Picture this nice visual: It’s 1978 and you’re at a theater in Times Square, NYC. The theater has about ten people in it. There are two hookers taking a break, a homeless guy catching a few winks, some junkies hanging out and getting high, and a few people there to see the movie. On the screen you’re watching a double feature, "Big Willie Dynamite" and "Five fingers of Death". The movies have nothing in common with each other, except for one thing, they’re grindhouse pictures.

Grindhouse pictures. It’s a term that is now looked at lovingly, but many people in the mainstream don’t know what it is or what it means. It’s difficult to explain, but I’ll give it a shot. Grindhouse is a term that describes what many people consider "B" grade pictures. The genres within grindhouse are varied. You have blaxploitation, chop socky flicks, porno, Roger Corman cheapies, car theft movies, cheerleader and nurse film, splatter or gore films, and women in prison. Most of these films contained a lot of nudity, violence, and action elements to hold the audiences attention. The crowds for these films were urban or drive-in moviegoers. You had to work certain elements that were mandatory for the film to be made.

But, although those elements were there you could still make "your" film. Many of our best directors came from the grindhouse. A perfect example is Jonathan Demme. He made the film "Chained Heat", but within the film he had the freedom to make his movie. Studios like AIP, New Horizons and the like gave their directors freedom to tackle political, religious, or other controversial subject matter under the cloak of sex and violence. Many directors like Jack Hill (Foxy Brown, Big Bird Cage) and Paul Bartel (Deathrace 2000, Eating Raoul) created films that were as good as their "A" list counterparts.

Until recently, many of these names and films were lost and unappreciated. They had cult followings, but many outside of the mainstream never heard of them. There were a few break out hits and stars like the film "Shaft" and Bruce Lee who worked their way into the popular consciousness. But, until recently these were the exceptions, but a film came out in 1994 that popularized much of these things. The film was "Pulp Fiction".

For better or for worse it was Quentin Tarantino that opened the eyes of the average viewer. He used his clout as a "hot" director to star a production company called "Rolling Thunder". Based on a 1970’s horror film. He went about releasing films he had loved as a child. Suddenly, people were seeing films like "Mighty Peking Man" and "Switchblade Sisters" in small, esoteric arthouses. People began looking at these films for hidden artistic value. Because a director of note had deemed it okay, people came out in support of these old school, grindhouse classics. So, what changed?

Actually, a lot of things changed. Today’s climate is on pop culture overload. Every TV show, movie, and song is filled with lines of dialogue and product placement for times long gone. Modern films like "Pulp Fiction" and "Clerks" referenced many aspects of the "trash" culture. Things like comic books and the films of John Holmes became cool again. Normal people who live life in an ironic gesture could appreciate the movie and also wink to others about how corny the films were.

To top it off, the grindhouse influence is still with us. Just look at this summer. "Shaft" was given a slight face-lift and will gross a respectable 70-100 million dollars. John Woo directed Mission Impossible 2 and continues to work with A list actors and huge budgets. It’s always there with us. Maybe soon we’ll see that proposed "Cleopatra Jones" re-make and maybe Jackie Chan will continue to delight audiences in the local family multi-plex. It’s an odd world we live in. Everything has its time. Right now, it’s the attack of the "B’s".