons and tons of nudity and sex, lots of violence and other crimes all wrapped up into a black power theme.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

And then to top it all off, you have what is arguably a child sex scene starring Mario Van Peebles, Melvin Van Peebles, son at, I think, age six. Yeah, he's a kid having sex as Sweet Sweet Pack. It's his first sexual encounter with an older person.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

And in the cult podcast, if he became a cult leader, he would have taken a younger bride, remember?

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, yeah, that's right.

[Josh Clark]

So if you're interested in that movie and you can't get enough of Sweet Sweetback's badass song, you could also check out Badass exclamation point, which is Mario Van Peebles biopic about his father making that movie.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right. And I have not seen that, but wanted to at the time, and it just sort of slipped through the cracks.

[Josh Clark]

There's always Netflix, baby.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right. And what happened with Sweet Sweet Back was that, like I said, that told the studios, hey, that we can market this. And so they got a little more mainstream with movies like Superfly, which were a little safer. Shaft, Shaft. Movies that wide audiences would enjoy as well.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, the ones that didn't scare the man.

[Chuck Bryant]

Exactly.

[Josh Clark]

Like, Shaft's a good guy. He doesn't take any guff from the man. But the people he's not taking guff from are the cops, who he's really on the same side as.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

So Chuck Blaxploitation, obviously huge. It affected everything from, you know, menace to society to Blacula. All of that came from Sweet Sweetback. And we mentioned the guy who directed this next movie, Russ Myers. This is probably a seminal work. Let's listen to this clip from the trailer.

[Chuck Bryant]

If you want.

Ladies and gentlemen, go. Go for a wild, wild ride with the Watusi cats. But beware the sweetest kittens have the sharpest claws. For your own safety, see Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill. Wild women, wild wheels. Race the fastest pussycats and they'll beat you to death. Superwoman Belted, buckled and floated.

[Josh Clark]

You're wasting yourself on this kid and.

[Chuck Bryant]

Hanging this up for nothing. For nothing. It's got nothing to do with the money. She is the money. Jack and Jill.

They make the mafia look like brownies. He's a big one, ain't he?

They make the mafia look like brownies.

[Josh Clark]

That's right. That says quite a bit about them. So this. That was Faster Pussycat kill, kill. In 1965. Russ Meyers basically women exploitation film. Nudie film. Remember, Russ Myers was King of the nudies.

[Chuck Bryant]

King of the nudies.

[Josh Clark]

He made 26 movies. But this is probably at the very least is his best known, if not like his masterpiece.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And he hatched a slew of. I mean, not that he wasn't legit. He was. But what mainstream people would call legit filmmakers were. Came up through the Russ Meyer film camp, basically.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

So it's pretty cool.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And Russ Meyer also little known fact. Another movie that's mentioned in this article. There's an article on the site, by the way, called 10 noteworthy exploitation films that this is based on. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Written by you.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Which I strongly recommend going to read because it has a lot of extra stuff we're not going to cover in this one.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Or at least extra movies. But Russ Meyer directed a movie called beyond the Valley of the dolls 2.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

Which was the bastard son of the legitimate film. Beyond the Valley of Dolls is a jiggle fest written by none other than Roger Ebert.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Only movie Roger Ebert ever wrote.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. He had a. Yeah. It was a very brief career, but that's it. That's an illustrious one. Really?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. So if you're gonna talk about the plot of Faster Pussycat, Kill. Kill. And I say that because there's three exclamation points.

[Josh Clark]

Faster, Pussycat and a comma exclamation point. Kill.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, no. Is it three exclamation points?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay, I thought it was a comment, then. Two. All right. Either way, that's a lot of punctuation for a film title.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And it was about three bisexual go go dancers. They go on a crime spree out in the desert, and what do they do? They end up killing a man. And. Or. No, they kill the man and a couple.

[Josh Clark]

Keep the girl. They basically empower her.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Say, come on with us.

[Josh Clark]

By murdering her boyfriend. And she ends up on the crime spree with them.

[Chuck Bryant]

And they basically end up going to an isolated house with a wheelchair bound old man and his sons.

[Josh Clark]

Who's a lech. They're all leches. They want these women.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. But they don't know that these women are tough. No, tough ladies.

