History Main / ExploitationFilm

* ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}'' took full advantage of the tendency for anime in the 90's to be ultra-violent. Genocyber is as gory and violent as it gets, featuring characters getting mutilated and killed in the most extreme ways possible. Children running through a field, then getting their brains exploded from their head and turned into a fine pink mist by attack helicopters. A meddling detective getting knocked out and then waking up just moments before he dies to find his intestines were decoratively scattered all over the room while still attached to his body. That sort of stuff.
* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' is an AnimatedShockComedy that focuses on sex and swearing. Special mention goes to the English dub, who at the request of the original Japanese producers, threw in as many swear words as they could think of, just to teach them new forms of profanity. Panty alone says [[ClusterFBomb "Fuck" and variations there-of no less than 282 times]] over the course of 13 episodes composed of 26 11MinuteShorts, and that's just the F word alone. By comparison, the cuss-tastic 26 half-hour episode series ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' doesn't even reach half that, and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' needed numerous seasons to reach the same number. Many people believe that [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools the dub is much funnier with all the new swear words added in and the more sexual references]].
* ''Anime/RedoOfHealer'' centers around a protagonist who decides to get revenge on his tormentors by raping and killing them (usually in that order). Aside from the heavy focus on rape, the series also features copious amounts of sex scenes and fanservice, to the point that the anime is about as close as you can get to a {{Hentai}} without explicit sexual content.
* On the non-violence side, there are more than a few anime who's sole purpose is {{Fanservice}} for Fanservice's sake, including the infamous ''Eiken'' and ''Manga/{{Keijo}}''.
* ''Anime/MasterOfMartialHearts'' ''tries'' to be a [[TakeThat scathing indictment of]] [[Main/PantyFighter fighting fanservice anime]], but the actual payoff for this comes right out of left field in the final episode, [[Main/IndecisiveParody and the rest of the time it gleefully indulges in exactly the kind of fanservice it's trying to condemn.]]
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' is an interesting [[SubvertedTrope subversion]]. The series is a DarkFantasy manga that's all about the journey of [[AntiHero Guts]] as he [[WalkingTheEarth travels]] with his TrueCompanions across [[CrapsackWorld an unthinkably horrible and excessively cruel medieval setting]] where the most horrible things you can imagine happening are all but prevalent, including copious amounts of incredibly excessive fan-service and explicit sexual content that would make a {{Hentai}} look G-rated, [[GratuitousRape heavy focus on rape that is gratuitous as gratuitous gets]], all sorts of [[EldritchAbomination horrifying aberrations and absolutely inhuman monstrosities]] that are enough to make Creator/JunjiIto proud, tons and tons of extreme graphic violence, gratuitous shock value and excessive gore that would make ''Anime/RedoOfHealer'' and ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' look like a Creator/{{Disney}} film, and much more. However, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this all works in its favor]] to produce an incredibly compelling story, being a crowning example of TrueArtIsAngsty.

[[A BLOOD-SOAKED ORGY of '''Literature''' that will ROCK YOU to the CORE... And CHILL YOU to your BONES!]]

A film which focuses on morbid, shocking elements such as torture, serial killing, cannabilism, and sex in a gratuitous and excessive fashion. For example, a crime movie which focuses more on the lurid details of committing the crime or its effects on the victim, rather than the police efforts to solve it. Or a movie that's excessively violent and gory beyond what's needed for the plot or theme. That -- excessive violence or sexuality -- seems to be the main elements of an exploitation film. "Raw", outrageous footage is the name of the game. Bonus points if the production has that "low-budget" feel to it, though it isn't strictly necessary.

!!Sorted

* ''Film/{{Grindhouse}}'' (2007) was an AffectionateParody of the exploitation films of the 1970s. ("Grindhouse" being a slang term for the type of theater that specialized in showing actual films of this trope.) And both of the films spun out of ''Grindhouse'' [[RealTrailerFakeMovie Fake Trailers]], ''Film/{{Machete}}'' and ''Film/HoboWithAShotgun''.

* ''Film/SlaveGirlsFromByondInfinity'' (1987): In the future, two slaves in a distant galaxy escape prison and crash-land on a strange planet. They meet Zed, whose hospitality attempts to hide the fact they are to be hunted for sport.

* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' is a comedy GrossoutShow that focuses on sex and swearing. Special mention goes to the English dub, who at the request of the original Japanese producers, threw in as many swear words as they could think of, just to teach them new forms of profanity. Panty alone says [[ClusterFBomb "Fuck" and variations there-of no less than 282 times]] over the course of 13 episodes composed of 26 11MinuteShorts, and that's just the F word alone. By comparison, the cuss-tastic 26 half-hour episode series ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' doesn't even reach half that, and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' needed numerous seasons to reach the same number. Many people believe that [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools the dub is much funnier with all the new swear words added in and the more sexual references]].

