History Main / ExploitationFilm

It's sometimes debatable as to whether a given film is an ExploitationFilm or not. If there's a heavy emphasis on plot and background detail, yet at the same time the visceral elements are emphasized and played up in detail, then people will disagree on whether or not it fits this category. For example, ''ThePassionOfTheChrist'' goes into a ton of detail in watching {{Jesus}} be tortured. Yet, many churches were turning out in droves to see it, despite it being a film that consists of two hours of torture followed by the death of the lead character. Due to the movie's theme and background material, most argue that it isn't exploitation at all, since Jesus's torture was not intended for the audience's excitement.

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Most exploitation films, by their nature, tend to be [[BMovie B-movies]]. {{Blaxploitation}}, {{Mondo}}, and {{Nazisploitation}} are sub-genres. See also {{Gorn}} for movies that don't bother pretending, and {{Euroshlock}}, which is commonly accused of this.

-->--'''WebOriginal/TheCinemaSnob'''

** This one is infamous for being a movie the MST3K crew ''[[EveryoneHasStandards refused to riff on]]''. (and TheCinemaSnob had a difficult time reviewing it as well!)

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* Many of TheAsylum's movies, especially the horror rip-offs, would fit right in here, to the point that they wouldn't seem ''that'' out of place playing in a 70's Grindhouse theater.

* Current exploitation films tend to be very tongue-in-cheek and revel in the genre. Such examples include {{Machete}}, ''HoboWithAShotgun'', and ''BigTitsZombie''. All three movies are filled with over-the-top violence and nudity and are mostly PlayedForLaughs.

-->--'''TheCinemaSnob'''

* ''ReeferMadness'' is an odd case. It was originally created by a church in an attempt to warn about the dangers of marijuana, and was titled ''Tell Your Children''. A company specializing in exploitation films bought the rights to it and spiced it up with extra scenes and a new title, changing it into an intentional exploitation film.

In the past, such films were sometimes made featuring lurid scenes with the supposed intent to be educational, such as ''ReeferMadness''. However, the lurid scenes were often meant to be the main source of entertainment.

* ''MenBehindTheSun'', a Chinese film about ImperialJapan's war crimes in WWII, which blurs the lines between exploitation & docudrama. Which is quite appropriate, considering it's about a bunch of people who made their living not so much blurring the line between scientific research & sadistic torture, as [[{{Metaphorgotten}} injecting horse urine into its kidneys & feeding it to its cellmate...]]

* CannibalHolocaust is a film within a film featuring a documentary team's ill fated journey into the "Green Inferno" of South America. It sparked murder charges in Italy when it was released due to the graphic portrayals of violence onscreen leading to accusations of being a SnuffFilm, as well as charges for animal cruelty due to the onscreen deaths of real animals. It also was banned as one of the VideoNasties.

* CannibalHolocaust is a film within a film featuring a documentary team's ill fated journey into the "Green Inferno" of South America. It sparked murder charges in Italy when it was released due to the graphic portrayals of violence onscreen as well as charges for animal cruelty due to the onscreen deaths of real animals. It also was banned as one of the VideoNasties.

Most exploitation films, by their nature, tend to be [[BMovie B-movies]]. {{Blaxploitation}}, {{Mondo}}, and {{Nazisploitation}} are sub-genres. See also {{Gorn}} for movies that don't bother pretending.

* There's a bit of argument over whether art films like ''ASerbianFilm'' qualify--they certainly contain exploitative ''elements'', at least.

* There's a lot of debate as to whether movies such as SaloOrThe120DaysOfSodom, Antichrist, and A Serbian Film, among others, are art films with political statements or thinly veiled exploitation. YourMileageMayVary.
** There's also a point of view that the distinction between "art films" and "exploitation films" is artificial; that it's naive to assume that an art film doesn't have exploitative elements (which indeed are a key element in the works of Luis Buñuel, RomanPolanski, and other acknowledged masters), and that it's snobbish to assume that an exploitation film cannot have artistic value, or that its audience is incapable of comprehending an artistic statement. These exploitative elements are called "transgressive" when they occur in art films, so sheep-like elitists can know ahead of time which films to praise and which to despise.
* ASerbianFilm

[[quoteright:350:[[ExploitationFilm http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tenement.jpg]]]]

** There's also a point of view that the distinction between "art films" and "exploitation films" is artificial; that it's naive to assume that an art film doesn't have exploitative elements (which indeed are a key element in the works of Luis Buñuel, RomanPolanski, and other acknowledged masters), and that it's snobbish to assume that an exploitation film cannot have artistic value, or that its audience is incapable of comprehending an artistic statement.

[[ExploitationFilm http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tenement.jpg]]
[[caption-width:360:[[SarcasmMode Perhaps it's a light family-friendly comedy]]?]]

->''It's almost as if this movie is some kind of exploitative piece, that likes showing violence and naked women for no reason whatsoever. There really should be a name for this genre. Exploit...? Exploitate...? Ahh, i'll think of it later.''

* In TheNineties, the {{Fox}} network did a live-action TV version of this with their ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293702/ When Animals Attack!]]'' specials.

* TokyoGorePolice. The main page says it all: "What ensues is almost two hours-worth of decapitations, dismemberments, disembowelments, katanas, chainsaw duels, penises that double as guns, vagina monsters that eat people, breasts that squirt acid and people propelling themselves into the air with gouts of blood among other things."