[Josh Clark]

And the man and his sons apparently or allegedly have a large amount of cash stashed in this house. So it's kind of like a standoff of gall to see who will come out on top.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, and you know who comes out on top. And this film was noteworthy for one big reason, was that there was a lot of dualism toward gender. So on one hand, he's exploiting these women and apparently got women in their first trimester of pregnancy, so they were more voluptuous.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, not in this film. But in his other films he would hire. I can't remember the lady's name, but the star of Faster Pussycat Kill Kill. Was in other Russ Myers films.

[Chuck Bryant]

Gotcha.

[Josh Clark]

And he made sure that she was like well into her third. First trimester. To enhance her natural bustiness.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Her bosom, if you will. But the script, like I said, it was dualism because while he did that, it also empowered women because the women in his films bowed to no man. No, they were the champs. They were heroines, really.

[Josh Clark]

For the first time, they were objectified very clearly. But at the same time, if you follow the script and really look at their characters, then, yeah, they're powerful women.

[Chuck Bryant]

And this kind of kicked off a big slew of women. Exploitation films, sexploitation films. The women in prison movies.

[Josh Clark]

Yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Switchblade Sisters, very big at the time. Women were lead actors for the first time. They were aggressors for the first time. Still nude. Often while they were doing this stuff.

[Josh Clark]

Spawn the television show the Facts of Life.

[Chuck Bryant]

But the interesting thing is they found that these movies appealed to men and women because men would go see it for obvious reasons. Women would go see it because it was empowering. And they didn't mind looking at the naked ladies because women are much more grown up than men are. But Josh, the 70s also got a little schlocky, which in a sense was true to the exploitation model. They really went over the top. No more political statements, no more advancing of women's gender or African Americans. It just got really schlocky and outrageous at that point.

[Josh Clark]

Well, what happened starting in the 60s, but really took hold in the 70s and then from that point on was exploitation cinema. Early on showing a live birth, nudist camps. These were all geared toward adults in the 60s and then later on big time in the 70s, the audience became almost exclusively teenagers. But like those drive in teenagers or teenagers anywhere, who cares? But the audience was teenagers and the cast started to become teenagers. So it had a little more of a bent on what teenagers were having to deal with. Like bullying. Like the kid in this next clip. Right. Which is, I have to say, one of my favorite movies from way, way back.

[Chuck Bryant]

Here we go with Toxic Avenger.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Meet little Melvin. He's a 90 pound weakling. Everyone hated Melvin.

Yeah. I'm gonna take this mop and shove.

It down your throat. They teased him.

I'm gonna do it with you, okay?

They taunted him, they tormented him until he had a horrifying accident and fell into a vat of nuclear waste. Transforming little Melvin into a hideous deformed creature of superhuman size and strength. Melvin became the Toxic Avenger.

So Josh, the Toxic Avenger movie was unique in that its film production company Troma is very popular in their own right.

[Josh Clark]

Have you ever seen Surf Nazis Must Die?

[Chuck Bryant]

I haven't, but I know about Troma. I mean they are master self promoters and marketeers.

[Josh Clark]

They were one of the first production companies to have a website. Like a really comprehensive website. You should go on their website, their whole catalog. It's really just well done. It's schlocky, but it's well done.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right. And Toxic Avenger follows the story of a 98 pound weakling who is picked on released same year's Ghostbusters. Did you notice that? 1984, right?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. So it was. It occurred at zero year zero. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

We'll just put the null set represent that. And this kid gets pushed out of a window into a vat of Toxic Sludge, which.

[Josh Clark]

That's beyond bullying, really?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, I mean, basically, it's a more twisted version of Modern Problems, the Chevy Chase film from a couple years earlier.

[Josh Clark]

Okay, I haven't seen that one.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, you never saw Modern Problems? No, it's very silly. But he got Toxic Sludge dumped on him and had special powers from years.

[Josh Clark]

Earlier or prior or after.

[Chuck Bryant]

When was the movie? Yeah, it was two years before Toxic Avenger, But Toxic Avenger took it into a gore special effects way that Modern Problems never did.

[Josh Clark]

So the janitor, Melvin, I believe his name, becomes toxified. He becomes Toxi the Toxic Avenger, who beats the tar out of people at the health club where he was abused and mutated and has tons of sex as the Toxic Avenger because his newfound manhood is just irresistible to women. And one of the things that's noteworthy about the Toxic Avenger is that they actually tried to make decent effects. Yeah, it wasn't just. It wasn't horrible, I guess you could say.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, for the time, you know, it wasn't bad.

