I haven't seen this mentioned here...in connection with the April release of his own Grindhouse, Quentin Tarantino will loan over 50 of his own personal prints to play at fest at L.A.'s New Beverly Cinema from March 4-April 30th.

From Jeremy Kay's Screen Daily article:

The New Beverly's Web site has the complete list and...it's pretty amazing. Just one more reason why it blows to live in Central Illinois.

Is there a link to the site?

Google is amazing.

I consider myself somewhat of an aficionado of exploitation movies, but I haven't even heard of (let alone seen) lots of these films. THE CHINESE MACK? REDNECK MILLER? LEE LIVES WITHIN? If these films are any good, then Tarantino deserves kudos for rescuing them from obscurity.

Some of the best lineups look to be:

MACHINE GUN McCAIN and WIPEOUT
AUTOPSY and EYEBALL
THE LADY IN RED and BARE KNUCKLES
RETURN OF THE TIGER and STONER

I've always wanted to see THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN as well, although I'm not a very big fan of the film it's playing with.

I've been meaning to take a road trip to LA for a while now, so who knows, maybe this will give me the motivation to finally make the trip.

Does anyone have information on some of the more obscure titles? Any lineups to recommend?

Hmmm.... I wonder what the "sneak preview" could be on April 5th? Gee, could it be GRINDHOUSE? Considering the film officially opens the following day, I think it's a safe bet.

This is a Bruceploitation flick starring Chan Wai Man. It is 90 minutes of kung fu bashing that kinda mixes THE BIG BOSS and THE CHINESE CONNECTION. Here is a review I did for it:

http://www.geocities.com/many_bruces/reviews/chinesemack.htm

...one more reason to regret moving away from LA. :angry:

I saw Tarantino's print of MACHINE GUN McCAIN a couple of years ago at the American Cinematheque. It was in good shape and is a must-see movie.

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN is like the little girl with the little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When it's good it's very, very good, but when it's bad it's f*cking awful.

Talk about timing - my wife and I will be out there in L.A. during April!

Anyone been to this theater and can give me (and maybe others here) an idea of what to expect from the place? Reading up on it, it sounds somewhat like the old Cinema 35 in Columbus, Ohio - an old somewhat-falling-apart theater that ran old and new films together in double-features for $2.

How's the parking around there (and don't laugh - advise on one site said that you would need to park on the streets, but I don't know how bad that could be in the area we're talking about).

Thanks!

The New Beverly definitely is a suitable place for a "grindhouse" festival. It's somewhat of a charming dump, as it has been for decades. Not the greatest in terms of seats, screen, presentation, or anything for that matter, and expect to wait in line to go to the bathroom as its tiny. The theater's in a decent area - on Beverly Blvd. just west of La Brea. There's restaurants and other businesses around, with residential side streets, so you won't have to worry about being mugged. Best bet for parking is just to look for a meter a block or two away - you won't need to put any coins in after 6pm. Usually no stress parking around there even though there is no parking lot for the theater itself. Have fun!

Odd thing about The Town that Dreaded Sundown is that I would have been 16 when it came out but was almost certain I'd seen it earlier. Looks like a cool line-up even though I thought Chinese Hercules was almost unwatchable.

Sounds like an improvement over the print of MACHINE GUN MCCAIN that ran in the Film Forum's (NYC) recent Morricone retrospective. Over on the Arthouse board, Bob Cashill reported that it thad been shorn of all scenes featuring the running song, "Ballad of Hank McCain."

Thanks for the info on the theater, Jeff!

While nowhere near the same lineup that will be played at the New Beverly, Music Box Theatre in Chicago is jumping on the bandwagon and hosting the "Best of Grindhouse Cinema" starting March 30th:

March 30th: Pets
April 6th: I Drink Your Blood
April 13th: Toys Are Not For Children
April 20th: Dominatrix Without Mercy

Also, a new 35MM print of Sam Fuller's White Dog will be shown on June 4th.

www.musicboxtheatre.com

Should be some more updates going on here:
http://www.myspace.com/grindhouse

Brian also hinted they may have some special guests for some of the screenings.

**

Now the MACHINE GUN McCAIN print they are using is gorgeous.. though not flawless.

Chinese Mack - Talk about a fun and crazy ending! This particular print features a really long sequence of dog on dog fighting. Which when Tarantino showed this print previously it caused many dog lovers to walk out.

Wipeout - This print is great. It misses the final sequence at the very end and missing some parts here and there. Great looking print. Too bad he isn't showing his print of Di Leo's Shoot First, Die Later.

