Grindhouse Nightmares

d./w./p. Richard Driscoll; cast: Linnea Quigley, Michael Madsen, Steve Munroe, Lorna Bliss, Danny Lopez, Vass Anderson, Robin Askwith, Rebecca Linley, Brigitte Nielsen

It’s that man again, with 74 minutes of non-stop WTF. In 2011, Richard Driscoll had the idea of ripping off the Tarantino/Rodriguez Grindhouse double bill with Grindhouse 2wo and swiftly shot footage for two stories: Manhunt and Stripper with a Shotgun, announcing a February 2012 release date. Six years later, after a spell in prison followed by failed attempts to crowdfund his long-gestating Blade Runner rip-off and his own take on Suicide Squad, Driscoll dug out the footage and released it. Manhunt is a Saw rip-off with Munroe chained to a wall and Anderson as the voice of his captor. Incoherent flashbacks are footage of young Munroe in Driscoll’s incoherent 1985 film The Comic. Stripper…, which stars Britney Spears impersonator Bliss as a stripper in a nun's habit, is built around unused footage from Eldorado including the excised Brigitte Nielsen scene which would have preceded her version of ‘Respect’. Inbetween are fake trailers and commercials including footage from Eldorado, Kannibal and the unreleased, variously titled Evil Calls sequel, plus some cartoons and some puppets. The whole thing is hosted by a wild-eyed Quigley, looking like a 150-year-old meth addict and obviously reading from cue cards (Linnea Quigley’s Grindhouse Nightmares was an unused alternative title). Rik Mayall, Buster Bloodvessel and Bill Moseley are credited for non-speaking stock footage appearances but curiously ‘Steven Craine’ is nowhere to be seen.