With the turn of a new decade, new opportunities were sought by film studio Daiei. In 1970, Daiei on the verge of bankruptcy, entered into a partnership with fellow struggling studio Nikkatsu, forming Dainichi Eihai. By pooling their resources, the aim was to fight against Toei’s market dominance: by the 1970s Toei had perfected their

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Despite being one of Japan’s biggest film studios throughout the late 40s and 50s during the golden age of Japanese cinema, Daiei was struggling by the mid-60s and had to slash budgets for their productions. This eventually led to a merger with Nikkatsu in 1970, followed by bankruptcy in 1971. Somewhat overlooked is Daiei’s 1968-1969

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Despite being one of Japan’s biggest film studios throughout the late 40s and 50s during the golden age of Japanese cinema, Daiei was struggling by the mid-60s and had to slash budgets for their productions. This eventually led to a merger with Nikkatsu in 1970, followed by bankruptcy in 1971. Somewhat overlooked is Daiei’s 1968-1969

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Despite being one of Japan’s biggest film studios throughout the late 40s and 50s during the golden age of Japanese cinema, Daiei were struggling by the mid-60s and had to slash budgets for their productions. This eventually led to a merger with Nikkatsu in 1970, followed by bankruptcy in 1971. Somewhat overlooked is Daiei’s 1968-1969

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Disclaimer: Film contains animal abuse Calamity of Snakes (Ren she da zhan) is a 1983 Hong Kong/Taiwanese CAT III action horror, written and directed by Chi Chang with additional writing from Kang-Nien Li and Kuo Jung Tsai. According to Chinese superstition, there are five main “Poisons” (hazardous creatures) in the animal kingdom that bring evil

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Mad Heid Banner

“Yodel me this!” – Heidi Long before home media and even longer before video streaming, the only way to see original movies was to go to the theater. Most theaters concentrated on showing popular content, movies made for their wide box-office appeal from major film studios.  Despite the rare “art house” cinemas, the other alternative

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Deathsport is a 1978 sci-fi action drama, directed by Nicholas Niciphor, with additional shots directed by Allan Arkush, and produced by Roger Corman. The film is a somewhat spiritual successor to the classic B-movie action romp Deathrace 2000 (1975), both starring David Carradine in the main role (though as different, unrelated characters). “A thousand years

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The Curious Dr Humpp cover photo

The Curious Dr. Humpp (La Venganza del Sexo) is a 1969 Argentinian sexploitation horror, written and directed by the prolific Emilio Vieyra – well-known for his work grounded in exploitation during the 1960s. The U.S release of the film contains additional footage directed by Jerald Intrator. “Easily one of the most brain-breaking sensory overloads in

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Caged Heat 1974 Cover Photo

Caged Heat is a 1974 American women-in-prison exploitation film, written and directed by Jonathan Demme and released under Roger Corman’s New World Pictures. Though the film would be his directorial debut, Demme had already helped produce two other women in prison films for the company. Nevertheless, Corman was uneasy about providing the budget, believing the genre

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To call “Dirty Harry” ground-breaking would be an understatement. In 1972, it completely revolutionised urban crime dramas with its gritty – almost giallo – cinematography, focus on shocking crime and of course Clint Eastwood’s now legendary protagonist. The rulebooks were torn up and decency disregarded as the film focused on the villain Scorpio committing seemingly

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