Overview
Hollywood Boulevard is a 1976 American satirical exploitation film directed by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante (in their respective directorial debuts), and starring Candice Rialson, Paul Bartel, and Mary Woronov. It follows an aspiring actress who has just arrived in Los Angeles, only to be hired by a reckless B movie film studio where she bears witness to a series of gruesome and fatal on-set accidents. The film blends elements of the comedy, thriller, and slasher film genres.
The film was made as a result of a bet between producers Jon Davison and Roger Corman to make the cheapest ever film for New World Pictures. This was accomplished by extensive use of footage from other New World films, and it features a number of references and inside-jokes to the studio's previous features. Principal photography took place in October 1975 over a ten-day period on a budget of $54,000.
Plot
Pompous film director Eric Von Leppe is shooting a skydiving sequence for low-budget Miracle Pictures in which an actress is killed. Candy Wednesday arrives in Los Angeles from Indiana to make it as an actor. She swiftly gets an agent, Walter Paisley, but struggles to find work until she inadvertently gets involved in a bank robbery as a getaway driver. This leads her to getting hired by Miracle Pictures as a stunt driver. She meets Eric Von Leppe, temperamental starlet Mary McQueen, sleazy producer P.G., and friendly scriptwriter, Pat. Candy and Pat fall in love and she starts to get work as an actor, becoming friends with fellow starlets Bobbi and Jill.
The group travel to the Philippines to make a violent war film, Machete Maidens of Mora Tau, starring Candy, Mary, Bobbi and Jill. Candy has to play a character who is raped, which upsets her. Later on during the shoot, Jill, Bobbi and P.G. have a threesome. During the filming of a battle sequence, Jill is shot dead by an unseen attacker. Von Leppe and Mary choose not to call authorities, instead leaving Jill's corpse behind in the rural shooting location. Candy is traumatized by the incident.
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