We’re getting down and dirty in the sticky-floored, neon-lit world of grindhouse cinema with filmmaker and storyteller Michael Stradford. Michael and I dive headfirst into the raw, unapologetic energy that made grindhouse legendary. The regional theaters, the four-wallers, the double features that mixed western gun smoke with kung-fu fury and hard-hitting blaxploitation attitude.
We talk about what made those movies work, why they still matter, and how that anything-goes spirit shaped generations of creators who grew up on outlaw cinema.

Michael also shares his Top 5 essential grindhouse picks, spanning dusty revenge westerns, street-level blaxploitation classics, and bone-crunching martial arts imports that defined the late-night experience. These aren’t polite film-school choices. These are gut-punch, crowd-pleasing, projector-burned favorites. And we tease something big: Michael’s upcoming grindhouse-inspired graphic novel, set to drop later this year. It channels that same no-rules aesthetic , bold characters, heightened action, and a story that feels like it could’ve played between trailers for switchblade revenge flicks and dubbed karate epics.