Since the onset of the DVD market it has created the potential to release anything and everything into the digital arena. Many rare and obscure films that have seen minimal amount of sunlight have an opportunity to be revived in a new culture who thrive in diversity, genre, and alternative environments. Before current labels like 'goth' and 'cult' and 'tweaker', there were films like 'Mark of the Devil', 'Immoral Tales' and 'Reefer Madness'. Perhaps John Waters is one of the few directors keeping this genre alive, but the DVD market also helps keep it alive by allowing these minor films to be heard of again by a larger public. Not just by those who enjoy campy sleeze, but in our own interest, there are many that are taken out of print which also helps bring it to light. A possible development of this is from the video market of releasing director's and unrated cuts to the private homes so that fans can see more. Deleted scenes were offered, alternative endings, etc. Now the DVD market has an opportunity to give more content to their customers without any MPAA code involved as home video is about "privacy". And so, it allows more people to see films at their leisure with more content than previously able to show giving rise to the popularity of underground films.

But, consider Salo: how many actually heard of the film before Criterion's release, and how many more people heard of it since being out of print? Or small films like Let Sleeping Corpses Lie and Two Lane Black-Top. The genre of exploitation has become a likable quality in filming as it relates a type of nostalgia in cinema that is not very prominant today. Perhaps the explosion of the exploitation film became the 80's T&A film, which was so degraded that it had no politics anymore (which is the one quality an exploitation film needs). From my own perspective, it is nice to be able to see many films get unearthed, dusted and remade for consumption again, because, well, I like these films. DVD companies are thriving on them, such as Blue Underground, Anchor Bay, Cult Epics, Elite Entertainment, Barrell Entertainment, and to some degree, Criterion Collection. In this article, I wanted to review some of the Out of Print Exploitation films that have caught my attention and I feel are note worthy films.

 

To start out, I mentioned above Walerian Borowczyk's Immoral Tales, a strange film dealing with sexuality amongst varying periods of time. The idea centers around repressed sexuality, much like most of his films. In his other film, The Beast (La b?�te) we deal with a similar sexual repression in Victorian era France. A beast is on the loose set to rampage any woman. Meanwhile the household is full of it's own sexual quirkiness and hidden escapades. These films are not just your basic nudity for nudity's sake type of films, but are near explicit (though not pornographic), so, because of this, they either "titilate", (a popualar 60's term), or shock you that you are actually seeing it (his latest is Love Rites, now available).

While we all know about Salo, the director Pier Paolo Passolini has become the staple in expensive OOP DVD's. His films also deal with varying forms of sexuality that sometimes seems shocking while others appear the commonplace. I wonder sometimes that if Salo did not receive the notariety it has, would films like The Canterbury Tales, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, and Arabian Nights would be as expensive as they are. Further I wonder if his films would receive the DVD treatment they are currently getting with the new re-releases. It is hard to say, but this is a nice example of how films get revived, perhaps more attention than any other time in their history (see his Pier Paolo Pasolini Collection, Vol. 1 (Oedipus Rex / Porcile / Love Meetings) and Pier Paolo Pasolini Collection, Vol. 2 (Accatone / The Hawks and the Sparrows / The Gospel According to Saint Matthew)).

Another director who is famous in the realm of exploitation films is Radley Metzger who directed the famous porn films The Opening of Misty Beethoven and The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann which finally married the plot with the porn. His other films, equally well known in certain circles, were of softer substance, but equally sensual. The films consisted of Therese and Isabelle, Dark Odyssey, The Alley Cats, The Dirty Girls, Carmen, Baby, The Princess and the Call Girl, Little Mother, Camille 2000, Score, The Image and The Lickerish Quartet. All of these films have been released on DVD and has since been discontinued (save The Image). When Theresa and Isabelle was discontinued, the interest in that film perhaps went higher than when it was released on DVD. From there some higher quality DVD sets were released in honor of his work; The Radley Metzger Collection, Vol. 1 (Therese and Isabelle / The Alley Cats / Camille 2000), Radley Meztger Collection Volume 2 (Little Mother / The Dirty Girls / Score), and Radley Metzger Collection Vol 3.

This is not to say these directors are only famous because of OOP DVD's, but more that different populations become aware of their work because of the collector as well as the cineaste. Exploitation does at times cross into cult, horror, avante-garde and experimental. Some other directors worth noting are Jess Franco, Dario Argento, Tinto Brass, Ruggero Deodato, and Joseph Sarno. Well, while I can't list everything (which, as I do this, there is quite an extensive list of OOP DVD's that I am seeing), there are certainly many other director's that have achieved a certain amount of acclaim for one film or another. Hopefully this can serve as a spring board into a whole new realm of cinema that you questioned whether to look into to begin with. An excellent source for these and other kinds of DVD's is Exploited Cinema who deal with many out of region and PAL DVD's, but also many are Region 0 and NTSC. You will get a thrill just looking through the site. So, until next time, enjoy the seedier side of cinema.