criterionforum.org

Hello there,

I'm a final year degree student (Moving Image Production). I'm writing my dissertation exploitation cinema – specifically looking at audience reception at the time of release and now (post 'Me Too' era); also, how mainstream cinema has conceivably cherry-picked elements for shock-value but has diluted the original form. CAVEAT: I am a HUGE Tinto Brass / Rogerio Diadato / Wes Craven / Argento fan (so ideally I want this to be a blanaced approach to research, and not too leading as I do have definite opinions on this as you may appreciate).

I've come to the forum to ask for help. Would anyone please mind answering a few questions, as fans? I am also producing a video essay to support the dissertation as my final University degree film. Inclusion in this (over TEAMs / Zoom etc would be most welcome and appreciated.

Questions are as follows:


Do you think real life events influenced the genre at all?

Do you think the genre allows taboo subjects like gender, race and homosexuality to be openly talked about?

Have exploitation films had a lasting effect on cinema.

What are your thoughts on exploitation films?

Feel free to respond here or contact me directly on [email protected].

Thanks so much, Aaron (UK)

Do you think real life events influenced the genre at all?

Well, to take Brass, I can think of a couple real life events that influenced Salon Kitty and Caligula.

But, like any genre, especially one this disparate, some films will be more influenced by life than others. I’m not sure your question gets at anything revealing.

Do you think the genre allows taboo subjects like gender, race and homosexuality to be openly talked about?

I mean, it’s a pretty vague question. I think what you’re driving at is whether exploitation films were an effective vehicle for addressing taboo topics given their position outside the mainstream. And maybe that’s true. But then mainstream films of the 60s and 70s did just fine talking about taboo subjects on their own.

Have exploitation films had a lasting effect on cinema.

Probably. One of the ways is through nostalgia and recreation. Filmmakers like Tarantino and Cattet & Forzani use exploitation tropes and subjects to vitalize their artistic projects, while others like Eli Roth recreate them for mainstream consumption.

What are your thoughts on exploitation films?

You’re going to need to be more specific.

Oh, and for any future requests or proposals, it’s Ruggero Deodato.

I’ve never really thought of “exploitation” as a genre, so most of the questions don’t make much sense to me. The wording’s too vague and the topics too wide-ranging to be able to come up with particularly meaningful answers.

knives wrote:Depends on the film. I find The Howl to be a legit great film and Salon Kitty is arguably better than the Visconti film it is knocking off. Many of his films I've seen are basically just a series for gorgeously shot assholes, but there are a lot of diamonds here.

A viewing of Salon Kitty reveals it to be a sibling of Mike Hodges’ Flash Gordon; Helmut Berger even wears a lurex outfit emblazoned with flashes at one point. One’s huge sets are by Ken Adam, the other by Danilo Donati. Princess Aura and Ming’s henchman Klytus could fit into either movie - actually, Ornella Muti even looks a little like Teresa Ann Savoy.

knives wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2025 5:13 pm While looking up a pair of shorts Brass made early in his career I found this excellent look at them.

With your “pair of shorts” reference to Tinto Brass, it took all my willpower not to post a screenshot from Cheeky. Yes, I’m 12.