[Josh Clark]

No, they remain bad. And they probably were kind of bad even back then. But for grindhouse films, yeah, they were great. And it's also noteworthy because it came out at Troma Productions or Troma Studios, and it led to a whole line of Toxic Avenger movies and Schlock in general, which is basically like some crazy, horrible thing has happened. But we're not gonna dwell too much on that. Let's see where the action takes us.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, exactly.

[Josh Clark]

So, like, Bad Taste, Peter Jackson's first film, is a great example of Schlock that came out of Toxic Avenger, and.

[Chuck Bryant]

He had the film that followed Peter Jackson, Dead Alive, which was at one point, supposedly the goriest film ever made.

[Josh Clark]

Really?

[Chuck Bryant]

Although it sounds like your new Korean movie has surpassed that.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, I think it probably has. I haven't seen Dead Alive. I've seen Bad Taste, and Bad Taste was horribly gory. But I think this has a beat.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, but I bet you, if anything, I mean, I haven't seen the one you're talking about. But is it more realistic gore?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, with Bad Taste, where it's really disturbing. These are aliens that are having their heads blown off. So that definitely takes you, you at least a degree away from caring this is happening to human beings in I Saw the Devil, so it definitely is driven home a little more.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, and the violence, even the gore back then, it was so over the top, right out of Fangora Magazine.

[Josh Clark]

It's like, you know, dude, Fangoria is still around.

[Chuck Bryant]

Is it?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, I figured it was. I'm glad it is. We follow it on our Twitter feed.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, we do?

[Josh Clark]

Yep.

[Chuck Bryant]

Like a head will explode in scanners. And you know, it's not disturbing because it's so clearly over the top, but these new movies are much more disturbing if you ask me.

[Josh Clark]

I agree wholeheartedly because they're more realistic. So carrying on with Chucks and my Siskel and Eber act, this is the second to last movie in our little list today. And this one's from way back, from the 30s. So let's talk about Reefer Madness.

[Chuck Bryant]

These high school boys and girls are having a hop at the local soda fountain. Innocently they dance, innocent of a new and deadly menace lurking behind closed doors. Marijuana, the burning weed with its roots in hell. Or watch case. If you want a good smoke, try one of these. You will meet Bill, who once took pride in his strong will as he takes the first step toward enslavement.

So that was the excellent Reefer Madness, which was an exploitation, a drug exploitation film.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And very much a cautionary tale. It even shaped the drug culture and how people looked at drugs as, you know, marijuana at the time is this really evil thing that can make you crazy, kill people.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And actually in very much the vein of early exploitation films, it was produced and distributed as a public service. Like the alternate title for it was tell your children. And the whole thing set in a PTA meeting where this guy is relating this story. And it's a story about lost lives, about murder, about guilt and paranoia. And all of it is fed and based on rampant drug use, which is really just a lot of pot smoking, which can turn you into a fiend. And it's apparently the director, his name is Duane Esper. He did other exploitation films from the 30s like Sex Madness, psychotic connections, and he made a name for himself basically taking these things that may have been originally been written as a public service.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

And making them so outlandish that he exploited the people who were making these movies and created this legacy of like just insanely over the top exploitation films from the 30s.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, and ironically, Reefer Madness years later would become not so much an anti drug propaganda film, how should I say this, But a film that college students would sit around and watch while partaking and laughing at this whole thing. Yeah, And a cult film.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, because it puts drugs so far out there that if you, despite all the warnings, take drugs anyway and you realize that you don't turn into a fiend and murder somebody. Reefer Madness basically Dares you to go further. So it's kind of an. It's the opposite. It has the opposite effect of what I think its original intent was before Duane Esper got his hands on it. And as a side note, I had trouble deciding between Reefer madness and another 1930s film by a guy named Tod Browning called Freaks.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, yeah, well, that was. That was huge. Because it was the first big exploitation film pre. Hays Code or. And last. Yeah, first and last.

[Josh Clark]

And it was. It was an MGM film.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And it's widely considered a masterpiece.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I mean, it looks great. It was well done.

