Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A low-budget film theater that shows primarily exploitation films

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

grind +‎ house. From bump and grind. The term may originally have been used for burlesque houses in the 1940s.

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Examples

  • For the uninitiated, 'grindhouse' is a nickname for the creaky theaters that would 'grind' away their projectors for triple features filled with second-run films, exploitation flicks and foreign-film curiosities.

    GreenCine Daily: Fests and events, 3/1. 2007

  • For better or worse, grindhouse is now a term that has become equated with exploitation films.

    Mad Dog Movies « American Grindhouse to premiere at SXSW 2010

  • "[A]s often as female characters in grindhouse films ended to end up on meathooks or on their back (or both), the genre served up some of the toughest, meanest, righteous, resourceful ladies to ever grace the screen (Switchblade Sisters, re-released a few years back by Tarantino himself, is a prime example)," writes Dan Mucha at Facets Features.

    GreenCine Daily: Grindhouse, 4/4. 2007

  • I've written about this before: when I was an adolescent, during my most impressionable years, early 1970s a fine time, in my opinion, for a noir writer to come of age, there was what we now call a grindhouse cinema in the heart of my downtown.

    Jack O'Connell Ed Gorman 2008

  • I've written about this before: when I was an adolescent, during my most impressionable years, early 1970s a fine time, in my opinion, for a noir writer to come of age, there was what we now call a grindhouse cinema in the heart of my downtown.

    Archive 2008-09-01 Ed Gorman 2008

  • It has none of the "grindhouse" fun that you might expect from a movie with this deliciously wicked poster.

    When Bad Posters Strike: I Spit On Your Grave Glenn Dunks 2010

  • The whole endeavor is designed to emulate the "grindhouse" movies of the seventies - these were quickly - and cheaply-made, often trashy films.

    Baby for sale frankwu 2007

  • Second, the facet most reviews single out as the most successful and appealing is the "grindhouse" sensibility Aaron brings to the title:

    Archive 2009-01-25 2009

  • Additionally, I wrote a dozen "No Zone" columns for SIGHT & SOUND, as well as a separate feature article choosing 10 outstanding "grindhouse" movies.

    Archive 2007-12-30 2008

  • Even the movies they air will be increasingly distinct: Sundance will have more festival darlings and foreign-language fare, while pulp and "grindhouse" films aimed at younger audiences will likely end up on IFC.

    IFC, Sundance Look to Expand Their Reach 2008

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