MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED

[Ghostdude]

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! is the new feature film from Mark Hartley, the director of the award-winning documentary Not Quite Hollywood. It is the first detailed examination and celebration of Filipino genre films and the undervalued auteurs who brought them to life in such an explosive way.

From the early ’70s well into the ’90s the Philippines was a back-lot for a bevy of B-movie mavericks and cinema visionaries alike. The country was utilized for its inexpensive labour, exotic locations and distinct lack of rules. A large body of genre work emerged that somehow managed to capture the raw, chaotic energy of contemporary Filipino culture. These productions (a cavalcade of monster movies, jungle prison movies, blaxploitation and kung fu hybrids) were miraculously made at a time when the country’s political situation was repressive at best.

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! begins with the partnership of acclaimed local filmmakers Gerry de Leon and Eddie Romero whose Blood Island trilogy found large and enthusiastic drive-in audiences across America. When legendary maverick producer Roger Corman was introduced to Romero and de Leon he instantly discovered the Philippines was economically suited to low- budget filming. Corman quickly set up camp and produced a number of “Woman In Prison” films starring genre favourites Pam Grier and Sid Haig.

Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s the appetites of thrill-hungry cinemagoers around the globe continued to be satisfied by prolific local auteurs Cirio H. Santiago (TNT Jackson) and Bobby A. Suarez (Cleopatra Wong). In the late 1970’s Francis Ford Coppola re-invigorated a whole new epoch of filmmaking by choosing to shoot Apocalypse Now in the Philippines – leaving the jungle full of discarded sets to be used repeatedly by a host of low budget productions over the next couple of decades.

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! climaxes in 1981 when this country fights back and reclaims its very own special national identity via the inaugural Manila International Film Festival and accompanying Film Market. Conceived to showcase the Philippine’s glorious screen culture, the market’s biggest success was For Your Height Only, a low budget, home-grown James Bond spoof starring an 83cm primordial dwarf named Weng Weng. The film sold to countless international territories and is now arguably the most well known exemplar of the Filipino genre film abroad.

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! is the ultimate insiders’ account of genre filmmaking in the Philippines. A role call of local and international survivors from this period have been interviewed, all adding their distinct and honest account of this Devil-may-care school of filmmaking. Sitting alongside the talking heads are a dazzling array of outrageous film clips from key Filipino titles.

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! is produced by Fury Productions and Bionic Boy Productions. It has been financed by Screen Australia, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Screen Queensland, Film Victoria, ABC Commercial and The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) Premiere Fund.

It will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival in July, 2010.

Starring: Roger Corman, Sid Haig, John Landis, Joe Dante, Allan Arkush, R Lee Ermey, Jack Hill, Eddie Romero, Fred Roos, Judy Brown, Margaret Markov, Trina Parks, Patrick Wayne, Chris Mitchum, Dick Miller, Steve Carver, Dean Tavoularis… and many more