GRINDHOUSE GALS:
EXPLOITATION FILMS DIRECTED BY WOMEN
BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL 1965
"Like Godard in drag."—John Waters
​
No one will ever make movies like Doris Wishman made movies. One of the most prolific women filmmakers in the history of American cinema, writer-director-editor Wishman created DIY collisions between surrealism and exploitation that feel like they materialized from an alternate universe. BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL—Wishman's iconic, gutter-noir crime epic—follows the story of Meg (Gigi Darlene), a housewife who becomes embroiled with a string of violent and sexual encounters while trying to shake the police. Filled with dreamlike visions, gorgeous DIY photography, and pulpy exploitation, BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL has been newly restored in 2K from its original 35mm camera negative.
Thursday, March 6
Director: Doris Wishman​
​
Starring: Gigi Darlene, Charles E. Mazin, Sam Stewart
​​
Runtime: 65 min., USA
​
Language: English
​
​
Director: Stephanie Rothman​
​
Starring: Don Marshall, Phyllis Davis, Tom Selleck
​​
Runtime: 88 min., USA
​
Language: English
​
​
TERMINAL ISLAND 1973
“Way before ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and BATTLE ROYALE did the 'fight to the death on a futuristic island' routine, Corman veteran Stephanie Rothman delivered this exploitationer solution to the overcrowded jail problem."
—Nathaniel Thompson, MONDO DIGITAL
​
A cult movie slayer from acclaimed filmmaker Stephanie Rothman (THE VELVET VAMPIRE), TERMINAL ISLAND blends violent action with commentary on the American justice system. Carmen Simms has just been sentenced to life imprisonment on Terminal Island—an island created to house vicious criminals in the wake of prison overcrowding. With no guards, no cells, and no laws, Terminal Island has morphed into a defacto society with the tyrannical Bobby ruling over all. As tension and violence mounts, Carmen finds her place as the unlikely leader of the island’s underground resistance, which is planning to overthrow Bobby’s reign of terror. Starring Phyllis Davis (SWEET SUGAR) and Emmy winner Tom Selleck (MAGNUM, P.I.) in one of his earliest roles, TERMINAL ISLAND has been newly restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative.
Thursday, March 13
HOLLYWOOD 90028 1974
“Hollywood 90028 is the best movie you haven’t seen. On the surface, it’s a grindhouse flick about a homicidal man who kills women during sex. But in its making, writer/director Christina Hornisher has made an arthouse film that experiments in expressing the insecurities and untrust of its time period; not coincidentally, the same year as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This is the only feature film directed by Hornisher, in which she also writes under a male pseudonym, after making a series of successful short films at UCLA Film School. The process of getting Hollywood 90028 released was a long ordeal and included multiple different titles causing it to linger in obscurity for decades. Frustrated, Hornisher did not make another film and passed away in 2003. Fortunately, we now have the 4K restoration to rightfully place the film into the canon of 1970s cinema.” —Caryn Coleman
Thursday, March 20
Director: Christina Hornisher​
​
Starring: Christopher Augustine, Jeannette Dilger, Dick Glass
​​
Runtime: 88 min., USA
​
Language: English
​
​
A WOMAN'S TORMENT 1977
A tribute to REPULSION by Roberta Findlay (SNUFF, TAKE ME NAKED, FANTASEX), A WOMAN’S TORMENT is a one-of-a-kind blend of melodrama, sex, and proto-slasher. Featuring a moody classical soundtrack from Walter Sear (LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH and the U.S. versions of THE BEYOND and ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST.)
​
Don Compton and his wife Frances are struggling in their marriage. Frances’s mentally ill sister Karen lives with them, and is taking a toll on their romance. As such, the Comptons consider having her committed to an asylum. Karen runs away, taking refuge in an empty house on a remote beach -- but her grip on reality diminishes, giving way to increasingly violent delusions and an ever-growing bloodlust. Screening the director's preferred R-Rated Cut.
Thursday, March 27
Director: Roberta Findlay​
​
Starring: Crystal Sync, Jake Teague, Tara Chung
​​
Runtime: 84 min., USA
​
Language: English
​
​