The legendary writer and director Jack Hill has had his hands in just about everything we celebrate here at Monsterama, cinematically speaking. He was a protege of Roger Corman, working on films like The Terror, Dementia 13, and Blood Bath before moving on to writing the American scripts for the four Mexican films Boris Karloff made in his final years.
Moving on to his own projects, Jack wrote and directed the unforgettable Spider Baby, Or The Maddest Story Ever Told co-starring fellow Monsterama guest Beverly Washburn along with Lon Chaney, Jr. and Sid Haig. Feeling winds of change, Jack turned his sails from horror to what would become known as the “blaxploitation” movement, more aptly categorized as a new black renaissance in films and just about created the genre on his own, making seminal and iconic movies like The Big Bird Cage, Coffy, and Foxy Brown, all starring feminist icon Pam Grier.
By now the undisputed KING of grindhouse films, Jack went on the create Quentin Tarantino’s favorite film, Switchblade Sisters, before retiring after his final film, Sorceress, in 1982.
We at Monsterama love Jack’s work, and are proud to celebrate it and the man himself all weekend with our special JACKsploitation! event. We’ll be screening his films with introductions from him, as well as speaking with him on panels. Come meet Jack, get a photo, an autograph, and let him know how you feel about his work. LONG LIVE THE KING!