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' is an interesting [[SubvertedTrope subversion]]. The series is a DarkFantasy manga that's all about the journey of [[AntiHero Guts]] as he [[WalkingTheEarth travels]] with his TrueCompanions across [[CrapsackWorld an unthinkably horrible and excessively cruel medieval setting]] where the most horrible things you can imagine happening are all but prevalent, including copious amounts of incredibly excessive fan-service and explicit sexual content that would make a {{Hentai}} look G-rated, [[GratuitousRape heavy focus on rape that is gratuitous as gratuitous gets]], all sorts of [[EldritchAbomination horrifying aberrations and absolutely inhuman monstrosities]] that are enough to make Creator/JunjiIto proud, tons and tons of extreme graphic violence, gratuitous shock value and excessive gore that would make ''Anime/RedoOfHealer'' and ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' look like a Creator/{{Disney}} film, and much more. However, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this all works in its favor]] (unlike the other examples) to produce an incredibly compelling story, being a crowning example of TrueArtIsAngsty.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy,'' Peter describes the movies his cousin Rufus made as "pure exploitation." The cutaway shows Rufus in "[[BlaxploitationParody Black]] [[Film/BackToTheFuture to the Future]]" and implies he's involved in several other {{blaxploitation}} {{mockbuster}}s.

* ''Film/MeganIsMissing'' (filmed 2006; released 2011): An exploitation film posing as a warning against strangers on the internet, wherein a girl named Megan goes missing after meeting up with someone she met on the Internet, and her friend Amy seeks to find her and take him down, only to fall victim to him herself.

* Fanfic/FluffyPony stories tend to skew towards the torture, rape, mutilation, and death of the titular creatures, reveling in {{Gorn}} and featuring often bleak and uncompromisingly dark tales and artwork.

** Related to above, Hentai OVA adaptations of gorntastic PornWithoutPlot {{Eroge}} tends to head into this way. The original source materials are no better.

* There were also a large number of [=OVAs=] and anime movies in the 80's and 90's that were exported across the pond (mainly because of Creator/MangaEntertainment picking them up because they were so bad that you could get the license to them for a song) that practically reveled in graphic violence, nudity and sex. For every ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' or ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' that brought anime into the mainstream and influenced the culture with their stories, animation quality, and themes, there was a large handful of ''Manga/MadBull34'' and ''Anime/{{Genocyber}}''.

That's part of the dividing line. Is the violence or sexuality in a movie gratuitous, meant largely for entertainment? Or is it used to enhance the plot or theme? Since ''Literature/TheGirlNextDoor'' is a fictionalized story based on a true crime involving a real girl who was systematically abused by her family, what is it? Is it exploitation because the story itself is fictionalized and involves made-up characters instead of literally retelling the story of the crime? And even if it did retell the story of actual crime, would it still be exploitation?

* WebOriginal/FluffyPony stories tend to skew towards the torture, rape, mutilation, and death of the titular creatures, reveling in {{Gorn}} and featuring often bleak and uncompromisingly dark tales and artwork.

In the past, such films were sometimes made featuring lurid scenes with the supposed intent to be educational, such as ''Film/ReeferMadness'', or purportedly educational films from the 1960s about nudist colonies or sexual practices, which were just an excuse for nudity. Regardless of the purportedly educational intent, the lurid scenes were often meant to be the main source of entertainment.

* ''Film/theSadist'' (1963): Three people driving into Los Angeles for a Dodgers game have car trouble and pull off into an old wrecking yard where they are held at bay by a bloodthirsty psycho and his crazy girlfriend.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' is an interesting {{SubvertedTrope subversion}}. The series is a DarkFantasy manga that's all about the journey of [[AntiHero Guts]] as he [[WalkingTheEarth travels]] with his TrueCompanions across [[CrapsackWorld an unthinkably horrible and excessively cruel medieval setting]] where the most horrible things you can imagine happening are all but prevalent, including copious amounts of incredibly excessive fan-service and explicit sexual content that would make a {{Hentai}} look G-rated, [[GratuitousRape heavy focus on rape that is gratuitous as gratuitous gets]], all sorts of [[EldritchAbomination horrifying aberrations and absolutely inhuman monstrosities]] that are enough to make Creator/JunjiIto proud, tons and tons of extreme graphic violence, gratuitous shock value and excessive gore that would make ''Anime/RedoOfHealer'' and ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' look like a Creator/{{Disney}} film, and much more. However, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools this all works in its favor]] (unlike the other examples) to produce an incredibly compelling story, being a crowning example of TrueArtIsAngsty.

[[/index]]

* ''Film/ThrillerACruelPicture'' (1973): Swedish film notable for inspiring Film/KillBill and using a real corpse as one of its special effects.

* ''Film/TheSinfulDwarf'' (1973): Danish exploitation movie that didn't exactly do wonders for the inclusion of short people.