Director(s) – Tony Newton (Frames of Fear, A Taste of Phobia), Tommy Pistol (The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol, Beyond Fucked: A Zombie Odyssey), and Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger, Tales from the Crapper)
Starring – Lloyd Kaufman, Sadie Katz (Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort, Party Bus to Hell), and P.J. Soles (Halloween, Carrie)
Release Date – 2016
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “Everything. All at once…”
I started reviewing movie for Horror Society in 2013. Before I was brought onto HS I was writing reviews for my small blog which I started in 2011. I started out reviewing forgotten exploitation and action flicks but my obsession with horror soon took hold and I was reviewing anything and everything genre related. Before long I started befriending filmmakers and actresses.
A few years later I heard about Tony Newton and his anthology/trailer compilation Grindsploitation. I absolutely loved the title and couldn’t wait to check it out. Sadly, there was no release date scheduled for the film so I put it to the side and forgot about it. Not long ago Troma announced that the film, along with two sequels. Thank you Troma for sending this release my way.
**Spoiler Alert** The film is a series of faux trailers and shorts ranging from horror, sci-fi, exploitation, Blaxploitation, and so on.**Spoiler Alert**
I originally went into this one thinking it was a traditional horror anthology but I was wrong. Grindsploitation is actually a trailer compilation for the most part with almost all of the trailers being fake. The film was still fun but the biggest crime here is that some of these amazing trailers would make some kickass films.
The acting in this one is not consistent and there is so much content in this 2 hour film that I would be here all day if I went over each segment separately. Some of these segments had a stellar cast that really showed some acting chop and others were back yard fun with no acting experience.
The stories in these trailers really got me excited only to be brought down to Earth when I realized that they will never be turned into real films and if they are real films I can’t find them on social media. With that being said, the shorts scattered throughout the film tended to be very lackluster and unoriginal. Most seemed to have similar stories and did not bring much originality to the film.
Finally, the film is a visual feast of special effects of different caliber. Some of the trailers and shorts has solid practical and visual effects but others show their budget and experience. They are not consistent and others do shine above others. Overall, Grindsploitation was a little bit of a let down when I realized it was not a traditional anthology but I did enjoy what it brought to the table. This one is well worth a watch so check it out.