[Josh Clark]

It's a huge. It's a revenge movie, which is a very common theme in exploitation films.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Especially violent ones. But it's. It. It featured Browning. Dared to have real freaks, I guess. If you'll.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes.

[Josh Clark]

Circus sideshow freaks star in this, and they basically exact their revenge on people who've mistreated them. And I have not seen it.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

I want to. I hear it's just awesome. I can't wait.

[Chuck Bryant]

It ended his career, though, unfortunately.

[Josh Clark]

Did it really?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And he was a popular filmmaker at the time.

[Josh Clark]

Well, hats off to him for first. Staying true to his art. Chuck just took his hat off.

[Chuck Bryant]

Don the old cap.

[Josh Clark]

All right, Chuck, here's the last one that we've got a clip for which I think everybody will notice or recognize without even a word. There's not even a word in this clip. And you all understand what's going on. So here we go.

[Chuck Bryant]

So, Josh, those are the unmistakable sounds of Fist of Fury, of Mr. One, Mr. Bruce Lee.

[Josh Clark]

Bruce Lee kicking Bottom, his first movie. Yeah. Which was originally titled. Well, it's still titled, I think, in Asia, the Big Boss. And in America, it is. It's. It's titled Fists of Fury.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. It was on the other night on cable. I saw part of it.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, yeah?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I didn't realize it was his first one, though. I would have tuned in.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And it was first of what, five. Five major films.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

And basically, it's the story of a martial arts student who's investigating the murder of his teacher. And it began the martial arts exploitation.

[Chuck Bryant]

Subgenre, which later would become just martial arts films. Right. Or was it still considered exploitation?

[Josh Clark]

It's all the same, okay. They're one in the same. Anything that even remotely resembles a Bruce Lee movie, specifically the Big Boss or any of them, is martial arts exploitation technically. Because again, we arrive at that one definition, it's over the top. Like, Bruce Lee's taking on scores of Anonymous thugs for two hours, one after the other for two hours. Just beating the tar out of all these people without tiring, really. Everybody's kind of waiting their turn politely in a circle around him, and he has to beat everybody and then he works his way up and it's over the top. So it is exploitation, but it led to other films like samurai exploitation. Remember American Ninja? Remember the whole ninja film thing that came out in the mid-80s? That's from Bruce Lee's. That's Bruce Lee's doing well. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And you go to these. At the time when I was first going to New York many years ago, there would be, you know, you go to Times Square and this was still when Times Square was kind of gross. And there would be just the martial arts movie store where it was all that stuff, man. Like thousands of movies about ninjas and samurais and martial artists and very big.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, I was inspired by American Ninja to become a ninja. Remember, I entered ninja training with Tommy Roper, who had, like, more throwing stars than any kid I've ever known.

[Chuck Bryant]

What did you have, like, one throwing star?

[Josh Clark]

I borrowed his.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

I was not allowed to have throwing stars of my own.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, I wasn't either.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Baptist. No, no, that was very violent. No nunchucks.

[Josh Clark]

That transcends, like, religious background. It's like, if you're a good parent, you shouldn't let your kid have throwing star.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's a good point. And as you pointed in the article, this actually led to another subgenre which was Bruce Lee look alike movies.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. So he made five movies and then died at age 32 in 1973. So Big Boss released in 1971, he dies two years later. Everybody's like, no, so let's find some guys that look like him. Which is really kind of stereotypical and racist for the West.

[Chuck Bryant]

What's the name of Bruce Lee?

[Josh Clark]

L I or L E or just L E? Well, Bruce L I or Bruce Lee. Right. I don't think there was ever like Bruce L E I G H. I don't think it ever got that far. But I mean, they released dozens of Bruce Lee and I just made air quote films. So Bruce Lee created the martial arts exploitation genre and subgenre and he inadvertently created the Bruce Lee exploitation subgenre of the martial arts exploitation subgenre by dying.

[Chuck Bryant]

Young and being very popular.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And which one was the one he had Kareem Abdul Jabbar in? Was that Enter the Dragon?

[Josh Clark]

Enter the Dragon, yeah. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

If you've never seen a like 7 foot plus, guy do martial arts. You should check that out.

[Josh Clark]

And if you can't get enough Bruce Lee and you have a good sense of humor, check out Kentucky Fried Movie, made by one Jerry Zucker, who we met in Los Angeles recently and who used an expletive to me, it was one of the high points of my life.

