Exploitation & B-Movie Challenge - Final Days & Wrap Up

The last week or so of this challenge was a struggle. Watching all of these movies this month was a blast but I was starting to feel a little burnt out over the last few days so the number of movies watched wasn't as high as I'd like it to be to finish things out. But there was some fun to be had...

Salon Kitty... what can I say about this other than it's Tinto Brass being as trashy and ridiculous as he could be. A whole bunch of naked women and Nazis. The plot is based on true events of the Gestapo taking over a brothel and placing trained agents to do the work of the prostitutes in order to spy and gain information. It's a pretty out there film filled with show tunes and weird sex. It's actually not half bad though and was definitely entertaining.

Next up was a movie from a director I'm a big fan of... Suspected Death Of A Minor (or Suspicious...) directed by Sergio Martino. This is a poliziotteschi filled with goofball humor. This isn't the best or most exciting  example of Euro-crime but it's well made and acted and is worth a watch if you're a fan of the genre or Martino. Solid.

Then came Schoolgirl Report #8: What Parents Must Never Know. I reviewed the DVD in my last entry and if you haven't read it, you can do so HERE

I watched 4 documentaries this month on various sorts of exploitation films and I think this one might be my favorite. Not Quite Hollywood focuses on Ozploitation films that you may or may not know about. It definitely opened my eyes to some new stuff I will be checking out in the future. If you haven't seen it and don't know too much about the Aussie exports of B-Movie goodness go find this and watch it. Extremely informative and entertaining. It's also the first time I've seen Quentin Tarantino do an interview and think he didn't do the WHOLE bag of cocaine, ha!

A few beers later I threw on Death Wish 4: The Crackdown. This is the 2nd to last entry in the series and I have to say, my least favorite of the first 4. It wasn't bad, but the quality certainly took a dive, largely in part due to this being the first entry that Michael Winner didn't direct. It had enough Bronson badassery but felt cheaper and blander.

And the month gets finished off with another film from Norifumi Suzuki (School of the Holy Beast). I really wanted to make sure I got to watch this during the month, and I'm pretty pleased with it being my last viewing of the challenge. Sex & Fury stars Reiko Ike and co-stars the incredibly gorgeous Christina Lindberg. This is a twisting tale of criminals and spies and sex and murder. The story is a bit slow through the middle but Suzuki's great direction and the sex and fury more than make up for it. There are some more incredible shots here that rival some of those in School of the Holy Beast. Entertaining and well made.


The Wrap Up 
April is a rather blah month most of the time. Allergies begin to wreck lives, the weather is all over the place, nothing exciting happens, taxes taxes taxes and you are just close enough to summer vacations and beach beers to get bummed when you realize they're still a couple of months away. This challenge which is organized and run through DVDtalk.com is now wrapping up it's 3rd year and this is my first actively participating. It is a full 6 months away from their horror challenge so that they don't interfere with each other and it is a welcome event in a nerd such as I's schedule. While the end of this challenge and I didn't have the best time together with getting burnt out on movie watching, this was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to next year. 

The Stats
Challenge Length: 31 days
Total Films Watched: 65- No goal set but a respectable total I think. I'd like to try and not get burned out towards the end next year.
1st Time Viewings: 61 - About 94% new viewings, success!
Best Movie Watched: Lone Wolf And Cub 4: Baby Cart In Peril - Just pure greatness. I'm taking a short break from the series until I finish it so I don't water them down with each other.
Worst Movie Watched: Slaughter Party - Not only the worst of this challenge but on of the worst I've ever seen. How does Troma release so much bullshit?
Biggest Surprise: Bells Of Death - This was a total cheapie blind buy about a week before the challenge began. I got it to use in the challenge and hoped for the best. It was a big surprise how much I liked it.
Biggest Disappointment: Between God, The Devil, And A Winchester - I think I mentioned how long I'd been wanting to see this one and how much I love the title. It was such a bummer when it wasn't great, or even very good.
Average Rating: I totally forgot to keep track of my scores for each film and it wouldn't work trying to give them a score now. Whoops.