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Movies like American Grindhouse

Key Features:
Documentary, Exploitation film, Cult classic, British cinema, Film history, Independent film, Low budget, Indie film, Nudity-moderate, Violence-moderate
Tone:
humorous, earnest
Target Audience:
Film buffs, Documentary viewers, Cult film enthusiasts
Emotional Arc:
Curiosity → Amusement

American Grindhouse

2011-02-04
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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.

Genres
Documentary
Cast
Robert Forster, Allison Anders, John Landis, Kim Morgan, Fred Olen Ray, Joe Dante, Herschell Gordon Lewis, William Lustig, Lewis Teague, David Hess
Crew
Elijah Drenner, Calum Waddell, Elijah Drenner
Rating
6.742(64 votes)
American GrindhouseAmerican Grindhouse
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Rated X
Rated X(2000)
5.4

Based on the true story of Jim and Artie Mitchell, two brothers who entered the porn industry in the early 60's. After creating such legendary porn films as "Behind the Green Door" and "Inside Marily Chambers", they later became addicted to drugs and began a downward spiral leading to bankruptcy and murder.



Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror

Delving into a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and finally embraced them, this is the untold history of black Americans in Hollywood through their connection to the horror genre.



Not Quite Hollywood

As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.



Machete Maidens Unleashed!

In the final decades of the 20th century, the Philippines was a country where low-budget exploitation-film producers were free to make nearly any kind of movie they wanted, any way they pleased. It was a country with extremely lax labor regulations and a very permissive attitude towards cultural expression. As a result, it became a hotbed for the production of cheapie movies. Their history and the genre itself are detailed in this breezy, nostalgic documentary.



Hardcore
Hardcore(1979)
6.7

A conservative Midwest businessman ventures into the sordid underworld of pornography in search of his runaway teenage daughter who’s making hardcore films in the pits of Los Angeles.



Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream

From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.



American Hardcore
6.759

Inspired by Steven Blush's book "American Hardcore: A tribal history" Paul Rachman's feature documentary debut is a chronicle of the underground hardcore punk years from 1979 to 1986. Interviews and rare live footage from artists such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, SS Decontrol and the Dead Kennedys.



Cannibal Holocaust
6.3

A New York University professor returns from a rescue mission to the Amazon rainforest with the footage shot by a lost team of documentarians who were making a film about the area's local cannibal tribes.



American Mary
6.3

A young medical student struggling to pay tuition is drawn into the shady world of underground body-modification.



Corman's World
7.07

A chronicle of the long career of American filmmaker Roger Corman, the most tenacious and ingenious low-budget producer and director in the US film industry, a pioneer of independent filmmaking and discoverer of new talent.



Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers

Los Angeles private eye Jack Chandler is hired by a worried mother to find her missing runaway daughter, Samantha. As Chandler searches for her whereabouts, he uncovers an evil cult that worships an Egyptian god, whose followers commit human sacrifices with chainsaws to appease their deity. He soon learns that Samantha has revenge in store for the cult leader and his bevy of blood-thirsty, chainsaw-wielding hookers.



The Fun House
4.841

After being released from prison, a young gangster with a chip on his shoulder decides to punish society by making snuff films.



X-Rated: The Greatest Adult Movies of All Time

The evolution of adult cinema through the most influential films in history, a journey that begins in the 1970s and ends nowadays. An in-depth analysis of the success of the most prestigious erotic films, their impact on industry and society, and their influence on cinema and contemporary culture.



Bloody Mama
5.5

Sexually abused as a young girl, Kate "Ma" Barker grows into a violent and powerful woman by the 1930s. She lovingly dominates her grown sons and grooms them into a pack of tough crooks. The boys include the cruel Herman, who still shares a bed with Ma; Fred, an ex-con who fell in love with a fellow prisoner; and Lloyd, who gets high on whatever's handy. Together they form a deadly, bizarre family of Depression-era bandits.



The Kentucky Fried Movie

A series of loosely connected skits that spoof news programs, commercials, porno films, kung-fu films, disaster films, blaxploitation films, spy films, mafia films, and the fear that somebody is watching you on the other side of the TV.



Hell House LLC
6.5

Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of 15 tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour, a documentary crew travels back to the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened.