[Chuck Bryant]

It is.

[Josh Clark]

But yeah, Kentucky Fried Movie, awesome.

[Chuck Bryant]

Actually, when we met Jerry Zucker, we told him that our little speech we were giving that night was one of the highlights of our career thus far. And he says, well, it doesn't say much about your career, does it? Like, the first thing the dude does.

[Josh Clark]

Say something funny, and we just like, kind of fawned over him after.

[Chuck Bryant]

That we should mention briefly. And it's in the article, but just as a teaser. The late 70s, we got Nazi exploitation movies.

[Josh Clark]

Nazi sploitation as a subgenre. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And one of the major players there, movie wise, was Ilsa, She Wolf of the ss.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Which led to Ilsa, Siberian Tigress, and Ilsa, Harem keeper of the oil sheiks.

[Chuck Bryant]

Really?

[Josh Clark]

There's a whole sex violence franchise, Dominatrix franchise that was based out of the Nazi exploitation film.

[Chuck Bryant]

You know, one could argue that QT, Mr. Tarantino has made nothing but exploitation films since Pulp Fiction because the Kill Bills were definitely martial arts exploitation.

[Josh Clark]

Definitely.

[Chuck Bryant]

The Jackie Brown was a riff on Blaxploitation. Death Proof, obviously that was what they were trying to do there.

[Josh Clark]

Death Proof is Carsploitation, which follows in the tradition of Vanishing Point, which was released the same year as basically its rival to the. The founder, the founding movie of Carsploitation. Two Lane Blacktop.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right. Great movie.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. If you want to start an argument with an exploitation film buff, tell them Vanishing Point was the beginning of Carsploitation. They'll get mad at you.

[Chuck Bryant]

And then finally Tarantino with the Inglourious Basterds, which was clearly a riff on the Nazi exploitation films.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Beating Nazis to death with a baseball bat. That's about as over the top and lurid as it gets.

[Josh Clark]

That's awesome. Yeah. And then Machete hated it, but Robert, it's terrible.

[Chuck Bryant]

And of course, he was the other half of the. Rodriguez was the other half with his Planet Terror of the Grindhouse double feature.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Okay.

[Chuck Bryant]

And Machete was born from one of the little fake trailers they made in that movie.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, is that right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, it was one of the. The fake movie previews.

[Josh Clark]

It is even as far as, like a purposefully B movie.

[Chuck Bryant]

Not good.

[Josh Clark]

No.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, Death Proof was okay, but I didn't like Planetary that much.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And then Chuck. Well, first of all, before we get to today, we also have to give a shout out to pornos. Porno came out of the exploitation film.

[Chuck Bryant]

Genre, and it arguably had a lot to do with killing the or pushing it into the mainstream. Because once you had the movie Deep Throat and all of a sudden pornography was on the screen, it's like you can't do an exploitation film about it anymore. If there's the real deal going on, it loses all its power. And then a little movie called Jaws came along, and all of a sudden, a quote unquote B movie style movie made gobs and gobs of money. And that put a little bit of mainstream respectability on the map all of a sudden. So one might argue, Josh, that movies like Jaws and pornography kind of shoved exploitation films, even though they still exist. They're sort of mainstream movies now.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, well, yeah, I guess another word for grindhouse these days is blockbuster. Jaws was the first blockbuster movie, summer blockbuster. And now you have to have summer blockbusters. And they're always over the top.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

And exploitive of viewers tastes.

[Chuck Bryant]

And not only Tarantino, there's other filmmakers out that are trying to capture that 70s vibe with overt exploitation films. Again, shot that way, shot on 35 or, I'm sorry, 16 millimeter film, stuff like that.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. So, Chuck, I say our message to Everybody is, number one, go onto the site, read 10 noteworthy exploitation films. Number two, if that interests you. Like, even the 10 noteworthy exploitation films I chose don't cover even, I think, a third of the exploitation sub genres. So there'll probably be another article forthcoming at some point. If there is, we'll let you know and then go watch some exploitation movies and enjoy them.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, watch the documentary American Grindhouse too, if you're into that.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, it's a great one. It's free on Hulu, actually. There's ads, but Hulu.com has American Grindhouse for free. It is not safe for work.

[Chuck Bryant]

No.

