Mark Hartley's second feature documentary following Not Quite Hollywood uses mainly of the same crew and techniques as that film - split screen, quit cuts, clever use of titles, even font. It also shares similar virtues (energy, passion for film, shedding light on a rarely discussed section of cinema), and flaws (it tends to be a collection of anecdotes rather than a consistent narrative, there are plenty of talking heads but no characters to engage our attention).
The story starts off well enough - the Philippines had their own thriving industry for many years but then some expat Americans started making movies there aimed more an the international market. Initial war films did not do terribly well but they discovered horror and the boom was on - John Ashley (of Hemisphere) and Roger Corman (of New World) were two of the best known Americans working there, but the local filmmakers including Eddie Romeo, Buddy Suarez and Cirio Santiago (at times I felt the movie would be better off if they'd concentrated on them).
The main genres were women in prison, blaxploitation, horror and war - The Mad Doctor of Blood Island, The Big Doll House, The Hot Box. Later there was Apocalypse Now. American filmmakers escaped the censorship enjoyed by locals but in the 70s they got sick of making movies there and took off. It's an uninspiring ending and felt a bit flat.
Plenty of great stories - Hartley this time expands his ambit and has historians and non filmmakers talking (including the legendary Danny Peary) which puts the movies in context (something Not Quite Hollywood could have done with). The unpleasant nature of many of the movies isn't ignored, and their contradictions eg TNA feminism.
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