Grindhouse Nostalgia

This is an indispensable study of exploitation cinema's continuing allure. Too often dismissed as nothing more than 'trash cinema', exploitation films have become both earnestly appreciated cult objects and home video items that are more accessible than ever. In this wide-ranging new study, David Church explores how the history of drive-in theatres and urban grind houses has descended to the home video formats that keep these lurid movies fondly alive today. Arguing for the importance of cultural memory in contemporary fan practices, Church focuses on both the re-release of archival exploitation films on DVD and the recent cycle of 'retrosploitation' films like Grindhouse, Machete, Viva, The Devil's Rejects and Black Dynamite. At a time when older ideas of subcultural belonging have become increasingly subject to nostalgia, Grindhouse Nostalgia presents an indispensable study of exploitation cinema's continuing allure, and is a bold contribution to our understanding of fandom, taste politics, film distribution, and home video. This is the first in-depth critical examination of the recent and ongoing "retrosploitation" cycle. It expands a growing body of research on the importance of home video as containers of material history. It unites cultural memory studies and fan studies in productive ways for understanding a broad range of fan investments. It restores questions of affect and non-ironic reception to understandings of exploitation cinema's continuing appeal.