[Josh Clark]

In no way, shape or form. I was watching it at work and I was like, whoa, okay.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, really?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. If you are watching it at work, tab browsing is what you want to be doing, right? And keep your finger over the mouse and keep the cursor over the other tab and stay sharp.

[Chuck Bryant]

Or in our case, you can just say it's research. But you can't do that if you're an accountant at JP Morgan.

[Josh Clark]

You're just a sicko. A weirdo. That's right, that weird guy in accounting so look up 10 noteworthy exploitation films. You can type that into the handy search [e-mail] and now, at long last, it's time for listener mail.

[Chuck Bryant]

Joshers. I'm going to call this It's a Small World After All. Dear guys, I'm a longtime fan from Minnesota and enjoy spreading stuff you should know. Goodness. Wherever I go, my co workers at a local coffee shop know me for the trivia and information I abound in. But after giving.

[Josh Clark]

Wait, what?

[Chuck Bryant]

That he. He says he abounds, and I guess he's proficient in. Okay, did he misuse that? No.

[Josh Clark]

I don't know. It sounds hilarious.

[Chuck Bryant]

It does. After giving credit where credit is due. Which means us, several of them decided to subscribe to your podcast. Listening to the podcast has also given me an advantage at work for thinking of the coffee shop's daily trivia question, which saves people 10 cents on their drink if they know it.

[Josh Clark]

That is awesome.

[Chuck Bryant]

After re listening to how Legos work, I set the trivia question for which company produces the most tires on a yearly basis. A, Bridgestone, B, Goodyear, C, Lego bricks. You know the answer, Josh. Most people were surprised and pleased to find out it was Lego bricks reminding them about the little playsets that their kids enjoy. This is where it gets weird. One of the customers read the trivia question, looked at me and said, it's a Ponzi scheme.

[Josh Clark]

Nice. That's awesome.

[Chuck Bryant]

In the best Italian accent he could muster. Everyone else gave him an odd look. I started laughing. He apologized and said he just heard it on a podcast. He had just listened to Legos followed by Ponce Schemes. Long story short, we were both pleased to find out that we were both fans. We are now on a first name basis, eager to discuss the most recent episodes. So these dudes in Minneapolis.

[Josh Clark]

Daniel, that's awesome. Thanks, Daniel.

[Chuck Bryant]

And his friend. Now his new friend.

[Josh Clark]

His unnamed friend.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, he didn't name him.

[Josh Clark]

You wouldn't know him. You met him at camp.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right. Band camp.

[Josh Clark]

Thanks, Daniel. That's really awesome. Wow. That's really cool. Let us know if you tweet those daily facts for your coffee house, because we will start following you.

[Chuck Bryant]

Indeed.

[Josh Clark]

That'd be very cool. If you want to follow us, we have our own Twitter feed. Seriously? It's called Sysk podcast.

[Chuck Bryant]

One word, 10,000 strong plus.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, we're on. No, we're up to like 11 and change.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's plus 10.

[Josh Clark]

That's true. We're also on Facebook. Facebook.com stuffyou should know. We have a Kiva team, right? We're trying to get to half a million dollars.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

That's kiva.org team stuff. You should know. And then you can always send us a good old fashioned email. We want to know what your favorite exploitation film of all time is. You can send that in an email to stuff podcastowstuffworks.com.

[Chuck Bryant]

For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit howstuffworks.com to learn more about the podcast. Click on the podcast icon in the upper right corner of our homepage. The HowStuffWorks iPhone app has arrived. Download it today on iTunes.

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[Jana Kramer]

Kramer from Wind down with Jana Kramer. When we were deciding on our appliances for the house, Samsung was at the top of our list. And I love my Samsung appliances, especially because they're so reliable. And with my busy schedule, having reliable appliances has been a game changer. It's no wonder Samsung is the number one brand for customer satisfaction. That's why I'm excited to tell you all about Samsung's new line of smart appliances featuring their brand new Bespoke AI Laundry combo. This incredible magic machine washes and dries in one machine, one load, no transfers, no timers, no rewashing needed. New Bespoke AI appliances. This is home living made simple. For more information visit samsung.com bespoke 68.

[Chuck Bryant]

Minute cycle based on 27 inch combos based on using a super speed cycle only with a 10 pound doe load cotton 50% plus polyester 50%. Individual results may vary based on actual load content. This is an iHeart podcast.