In the Era of Big Hair
and tiny budgets, with minimal plot
a slew of disposable but profitable movies reigned..
A grindhouse is an American term for a theater that mainly shows exploitation films. It is named after the defunct burlesque theaters located on 42nd Street in New York City dubious - discuss], where 'bump n' grind' dancing and striptease were featured.
The introduction of television greatly eroded the audience for local and single-screen movie theatres, many of which were built during the cinema boom of the 1930s. In combination with urban decay after white flight out of older city areas in the mid to late 1960s, changing economics forced these theatres to either close or offer something that TV could not. In the 1970s these theatres were put to new use as venues for exploitation films,[either adult pornography and sleaze, or slasher horror and dubbed martial arts films from Hong Kong.