Brotherhood of Death - Plays better as a midnight movie. Worth checking out.

Rolling Thunder - If you haven't already seen it. This is a great chance to experience it as no telling when it'll see a proper DVD release.

Shame of the Jungle - Definitely a wake me up animated feature! Not for the faint of heart or those easily offended. The censoring of the Tarzan references is hilarious!

Eyeball - Fun film. Seems more like a wink wink giallo entry than one that attempts to take itself seriously to any degree. Would be interesting to catch at least once theatrically.

I really expected him to screen a print of The House on the Edge of the Park. Still a great lineup. I think other theatres will have similar offerings of grindhouse related films in April.

The Showtime/Flix cable channels have been airing a very nice LBX print of ROLLING THUNDER. You might think MGM prepared this print for an inevitable release, but I have also seen great-looking LBX prints of MEAN DOG BLUES, SWEET REVENGE and ROLLING VENGEANCE, among others, and I doubt MGM is putting these out anytime soon.

ROLLING THUNDER is a very fine film, and if you have the chance to see it on the big screen, you should take it. It's playing with THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN, which I haven't seen, but the spooky 1-sheet hanging in my apartment always draws attention. Maybe that should play on a double bill with ZODIAC!

I'll try to make notes on some of the other prints... but for any fans of Wonder Women... definitely try and make it to that one (might be some extra fun at that one)!

All I can say about this line-up is:

JESUS CHRIST!!!!

Does it have some kind of ending at least, or do the reels essentially end with all the resolutions still up in the air?

I wonder if Brian will pop up after the flick to tell us what the ending is! B)

Does anyone know what ASYLUM OF BLOOD is?

Even the IMDB link via the New Beverly just goes to a search page for the title, and can't find anything definitive. Now THAT's the kind of obscure film that I like...

ASYLUM OF BLOOD is SLAUGHTER HOTEL.

I'm dying to know what the hell REDNECK MILLER is.

As am I!

Thanks, Richard.

I've gotta say, though, the fest is featuring a film I've never heard of, which has one of the all time best drive-in titles ever.

JAILBAIT BABYSITTER.

I mean, really. As an exploitation title, David Friedman would bow before its perfection.

I've actually seen JAILBAIT BABYSITTER, or at least a 73-minute abridged version on one of those Continental Video double-feature tapes (billed with THE STUDENT BODY). From the director of MAMA'S DIRTY GIRLS, it's not very good and in no way lives up to the sleaze promised in its title. The full-length cut may be better, though you would think Continental wouldn't have cut any "good stuff" out of its video print.

From what I have heard, when he was running the MGM repertory theatrical operation, John Kirk oversaw the restoration of many catalog titles from this era. The fruits of his labors were mostly seen on the aforementioned cable networks, as MGM never got around to releasing new DVDs of these films before the unfortunate Sony takeover. Before that point, MGM was issuing all sorts of oddball catalog titles each month; afterwards they slowed to barely a trickle.

I can personally attest to the fine efforts of Mr. Kirk after programming a series last year that utilized some of these brand-new prints. We screened UA's The Revolutionary and Electra Glide in Blue and the prints were pristine. I would be surprised if the print of the The Revolutionary had been played before at all. Electra Glide, of course, did finally make it to DVD, but The Revolutionary remains M.I.A.,though I have heard that it too played on Flix.

For those interested, Electra Glide will soon be playing as part of the Film Comment Selects series at the Walter Reade in NY:

Electra Glide in Blue

Slaughter Hotel print is the sex version of the film.

Re: Wipeout! The part missing is just a small scene. It's in one of the releases I've seen for it. Not sure if it was in the Raro release or not (I think it is). I'm sure Brian and others know about this small extended bit. When I talked to Tarantino about it, he didn't know. The only other thing I'd note for the film is watch for Di Leo's small cameo in it.

My wife and I actually have the movie poster for JAILBAIT BABYSITTER (my wife used to have it hanging in her dorm room back in college)!

I emailed the theater from their website and offered to loan them the poster for use while the movie was playing, but never heard a response. They probably have their own copy of the poster, no doubt!

Thanks for elaborating!

Doesn't seem like too significant a cut, and all part of the grindhouse experience. Should be fun.

One thing I should say is the trailer programs being attached to these are really terrific. Great stuff.

About 7 years ago I conceived the idea of a Grindhouse Network, but didn't know if the world was quite ready for it yet. (Would probably have to run on cable or satellite, don't you think?) It still seems like a good idea, and with modern HD technology..

