Exploitation cinema has reached a new level of popularity, belying its underground roots. In the ‘60s ‘pioneer' filmmakers like Russ Meyer and Lucio Fulci were happy to patrol the sordid back streets of taste, joyfully subverting the mainstream morality of post-war America.

Commonly defined as reaction cinema, the exploitation genre sacrifices artistic pretensions in favour of delivering more graphic depravity than any civilised human would admit to enjoying.

But we did and we still do, as shown by the popularity of recent ‘torture porn' hits from Eli Roth and Rob Zombie. Apart from straightforward blood, drugs and sex, exploitation has oozed into the most offbeat crevices imaginable, from Nazis to nunsploitation. Don't Panic have the bluffer's guide, ably assisted by James ‘sleazeball' Ward, an ex-dealer of exploitation films.

Satan's Sadists

Bikersploitation

One of the lesser known vehicles. These films celebrate the rough and wild excesses of hog riders. Rolling in huge gangs, leathery musclemen cut a swathe of destruction through small towns and isolated petrol stations. Off the bikes their time is mostly spent drinking and fighting, while no film is complete without the obligatory gang rape scene.

Popular classics include Russ Meyer's Motor Psycho and Satan's Sadists, the story of mass murder in a roadside diner. Ward admits he could scarcely contain his glee on discovering this little known gem, "The best bit is when a grim little dwarf suggests his crew rape this girl and then says ‘bagsy I go last'".

Cannibal Holocaust

Zombie/Cannibal

Rising ghoulishly off the back of George A. Romero's dead trilogy. These films became  popular in the early 80's, at a time when Mary Whitehouse and the video nasties debate had become national issues. These films developed a hard-core fan base, lusting for ever more lurid gore, making cult heroes out of directors like Lucio Fulci. A high water mark was reached with Cannibal Holocaust (1980). Still banned in most countries, the director Ruggero Deodato was arrested on obscenity charges amid rumours that he had used real corpses or even killed people on film.

Certainly real turtles, monkeys and snakes are hideously slain on screen, while fictional scenes of limb severing and death by piranha are no less disturbing, unless you're a blood junkie. The influence of these films is still felt in the recent 'Grindhouse' releases, typified by the sadistic, drawn out torture scenes of Hostel (2005).

Sweet Sweetback's Badaaasss Song

Blaxploitation

A cornerstone of the exploitation genre, taking off with Sweet Sweetback's Baadaaass Song and exploding with Shaft. Glorifying all the stereotypical elements of black culture, from ebonic slang to overtly stylish wardrobes, these films knew how to deliver to their audiences. Huge stars were born, including Pam Grier, who made her name in a string of steamy revenge thrillers, notably Coffy and Foxy Brown.

Most of these films were set in the criminal underworld where even the good guys were bad, while brutal violence underpinned the generally simplistic plotlines. But audiences didn't care, as it was refreshing to finally see black heroes on the silver screen.

Chained Heat

Women in Prison

As an afficianodo of all things vulgar, more than half of all Ward's business came in this niche. He broke down the typical story for us; "In the usual plot you'd have a wrongly convicted woman and she'd have a few lesbian mates so it would be okay at first. But then there would be savage inmates and the situation would begin to boil up out of control. Eventually a whole lot of men from another prison would get in with guns".

Notable WIPs include The Big Birdcage, Chained Heat and Emanuele in prison, generally combining sexy voyeurism with a half-arsed attempt at female empowerment. No self-respecting WIP is complete without gratuitous shower scenes and humiliation in the exercise yard.