Summaries

A fast moving odyssey into the subterranean world of the rarely explored province of Filipino genre filmmaking.

Karate-kicking midgets! Paper-mache monsters! Busty babes with blades! Filipino genre films of the '70s and '80s had it all. Boasting cheap labour, exotic scenery and non-existent health and safety regulations, the Philippines was a dreamland for exploitation filmmakers whose renegade productions were soon engulfing drive-in screens around the globe like a tidal schlock-wave! At last, the all-too-often overlooked world of drive-in filler from Manilla gets the Mark Hartley (NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD) treatment in Machete Maidens Unleashed! This is the ultimate insiders' account of a faraway backlot where stunt men came cheap, plot was obsolete and the make-up guy was packing heat! Machete Maidens Unleashed! features interviews with cult movie icons Roger Corman, Joe Dante, John Landis, Sid Haig, Eddie Romero and a large assembly of cast, crew and critics, each with a jaw-dropping story to tell about filmmaking with no budget, no scruples, no boundaries and - more often than not - no clothes. Strap yourselves in - and join us for a non-stop Filipino femme-fest, all the way from the jungles of the Pacific via the trash cans of the critics!—anonymous

Details

Keywords
  • american abroad
  • female nudity
  • exploitation
  • ozploitation
  • 20th century
Genres
  • History
  • Documentary
Release date Jul 23, 2010
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) Not Rated
Countries of origin Australia
Language English
Filming locations Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK
Production companies Screen Australia Fury Productions Bionic Boy Productions

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 24m
Color Color
Aspect ratio 1.78 : 1

Synopsis

All Filters