Supervixens
5.7

Clint must flee after his wife is killed by a psychopathic cop, who tries to pin the murder on him.



sex, lies, and videotape

Ann, a frustrated wife, enters into counseling due to a troubled marriage. Unbeknownst to her, her husband John has begun an affair with her sister. When John’s best friend Graham arrives, his penchant for interviewing women about their sex lives forever changes John and Ann’s rocky marriage.



Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies

The definitive documentary on the history of nudity in feature films from the early silent days to the present, studying the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while emphasizing the political, sociological and artistic changes that shaped that history. Skin will also study the gender inequality in presenting nude images in motion pictures and will follow the revolution that has created nude gender equality in feature films today.



S.O.B.
S.O.B.(1981)
5.94

A movie producer who made a huge flop tries to salvage his career by revamping his film as an erotic production, where its family-friendly star takes her top off.



Cruising
Cruising(1980)
6.6

When New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the city's underground bars, young rookie Steve Burns infiltrates the S&M subculture to try and lure him out of the shadows.



Whore
Whore(1991)
5.2

This melodrama investigates the life of a sex worker, in a pseudo-documentary style.



A Serbian Film
5.445

Retired porn star Milos leads a normal family life trying to make ends meet. Presented with the opportunity of a lifetime to financially support his family for the rest of their lives, Milos must participate in one last mysterious film. From then on, Milos is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem.



This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.



Snuff
Snuff(1976)
3

The followers of a charismatic cult leader set out to murder a pregnant actress.



In the Basement
6.1

Filmmaker Ulrich Seidl explores of the dark underside of the human psyche by entering Austrian basements fitted out as private domains for secrets and fetishes.



Hot Girls Wanted
6.078

A first-ever look at the realities of the professional “amateur” porn world and the steady stream of 18-to-19-year old girls entering into it.



V/H/S
V/H/S(2012)
6.093

When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire one rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they had bargained for.



All About Evil
5.9

A mousy librarian inherits her father's beloved but failing old movie house. In order to save the family business, she discovers her inner serial killer — and a legion of rabid gore fans — when she starts turning out a series of grisly shorts. What her fans don't realize yet is that the murders in the movies are all too real…



American Movie
7.607

American Movie documents the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, American Movie is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.



V/H/S/85
V/H/S/85(2023)
5.7

Unveiled through a made-for-TV documentary, five chilling tales of found footage horror emerge to take viewers on a gore-filled journey through the grim underbelly of the forgotten 1980s.



August Underground

Imagine walking down the street and finding an unmarked VHS tape. Curiosity piqued, you take it home and pop it in. What starts off as two men screwing around with a video camera quickly transforms into an ultra-realistic torture sequence where the unidentified psychopaths tape their exploits as they torment and violate a woman tied to a chair. The devastation of your morals continues throughout the entirety of the footage, while subtly revealing the killer's shattered pasts via the interaction with their victims and each other. The most shockingly realistic portrait of a serial killer's existence is, Fred Vogel's AUGUST UNDERGROUND.



Food, Inc.
7.3

Documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner examines how mammoth corporations have taken over all aspects of the food chain in the United States, from the farms where our food is grown to the chain restaurants and supermarkets where it's sold. Narrated by author and activist Eric Schlosser, the film features interviews with average Americans about their dietary habits, commentary from food experts like Michael Pollan and unsettling footage shot inside large-scale animal processing plants.



A History of Violence
7.159

An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.



Flesh for Sale
6.6

The porn industry has grown from a product purchased on the sly, to be sold on newsstands in the daily press. "La piel vendida" aims to open a window to this film. His actors, actresses, directors, producers ... tell us their profession from the lights and shadows of a cinema by dint of being explicit in its imagery and themes, is hidden in their motivations: the viewer and their protagonists.



Slaughterhouse
5.265

Faced with the town lawyer, the sheriff, and a rival slaughterhouse owner trying to purchase his land, Lester Bacon decides to take matters into his own hands, ordering his hulking and mentally deranged son to permanently dispose of anyone who conspires against them.



American Me
7.4

During his 18 years in Folsom Prison, street-gang leader Santana rules over all the drug-and-murder activities behind bars. Upon his release, Santana goes back to his old neighborhood, intending to lead a peaceful, crime-free life. But his old gang buddies force him back into his old habits.