Hey, Blake...Now that I've seen it....

So what was the missing part and who did Di Leo play? Thanks!

Anybody going this weekend? THE VAN is probably fun with a large crowd, which I bet will eat up Stephen Oliver's hilarious turn as bodybuilding van racer Dugan ("Nobody calls Dugan a big fat turd!"). I don't know anything about SUMMER CAMP. I've only see the TV print of PICK-UP SUMMER, but it was called PINBALL SUMMER and has an incredibly addictive Beach Boys-type theme song (even though the movie is Canadian, eh).

Anyone who can report back on any of the New Beverly's showings, please do. Particularly the more obscure films (like JOHNNY TOUGH coming up).

For Wipeout! I posted some images so you could see for yourself here:
* The Di Leo cameo I believe takes place after the one key scene with Gianni Garko at the park. It cuts to a street scene with men talking and Di Leo is one of them (see image I posted at link below)

http://www.cinemastrikesback.com/wipeout/

SPOILERS
*
*
*

Basically at the end of the Tarantino print, it ends with Silva walking off. In this cut it is implied he is calling the guy to say "guess who is running things now big boy!"

Thanks, Blake!

I understand that John Flynn, Heywood Gould and Andrew Prine will be attending the ROLLING THUNDER/THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN double feature. If any of you get to see them, please let us know how it turned out.

On saturday, the second showing of SUMMER CAMP (1979) was replaced with the wacky roadside sexy hijinks of TEENAGE HITCHHIKERS. Apparently the print of SUMMER CAMP looked like it wasn't safe to run through a second time.

While it was a triple bill, since one of the features was replaced for its second show, once could conceivably have seen a quadruple bill! The mind boggles.

Since TH it features one of the actresses in LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, it would make a disturbing double-feature, especially with LAST as the second feature. :o

John Flynn and Heywood Gould came down on Sunday to introduce the 7:30pm screening of ROLLING THUNDER. They spent about 10 minutes talking about the making of the film, telling one story about the Vietnamese actors hired for the POW camp flashback scenes refusing to wear the Vietcong uniforms and as a result being replaced in the film by some waiters they found at a local Vietnamese restaurant (who were thrilled to be in the film and apparently didn't care about the uniforms). We didn't do a Q&A afterwards as we normally do at our monthly events, since these screenings are meant to run more like the Austin QT Fest.

Andrew Prine was scheduled to introduce the 9:25pm screening of THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN that same night, but things at the theater were running about an hour behind schedule and he had just flown in from the east coast and was exhausted, so had to cancel. He's been down twice before to introduce his films and is a great guest, so we'll have him back again for something else in the near future.

There should be a number of upcoming nights that also have special guests. This list isn't final since I'm still talking to a number of people, and I still need to confirm which nights people will be attending, but here's a tentative list of guests I expect (or hope) will be attending: Barry Primus for AUTOPSY; one of the kids from JOHNNY TOUGH; Ralph Bakshi should be introducing COONSKIN; Margaret Markov for PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW; Don Edmonds, Robert Viharo and Skip E. Lowe for BARE KNUCKLES (and I'll try John Daniels again); Robert Vincent O'Neil, Nancy Kwan, Ross Hagen and Sid Haig for WONDER WOMEN; hopefully Rosanne Katon for THE MUTHERS (and maybe have her and Colleen Camp back for THE SWINGING CHEERLEADERS again); possibly William Smith for GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE; and Barbara Bouchet for DEATH RAGE/CRY OF A PROSTITUTE (I believe this last one is confirmed).

If I have any updates I'll post them on our MySpace page and on here.

Now this I would love to see. Any chance you can trick them into recording a fake audio commentary while you're at it? ;) That would be the highlight of my fantasy BARE KNUCKLES Special Edition DVD, along with a Sherry Jackson photo gallery and a bonus CD of Vic Caesar's score.

Barbara Bouchet...wow. No way I'm missing that.

The only one I've been to so far was the double bill of MACHINE GUN McCAIN AND WIPEOUT! Because of how late it was getting I had to leave at the beginning of the second film, but I was able to stay for the amazing array of trailers they showed first which included JOHNNY COOL, THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS, STREET PEOPLE, LOVE & BULLETS STRANGE SHADOWS IN AN EMPTY ROOM and others. It was pretty terrific.

Did you see TEENAGE HITCHHIKERS? Wish I'd known it was playing!