After four agonizing months of delay, a new episode of Moviocrity is finally here! This is the show that started it all, a video web series dedicated to the joys of exploitation cinema and the shaming of generic entertainment.

This newest episode looks at the EMPIRE OF ASH “trilogy,” a series of post-apocalyptic films directed by Lloyd A. Simandl and Michael Mazo. But these films are a bit different from the MAD MAX ripoffs that came out of Italy, Spain and the Philippines. No, the EMPIRE OF ASH films showed a dystopian future that went to hell for slightly more plausible reasons. It still results in people wearing ridiculous costumes and driving their armor-plated vehicles through the surprisingly lush countryside.

What is actually going on in these films? What’s the deal with Rocket Man? And why did I put “trilogy” in quotes? You have to check out the episode to find out!

MOVIOCRITY Ep. 302 – The EMPIRE OF ASH “Trilogy” from Moviocrity on Vimeo.

Also a quick disclaimer about why this episode is not available on YouTube. Ordinarily, I post videos to both YouTube and Vimeo. I prefer the latter, but I acknowledge that most people browse for videos on YouTube. However, a few months ago someone decided that an episode I did May of last year violated YouTube’s rules of decency. The video was already flagged to be viewed only by those over 18 and there was the standard disclaimer at the beginning that explicitly stated what the episode might contain. Nevertheless, it got scrapped and I got a penalty. As far as content is concerned, there isn’t much more than what you can find in other episodes of the show. If nudity was to blame, that can be seen in half the season two episodes. One major difference, this episode showed two women – GASP! SHOCK! HORROR! – kissing. I can’t prove it, but my guess is YouTube’s flagging of the episode has more to do with homophobia than anything else.

It’s not the first time I have run afoul of the YouTube police. Virtually every episode has had to be appealed to prove that my use of copyrighted material is legal under the Fair Use provisions of copyright law (One episode was still pulled when the copyright holder persisted. My use of the material was still perfectly legal, but I could not afford the legal expenses of exonerating myself.). When you get a strike on your YouTube account, some of your privileges are taken away for a probationary period. This includes custom thumbnails and being able to upload videos more than 15 minutes in length. This newest episode is 17 minutes. It’s literally TOO BIG FOR YOUTUBE! Okay, maybe that’s a sensationalistic way of putting it, but I’ll take what I can get. This episode covers a lot of material and I didn’t want to split the episodes up. It’s actually a bit of a relief not having to go through the usual headaches of dealing with YouTube even though I know it will cost me a number of viewers. The funny thing is, I even make a joke about YouTube’s policies in the episode itself.

I want to state for the record here that you can still see EVERY EPISODE of Moviocrity at Vimeo! Yes, even the three episodes that YouTube kicked to the curb! So after checking out this latest episode, check out our channel and watch the other 21 episodes of the web series that refuses to die!

And if you like what you see, tell any like-minded people you can think of. I need that word of mouth to keep people aware of this show, especially if YouTube is going to continue to be a pain. Thank you everyone for your continued support and remember…… ADVENTURE WITHOUT SHAME!