9to5: Days in Porn
5.8

9to5 - Days in Porn focuses on the people behind a controversial and multi-billion dollar industry "The Adult Entertainment industry". It depicts their stories, each one different, unadorned and authentic, without glorification or prejudice. It delivers deep insight into their personal lives - from glamorous to grotesque - strange, fascinating, offensive, absurd and sometimes funny moments all at once.



Ed Gein
Ed Gein(2000)
5.346

The true story of Edward Gein, the farmer whose horrific crimes inspired Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. This is the first film to Gein's tormented upbringing, his adored but domineering mother, and the 1957 arrest uncovered the most bizarre series of murders America has ever seen



Hidden 3D
Hidden 3D(2011)
3.431

Following the death of celebrated scientist Susan Carter, her son Brian is surprised to inherit her controversial experimental addiction treatment center. When he and some friends visit the property, they uncover a terrifying and deadly secret.



Emanuelle in America

Untameable photo reporter Emanuelle goes around the world to document the sex practices of the rich and powerful, getting dangerously close to the most disturbing and hidden schemes.



Secret Things
5.7

Two young women find themselves struggling to survive in Paris, street-wise Nathalie, a stripper, and naïve Sandrine, a barmaid. Together, they discover that sex can be used to their advantage, and pleasure.



An Open Secret
6.9

An investigation into accusations of teenagers being sexually abused within the film industry.



Full Tilt Boogie
6.4

A documentary about the production of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and the people who made it.



Vigilante
Vigilante(1983)
6.2

New York City factory worker Eddie Marino is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a sadistic street gang brutally assaults his wife and murders his child. When a corrupt judge sets the thugs free, he goes berserk and vows revenge.



Porno
Porno(2019)
6

When a group of naive teens working at a movie theater in a small Christian town discover a mysterious film hidden in its basement, they unleash an alluring succubus who gives them a sex education…written in blood.



Faces of Death
4.495

A collection of death scenes, ranging from TV-material to home-made super-8 movies. The common factor is death by some means.



Goodbye Uncle Tom
6.614

Two documentary filmmakers go back in time to the pre-Civil War American South, to film the slave trade.



Pornocracy: The New Sex Multinationals

Never before have we watched as much porn as today yet the traditional porn industry is dying. The arrival of web sites showing amateur clips has transformed the way porn is made and consumed. Behind this transformation lies one opaque multinational.



Maniac
Maniac(1980)
6.42

A psychotic man, troubled by his childhood abuse, kills and mutilates young women and local models on the streets of New York City.



Fast Food Nation
6.1

A dramatised examination of the health issues and social consequences of America's love affair with fast food.



American Gothic
5.9

When six friends fly off on a weekend getaway and are suddenly plagued by engine trouble, they're forced to land on a remote island. Looking for shelter, they're grateful to encounter Ma and Pa and their children - an eccentric family living in the island's backwoods. But what begins as simple hospitality turns into a terrifying race for survival as the friends start disappearing one by one ... and turning up dead.



Striptease
5.6

Bounced from her job, Erin Grant needs money if she's to have any chance of winning back custody of her child. But, eventually, she must confront the naked truth: to take on the system, she'll have to take it all off. Erin strips to conquer, but she faces unintended circumstances when a hound dog of a Congressman zeroes in on her and sharpens the shady tools at his fingertips, including blackmail and murder.



Americana
Americana(2025)
6.5

When a rare Lakota Ghost Shirt falls into the black market in a small town in South Dakota, the lives of local outsiders and outcasts violently intertwine.



Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film

This historical and critical look at slasher films, which includes dozens of clips, begins with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night. The films' directors, writers, producers, and special effects creators comment on the films' making and success. During the Reagan years, the films get gorier, budgets get smaller, and their appeal wanes. Then, Nightmare on Elm Street revives the genre. Jump to the late 90s, when Scream brings humor and TV stars into the mix.



Abattoir
Abattoir(2016)
4.5

A reporter unearths an urban legend about a home being constructed from rooms where horrific tragedies have occurred.



Lowlife
Lowlife(2017)
6.1

The sordid lives of an addict, an ex-con, and a luchador collide when an organ harvesting caper goes very, very wrong.



