American Grindhouse
This documentary explores the hidden history of the American Exploitation Film. The movie digs deep into this often overlooked category of U.S. cinema and unearths the shameless and occasionally shocking origins of this popular entertainment.

Main Cast
Robert Forster
Robert Forster (born Robert Wallace Foster Jr.; July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019) was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in Medium Cool (1969) and as Max Cherry in Jackie Brown (1997), the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Known For
Allison Anders
Allison Anders (born November 16, 1954) is an American film and television director. Anders has directed many independent films, on which she frequently collaborates with fellow UCLA film school graduate Kurt Voss. Description above from the Wikipedia article Allison Anders, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
John Landis
John Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.
Known For
Kim Morgan
Known For
Fred Olen Ray
Fred Olen Ray is an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter, actor, cinematographer, and former professional wrestler.
Known For
Joe Dante
Joseph James Dante Jr. (born November 28, 1946) is an American filmmaker, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably Gremlins (1984) alongside its sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with 1960s radicalism and cartoon comedy. Dante's output includes the films Piranha (1978), The Howling (1981), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), The 'Burbs (1989), Matinee (1993), Small Soldiers (1998), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). His work for television and cable include the social satire The Second Civil War (1997), episodes of the anthology series Masters of Horror ("Homecoming" and "The Screwfly Solution") and Amazing Stories, as well as Police Squad! and Hawaii Five-0. Description above from the Wikipedia article Joe Dante, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis (June 15, 1926 - September 26, 2016) was an American filmmaker, best known for creating the "splatter" subgenre of horror films.
Known For
William Lustig
William "Bill" Lustig (born February 1, 1955) is an American film director and producer who has worked primarily in the horror film genre. Description above from the Wikipedia article William Lustig, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Lewis Teague
Lewis Teague (born 8 March 1938 in Brooklyn, New York) is a film director, whose work includes Alligator, Cat's Eye, Cujo, The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!, Navy SEALs and The Triangle. He apprenticed with Sydney Pollack at Universal Television, and was a production manager on the rock concert documentary Woodstock (1970). Teague found gainful employment working for Roger Corman throughout the 1970s: he handled second-unit director chores on Death Race 2000 (1975), Thunder and Lightning (1977) and Avalanche (1978) and served as an editor for Monte Hellman's Cockfighter (1974) and Jonathan Demme's Crazy Mama (1975). Teague was also second-unit director on Samuel Fuller's World War II movie, The Big Red One (1980). Made his feature debut as the co-director of Dirty O'Neil (1974). He followed this with the Depression-era crime exploitation movie The Lady in Red (1979), which he also edited. The horror-creature feature Alligator (1980) and the urban vigilante film Fighting Back (1980) (TV) followed. Teague directed two Stephen King adaptations in the 1980s, Cujo (1983) and the anthology film Cat's Eye (1985). His other films include The Jewel of the Nile (1985), the action movie Navy Seals (1990), the science fiction offering Wedlock (1991) and the made-for-TV movie The Triangle (2001) (TV). In addition to his film work, Teague has directed episodes of such TV shows as "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (1962), "Barnaby Jones" (1973), "Shannon's Deal" (1990), "Profiler" (1996) and "Nash Bridges" (1996). After a five-year absence from directing, Teague directed the dramatic short Cante Jondo (2007).
Known For
David Hess
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia David Alexander Hess (September 19, 1936 – October 7, 2011) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and director. He came to prominence for his portrayals of murderous villains and gruff characters in several films in the 1970s and 1980s. Description above from the Wikipedia article David Hess, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Bob Minor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Robert Lee Minor or Bob Lee Minor (born January 1, 1944) is an African-American stunt performer, television and film actor, best known for doubling many celebrities such as: Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, Bernie Mac, Danny Glover, Carl Weathers and John Amos. Minor was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and made his first television appearance in 1973 on the television program, Search, then appeared in tons of shows such as: Barnaby Jones, McCloud, The Six Million Dollar Man, Eight is Enough, and Starsky and Hutch among other popular television programs.
Known For
Unknown Actor
Known For
Sugar Boxx
2009
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
2022
Jeremy Kasten
Jeremy Kasten is an American film director and editor known for his work in the horror genre. His notable films include The Attic Expeditions (2001), The Thirst (2006), and a remake of H.G. Lewis' The Wizard of Gore (2007), which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Kasten's work often explores psychological horror and surreal narratives.
Known For
Eddie Muller
Eddie Muller is an American writer based in San Francisco. He is the founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation and hosts the weekly film noir showcase "Noir Alley" on Turner Classic Movies.
Known For
Fred Williamson
Fred "The Hammer" Williamson (born March 5, 1938) is an American actor, architect, and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Description above from the Wikipedia article Fred Williamson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Larry Cohen
Lawrence George Cohen (July 15, 1941 – March 23, 2019) was an American screenwriter, producer, and director of film and television, best known as a B-movie auteur of horror and science fiction films — often containing police procedural and satirical elements — during the 1970s and 1980s, such as It's Alive (1974), God Told Me To (1976), It Lives Again (1978), The Stuff (1985) and A Return to Salem's Lot (1987). After that, he concentrated mainly on screenwriting, including Phone Booth (2002), Cellular (2004) and Captivity (2007). Description above from the Wikipedia article Larry Cohen, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known For
Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan (born November 25, 1947) is an American film producer and director. Kaplan was born in Paris, France. He is the son of film composer Sol Kaplan and actress Frances Heflin; the nephew of actor Van Heflin. He is the brother of actresses Nora Heflin and Mady Kaplan. His film The Accused (1988), earned actress Jodie Foster her first Oscar for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. Kaplan received 5 Emmy nominations for his roles directing and producing ER. Kaplan directed Rod Stewart's music video for "Infatuation" in 1984.
Known For
Judith Brown
Judith Brown was born on August 11, 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is known for her work on The Big Doll House (1971), Falcon Crest (1981) and House Calls (1978). She was previously married to Daniel H. Blatt and Jerry G. Crumpler.
Known For
Unknown Actor
Known For
The Astro-Zombies
1968
Cauldron: Baptism of Blood
2004
Unknown Actor
Known For
Movie Details
Production Info
- Director:
- Elijah Drenner
- Writers:
- Elijah Drenner, Calum Waddell
- Production:
- Lux Digital Pictures, End Films
Key Crew
- Executive Producer:
- Jeff Broadstreet
- Co-Producer:
- Calum Waddell
- Executive Producer:
- Ingo Jucht
- Sound Editor:
- Elijah Drenner
- Original Music Composer:
- Jason Brandt
Locations and Languages
- Country:
- US
- Filming:
- US
- Languages:
- en