Bad Girls: Grindhouse chills, thrills, and kills shot on a $16K budget

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  “Thank heaven for little girls,” Special Agent Cannon sarcastically declares off-screen as we get our first look at the Bad Girls. [credit: Films Colacitta ]

You’ve probably never heard of the underground film industry in Columbia, South Carolina—which is understandable, since it has only produced three films in the last 10 years or so. Two of those films are by producer/director/person-with-a-dream Christopher Bickel, who finished his sophomore full-length movie effort Bad Girls just this month.

Bad Girls is an over-the-top grindhouse jam, packed full of sex, drugs, loud music, and ultraviolent action. The movie was shot on a budget of $16,000—approximately one-tenth the amount that Troma (probably the best-known ridiculously low-budget production company) spent making its first film in 1979.

The microscopic budget makes it almost impossible for Bad Girls to avoid the Dancing Bear trope—but despite the movie’s lack of funds and semi-amateur cast and crew, Bad Girls delivers a thoroughly watchable experience to its target audience.