The latest outing from director Mark
Hartley, Machete Maidens Unleashed follows a similar format to
his rapturously received expose of low-budget ‘Ozploitation’ cinema
Not Quite Hollywood, only this time around the focus is the
oft-overlooked world of drive-in filler produced by the fledgling
Filipino film industry throughout the 1970s.
An increasingly appealing locale to
American B-movie directors because of its low costs, lax health and
safety regulations and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap,
fearless stuntmen, the Philippines formed the backdrop of dozens of
drive-in movies produced throughout that decade, the majority of which
were exploitation flicks featuring unconvincing monsters or variations
on the fetishistic ‘women in prison’ motif.
Comprising footage from dozens of
interviews with the actors, writers, directors and producers who took
part in this wild and distinctly lawless chapter in cinematic history,
Machete Maidens Unleashed is another triumph for Hartley and a
succinct, action-packed encapsulation of an unforgettable era that will
never again be replicated. The film tells of Filipino stuntmen throwing
themselves through real windows like they’d seen US stuntmen do, unaware
their American counterparts were using panes constructed of sugar, dying
as they fell from towers and actually setting themselves on fire for
take upon take, leaping into a nearby river whenever the heat became too
intense. Karate kicking midgets, sweltering jungles, papier-mâché
monsters, busty gun-toting babes and topless femme fatales were all par
for the course, and are captured here in all their fetid glory.
In addition to a riveting feature the
two-disc edition of the film contains some amazing extras, including an
audio commentary with Hartley and several crew members, an hour’s worth
of additional interview footage, a 64-minute Filipino exploitation
trailer reel, test footage, featurettes and the 1976 exploitation
feature The Muthers, starring the beautiful, elusive Jeannie
Bell, in its entirety. It’s a comprehensive and hugely enjoyable paean
to this age of unbridled B-movie sleaze, where explosions and bare
breasts took precedence over plot and where, for a brief few years,
absolutely anything could happen.
