DVD Review: Grindhouse Trailer Classics
Want to check out some grindhouse titles, but not sure where to start? Grindhouse Trailer Classics should be your first port of call.
For those of you unsure of what grindhouse entails, let's just say it's another word for exploitation. Movies that come under the grindhouse banner today are likely to have been made in the 60s and 70s, mainly (but not exclusively) in the US and probably screened in downmarket cinemas in American cities.
These were low budget movies, made for cheap thrills and a fast buck, squeezing in sex, violence, gore or all three if possible. Not to mention the odd nazi, alien and Hell's Angel. Making the film was one thing, getting people in to see it was another. That required a catchy title, a hard-hitting poster and a trailer that could convince a prospective punter that this wasn't just another low-rent bloodbath.
And what we have here is the pick of those trailers, compiled by genre expert Marc Morris from his own collection. And it's pretty much compulsive viewing. With titles like 'They Call Her One Eye', 'Three On A Meathook', 'Ilsa: She Wolf Of The SS', 'Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things', 'Wham Bam Thank You Spaceman' and 'Disco Godfather', that's not surprising.
Some of the blood-filled trailers still aren't for the faint-hearted, others certainly wouldn't be classed as politically correct in 2007 (women were either sex objects or rampant killers in the world of grindhouse) but the majority are kitsch entertainment, with plots so ridiculous, you wonder how the participants kept a straight face between them. And if the trailers alone aren't enough, there's also a bonus featurette titled Bump 'n' Grind, which quickly runs through the story of grindhouse, as well as a gallery of the best (and worst) grindhouse movie posters.
If you've ever been tempted to by some low-budget sleaze, this is the place to start. Certainly not family viewing, but for post-pub viewing on a Friday night, pretty much unbeatable.
Extras on the DVD:
Bump 'n' Grind documentary with Emily Booth
Grindhouse poster gallery
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