Word: low-budget
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...Admittedly, there were some blessedly kitschy episodes: the disco-intrigue show that guest-starred future schlock-erotic moviemaker Zalman King ("The Red Shoe Diaries"); the women's prison episode costarring low-budget icons Shirley Stoler and Sally Kirkland; an earlier babes-behind-bars outing in which a pre-"Love Boat" Lauren Tewes implores the Angels to rescue her sister from a harsh prison run by Warhol/Corman veteran Mary Woronov - a prison also inhabited by future Oscar winner Kim Basinger. And the series featured not only the requisite '70s guest appearance by Sammy Davis Jr. (playing twins!), but also a dramatic...
...while Aaron Spelling was busy dispensing tedium on TV in the 1970s, certain low-budget filmmakers were ensuring that drive-ins and grindhouses contained some genuine "jiggle," producing sincerely strange entertainment on a regular basis. Such a man was Ted Mikels, who continues to ply his trade today, turning out ultra-low-budgeted features with eye-catching titles and very unusual behavior. In 1973, Mikels made "The Doll Squad," considered by many to be the inspiration for "Charlie's Angels." It features a crack team of glamorous female operatives, a well-connected male boss, and a "smart" team leader named...
...most surprising thing about "The Doll Squad" is that this flashy little number is by far the least of Ted Mikels' efforts of the period. The plotline is doted on at length (always a mistake in low-budget espionage dramas with shapely female leads), and when the all-out action sequences finally do arrive, the visuals are incredibly dark. This is most likely due to the fact that much of the film's closing action was shot in one night, on which Ted had the temporary loan of a real machine gun (thus, the actresses are actually blasting away with...
...capital letters: INTERRACIAL SEX, THE DEATH PENALTY, LESBIANS. The characters become symbols, the plot grinds along, and, at some point, Joan Allen gets to deliver a speech - with swelling strings in the background - that can be neatly clipped and shown again on Oscar night. "Chutney Popcorn," an independent, low-budget affair, presents real people experiencing hot-button issues and not speechifying about them...
...sequence that could have be played for pure titillation - and probably guaranteed the film a place among the lesbian-obsessed soft-focus/softcore late-night offerings on Showtime, Cinemax and HBO. Instead, the scene is sweet, a bit humorous, and more about intimacy than carnality. "Chutney Popcorn" is a low-budget movie that never goes for cheap thrills...