Action, Violence And Skin In MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED

by Todd Brown, June 30, 2010 8:00 PM

How do you follow a film like Not Quite Hollywood, a critical and crowd favorite chronicling the history of exploitation film in Australia? If you're NQH director Mark Hartley you cast your eye over the sea to the Philippines, hotbed of American funded exploitation film production throughout the seventies. The end result is Machete Maidens Unleashed, another riotous, energetic blast of film insanity from the days when there seemingly were no rules about what could and couldn't go on screen and what rules there were were happily ignored.

From the early '70s well into the '90s the Philippines was a back-lot for a bevy of B-movie mavericks and cinema visionaries alike. The country was utilized for its inexpensive labour, exotic locations and distinct lack of rules. A large body of genre work emerged that somehow managed to capture the raw, chaotic energy of contemporary Filipino culture. These productions (a cavalcade of monster movies, jungle prison movies, blaxploitation and kung fu hybrids) were miraculously made at a time when the country's political situation was repressive at best.

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! is the ultimate insiders' account of genre filmmaking in the Philippines. A role call of local and international survivors from this period have been interviewed, all adding their distinct and honest account of this Devil-may-care school of filmmaking. Sitting alongside the talking heads are a dazzling array of outrageous film clips from key Filipino titles.

Partially funded by the Melbourne International Film Festival, Machete Maidens Unleashed will premiere there in July. Check out a the insanity in trailer form below!

Video

9 Comments

by Scott, June 30, 2010 1:01 PM

Love this trailer. Ok, so it's just a compilation of best bits, but the editing was great. Loved Not Quite Hollywood, so this is going straight on the must-see list.

"Yes, darling, bare your bod." - They just don't write them like that anymore.

by Swarez, June 30, 2010 1:04 PM

Genius. Loved NQH, this looks like it will almost blow it out of the water.

by Andrew Mack, June 30, 2010 1:13 PM

I really like that poster too. Mad skills.

by Itto Ogami loses Daigoro, June 30, 2010 6:45 PM

Needs more Dudikoff!

by Agent Wax, July 1, 2010 1:10 AM

Can Black Mama, White Mama even be considered a Filipino film in the first place?

Todd Brown replied to comment from Agent Wax, July 1, 2010 2:18 AM

That's kind of the whole point of the film - that in the midst of the Marcos dictatorship these American companies were welcomed to come in and shoot whatever they wanted, using local producers, crews and talent to do it, completely free of the rules and laws that applied to the locals.

Ard Vijn replied to comment from Todd Brown, July 1, 2010 6:37 AM

"Apocalypse Now" probably being the biggest possible example of this?

by antonius.moritz, July 1, 2010 4:59 PM

Someones knows the name of the terrific song?

by Donwoo2, September 30, 2011 7:29 PM

Damn, does this ever look great!

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