Lovelace
Lovelace(2013)
6.018

Story of Linda Lovelace, who is used and abused by the porn industry at the behest of her coercive husband, before taking control of her life.



Nightmares in Red, White and Blue

An exploration of the appeal of horror films, with interviews of many legendary directors in the genre.



Adulthood
Adulthood(2025)
6.017

The lives of two siblings are completely upended when they discover a dead body, long buried in their parent’s basement, sending them down a rabbit hole of crime and murder.



Sergio Leone: The Italian Who Invented America

To mark the recent thirtieth anniversary of Sergio Leone’s death, this documentary sets out to pay tribute to one of the great legends of world cinema. The singular artistic vision of Sergio Leone has transcended national borders, creating the Spaghetti Western genre and transforming the international cinematic panorama forever with his innovative stylistic and narrative solutions, which have now become part of the language of the movies. The film, which is enriched with precious archive footage from the Cineteca di Bologna, including rare audio recordings and film clips shot behind the scenes, sees for the first time the direct participation of the Leone family and has interviews both with Leone’s longtime collaborators and with icons of Hollywood who have been profoundly influenced by his work.



The Axe Murders of Villisca

Three ghost-hunting high-schoolers visit the Moore House in Villisca, Iowa—the site of one of America’s most grisly unsolved mass murders. After their private tour is interrupted, the group sneaks back in at night, unaware of the otherworldly terror that awaits them.



The Amateurs
5.6

Sex sells in America and these guys know it. The Amateurs follows a small town band of loveable losers who hit upon an idea that can make their dreams and fantasies come true. Thinking they've found the road to riches and fame they decide to make the world's most innocent adult film. Everyman's fantasy turns into a hilarious misadventure when they find they're in way over their heads.



Evils of the Night
3.5

Sex-hungry teens are kidnapped by auto mechanics, who take them to a rural hospital run by aliens who need their blood as the key to their own longevity.



Dirty Wars
7.007

Investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars, and examines how the US government has responded to international terrorist threats in ways that seem to go against the established laws of the land.



King Cobra
5.866

It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay porn mogul who runs the skin flick empire Cobra Video from his seemingly ordinary suburban home.



Overnight
Overnight(2003)
6.333

Alternately hilarious and horrifying, Overnight chronicles one man's misadventures of making a Hollywood movie. It starts out as a rags to riches story as Troy Duffy, a Boston-bred bartender, sells his first screenplay for The Boondock Saints.



In Search of Darkness
7.574

An exploration of '80s horror movies through the perspective of the actors, directors, producers and SFX craftspeople who made them, and their impact on contemporary cinema.



X-Rated 2: The Greatest Adult Stars of All-Time

Documentary sequel that offers a close-up look into the personal lives of the legendary porn stars who've survived the test of time and influenced popular culture. Blends rare interviews with erotic clips and additional appearances by Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Soderbergh and a host of adult stars, directors and trendsetters.



Faces of Death II
3.9

Brief scenes of death related material: mortuaries, accidents and police work are filmed by TV crews and home video cameras. Some of it is most likely fake, some not as much.



Finders Keepers
6.492

In this documentary, recovering addict and amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it therefore to be his rightful property.



True Crime
6.5

Boozer, skirt chaser, careless father. You could create your own list of reporter Steve Everett's faults but there's no time. A San Quentin Death Row prisoner is slated to die at midnight – a man Everett has suddenly realized is innocent.



Money Shot: The Pornhub Story

Featuring interviews with performers, activists and past employees, this documentary offers a deep dive into the successes and scandals of Pornhub.



Street Trash
6.1

A group of hobos begin melting into multicolored piles of goo after drinking sixty-year-old liquor. At the same time, the psychotic Vietnam War vet who rules the hobo camp snaps and begins killing at random. Two brothers set out to stop the liquor and the killer.



Cult Killer
6.5

A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.



The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way, they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.



Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood

The chronicle of the mind-blowing journey that was Hollywood during the seventies; the true and gripping story of the last golden age of American cinema, an exalted celebration of creativity and experimentation; but also of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll: a turbulent and dark tale of ambition, envy, betrayal, hatred and self-destruction.



Pawn Shop Chronicles
5.779

The stories of a missing wife, a couple of meth heads and an Elvis impersonator are connected by the items found in a small town's pawn shop.



