Director/writer: Joseph Guzman | Co-writer: Robert James Hayes II | Rated: Unrated (extreme violence and sexuality) | Review date: 8-Feb-2010

A few grindhouse revival flicks have made their way to me recently, and I welcome them with open arms. Not growing up with this particular genre, I missed out on the whole experience. Luckily, thanks to filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Rob Zombie, a quiet but prevalent resurgence of these trashy and exploitative films has emerged, introducing the nasty to a whole new generation. Run! Bitch Run! is one of these particular films that is an excellent throwback to the tasteless style of the 70s.

The plot follows two Catholic school girls, Rebecca (Christina DeRosa) and Catherine (Cheryl Lyone), going door to door selling bibles in towns seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The girls make a stop in the desolate town of Moseley and stumble upon the wrong house. They wind up at a rundown brothel owned by Lobo (Peter Tahoe), local pimp and drug pusher. Upon witnessing Lobo keeping his pimp hand strong, the girls are held captive and abused to the fullest extent of the word.

There are some disturbing scenes, however like other exploitation flicks the scenes are put there more for shock value and don’t hold the same connotation as such movies as 8mm. That is certainly not to say the subject matter presented is not serious, but it is presented in an almost desensitized manner as with many of the film’s contemporaries. Needless to say, viewers sensitive to themes of sexual abuse are better off staying clear of this one.

When Rebecca is forced to play Russian roulette by Marla (Ivet Corvea), one of Lobo’s prostitutes, things start to take a darker turn in the story. The crew of dirty and misogynistic individuals then proceed to take Catherine out to the woods to have themselves a vicious and disgusting game of predator and prey. From here on out the film turns into a classic revenge tale, giving a nod to the many predecessors of its genre.

The production of this film is great. The film truly looks like it could have came out of the 70s with the sometimes grainy picture, grindhouse music, and rough acting. The third act of the film presents plenty of generous bloodshed as our main character makes an extreme transformation (complete with a nurses outfit). Run! Bitch Run! is almost a textbook exploitation flick. Sure it’s not original and lacked in many areas, but I think it achieved what the filmmakers were going for.

For me the film was very entertaining and gave me another firsthand glimpse into the world of grindhouse cinema. It’s true that I will not be able to get the same experience as going to a grindhouse movie theater back in the 70s and seeing the classics for the first time, but I still feel that the evolution of filmmaking has allowed these reincarnations of late to bring an experience of their own. This film wasn’t done quite as well as the those by the modern masters, but exploitation fans and those looking to get a feel for this gritty and indecent genre will find much to enjoy with this one.

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