David Litz Interview, Grindhouse Glory

A few days ago I was lucky enough to get a chance to pose a couple questions to filmmaker David Litz about his upcoming documentary on the Grindhouses of the 60's, 70's and 80's. Recently that era has finally noticed a bit of resurgence from young directors like Eli Roth and Rob Zombie.

 

Check it out:

  

Hey David, were glad you could take some time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us. I wanted to start off by asking you how you found yourself involved with Grindhouse Glory?

I have been a fan of these types of films since childhood, really.  It occurred to me a few years ago that there wasn't a documentary that I was aware of that explored the origin and history, not to mention the allure, of the grindhouse era.  So, I decided to tackle it head-on and start shooting interviews with filmmakers from that era that I had access to. I knew there had to be interesting stories behind the origins of these films, stories that were as wild as the films themselves.  And I was right!
 
Some of our readers are probably too young or just have never heard about the old grindhouses in New York. Could you explain exactly what the Grindhouse is and what types of films use to play at them?
 
A Grindhouse was an inner-city theater that would show double and triple bills of exploitation movies, sometimes around the clock. They would show Kung-fu, blaxploitation, horror, any kind of exploitation films.  According to what I've read, a lot of wild characters hung out at these theaters: junkies, derelicts, prostitutes, you name it. Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford wrote a great book called 'Sleazoid Express' that really delves into the Times Square grindhouse scene during the late 60's to the early 80's.

 

You can read the rest of the interview over at Horror-Movies.ca.