Red Woods
Red Woods(2021)
5.4

A group of urbex enthusiasts travel to the backwoods of Appalachia to capture footage of abandoned houses, when they unwittingly become the subjects of a much darker video - made by a different kind of "enthusiast".



Joe
Joe(1970)
6.415

After murdering his daughter's drug-dealing boyfriend, a wealthy ad executive stumbles into a bar and strikes up an uneasy alliance with Joe Curran, a drunken bigot with a bloodlust who works at a local factory.



Rape Zombie: Lust of the Dead 4

In a devastated, post-apocalyptic world, all men have turned into rape demons. The only hope for the future is to travel to the past and prevent the outbreak, the source of which still remains a mystery.



Cigarette Burns
7.346

With a torrid past that haunts him, a movie theatre owner is hired to search for the only existing print of a film so notorious that its single screening caused the viewers to become homicidally insane.



Wick Is Pain
7.43

Witness the never-before-seen footage and true story behind the John Wick phenomenon – from independent film to billion-dollar franchise.



National Lampoon's Dirty Movie

An outrageous cut-rate producer is about to fulfill his lifelong dream to make a movie about the most offensive, dirtiest jokes ever told. As Charlie and his filmmaking team hilariously struggle to write a script and assemble their award-winning cast, the movie-within-a-movie emerges with one dirty joke after another. Only one can take the crown for writing the dirtiest joke ever told, and Charlie will do whatever he can to be that king.



American Samurai
5.6

A martial artist working as a reporter tries to track down his family’s sword passed down by his adopted Japanese father. He soon finds himself fighting for his life in a brutal underground tournament.



Middle Men
6.5

Chronicles Jack Harris, one of the pioneers of internet commerce, as he wrestles with his morals and struggles not to drown in a sea of conmen, mobsters, drug addicts, and pornstars.



Joe
Joe(2014)
6.5

The rough-hewn boss of a lumber crew courts trouble when he steps in to protect the youngest member of his team from an abusive father.



The Killing of America

A documentary of the decline of America. Featuring footage (most exclusive to this film) from race riots to serial killers and much, much more.



Inside Deep Throat
6.396

In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel: "Deep Throat," starring Linda Lovelace. This film would surpass the wildest expectation of everyone involved to become one of the most successful independent films of all time. It caught the public imagination which met the spirit of the times, even as the self-appointed guardians of public morality struggled to suppress it, and created, for a brief moment, a possible future where sexuality in film had a bold artistic potential. This film covers the story of the making of this controversial film, its stunning success, its hysterical opposition along with its dark side of mob influence and allegations of the on set mistreatment of the film's star.



The Devil's Rejects

The murderous, backwoods Firefly family take to the road to escape the vengeful Sheriff Wydell, who is not afraid of being as ruthless as his target.



Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

For decades, Freddy Krueger has slashed his way through the dreams of countless youngsters, scaring up over half a billion dollars at the box office across eight terrifying, spectacular films.



The Driller Killer
5.2

An artist slowly goes insane while struggling to pay his bills, work on his paintings, and care for his two female roommates, which leads him taking to the streets of New York after dark and randomly killing derelicts with a power drill.



Fat Ass Zombies
4.9

In a sleepy town, one man, a wannabe horror film director is about to have his life and the world he knows change forever. Finally, he gets the big break he has been waiting a lifetime for, but its not Hollywood knocking on his door.



Thesis
Thesis(1996)
7.5

While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured to death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student at her college...



Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects

A brutal Los Angeles police lieutenant is determined to bust up an organization that forces underage girls into prostitution.



Cyber Hell: Exposing an Internet Horror

Anonymous and exploitative, a network of online chat rooms ran rampant with sex crimes. The hunt to take down its operators required guts and tenacity.



Terror Firmer
6

A low-budget film crew working in New York City find themselves being preyed upon by a sexually conflicted serial killer.



Carne
Carne(1968)
6.284

A woman who works in a meat packing plant is continuously preyed upon by lecherous men.



The Hamiltons
5

The Hamiltons seem to be the picture-perfect American family. They are hardworking community members; giving to their local charities, attending town hall meetings and always respectful of their neighbors...except for the fact that they usually end up killing them.

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