Mexploitation (sometimes called Cabrito Western or Mexican video-home) is a film genre of low-budget films that combine elements of an

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...

and

Mexican culture Mexico's culture emerged from the culture of the Spanish culture, Spanish Empire and the preexisting Pre-Columbian Mexico, indigenous cultures of Mexico. Mexican culture is described as the 'child' of both Western civilization, western and Indi ...

or portrayals of Mexican life within

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

often dealing with crime, drug trafficking, money and sex.

Mexican narco-cinema

The Mexican narco-cine (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for narco-cinema) or narco-películas (Spanish for narco-films/narco-movies), are a subgenre of the Mexploitation style films, focused solely on the violence and luxurious lives of drug lords and cartels. The title and the storyline of these films are usually inspired by popular '' narco corridos'' (drug ballads, drug songs), and are marketed as low budget

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...

merchandising to the narcocorrido songs. Sometimes these films feature famous narco-corrido singers on them, and are rumored to be financed by drug lords themselves. However, only a few such cases have been proven.

Common qualities

Mexploitation movies made in the 1960s and 1970s in Mexico were closer to their American exploitation film counterparts, with low-budget science-fiction films that often starred Mexican professional wrestlers (or '' luchadores'') such as

El Santo Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), best known by his ring name El Santo (English language, English: "The Saint"), was a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador Wrestling mask, enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestlin ...

and Huracan Ramirez. In the early 1980s and 1990s there was a notable change with films increasingly dealing with real-life issues such as drug cartels and the murders of their rivals. Notable actors in these films include Mario Almada, Hugo Stiglitz, Sergio Goyri, Valentin Trujillo, Jorge Reynoso, Rodolfo de Anda, Fernando Almada,

Rosa Gloria Chagoyán Rosa Gloria Chagoyán (; ); is a Mexican actress and singer of Armenian descent. Biography Chagoyán started her career as a radio host. She entered the world of acting in 1973 as an actress in ''El Diablo en Persona'' and appeared in some low ...

and David Reynoso. The director

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

has been considered a pioneer of Mexploitation in the United States. His first film, '' El Mariachi'', contains many Mexploitation elements and his 2007 film, '' Planet Terror'', contained a fake trailer which developed into a feature film called ''

Machete A machete (; ) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a dimin ...

'' (2010), which contains many familiar elements of the genre.

K. Gordon Murray

Exploitation film producer and distributor named K. Gordon Murray acquired a unique collection of horror films in Mexico which began to appear on American late-night television and drive-in screens in the 1960s. Ranging from monster movies clearly owing to the heyday of Universal Studios, to the lucha libre horror films featuring El Santo and the "Wrestling Women" alongside the 1959 Christmas classic "Santa Claus", these low-budget films are still notably campy and inspired a small cult following.

References

{{Reflist Cinema of Mexico Film genres Culture of Mexico Films about Mexican drug cartels Film genres particular to the United States Mexican exploitation films

Mexican narco-cinema

Common qualities

K. Gordon Murray

See also

References