Directed by: various
Starring: various
An Introduction
“…IF YOU CRAVE SATISFACTION, THIS IS THE PLACE TO FIND THAT ACTION!!!”
I’ve always loved grindhouse movie trailers ever since I first learned about them in 2007 when the film Grindhouse came out. When I saw all the trailers that were attached to the movie, I thought at first they were simply over exaggerations or parody of grand house trailers, but after seeing the trailers on this disc I can honestly say they are some of the best recreations.
The Movie
“…SO THEY TRANSPLANTED THE WHITE HEAD ONTO THE BLACK BODY!!!”
This compilation focuses not on a single genre but the entire grind house genre itself. This ranges from blacksploiation, Nazis, zombies, tribal cannibalism, evil scientists, feminism and of course women in cages. Now one might think that watching 55 movie trailers, especially those that are bad would be a really awful time, but in reality this is one of the most fun experiences I’ve had while reviewing a DVD.
This truly is a hidden gem of a disk that I fully recommend right here and now. Seriously go out and buy this. Where to start? The unintentional humor from a lot of these trailers have me busting out laughing multiple, multiple times and begging for an audience to laugh and go “OHHH” with. This is something I would love to watch at an art house theater with a full audience, and a cold beer. It also doesn’t help that the trailers are fully uncensored, so any random moment you might find yourself watching horrific cheap gore and suddenly see boobs everywhere on the screen. While it might be cheap of me to say that I really liked watching that, I have to say, I really liked watching that, even though technically these women are old enough or older to be my mom.
The concept of these trailers is really quite fantastic, from The Last House on the Left, to I Spit On Your Grave, to even Ilsa She Wolf of the SS, you never know what you’re going to see the next and that’s part of the fun. Though if I had to complain, and honestly this is a real problem I had, the running time was just over two hours long. Now to watch all of this in one or even two sittings is seriously exhausting and by the end of it, I didn’t want to see a trailer for a good few days.
With that being a minor complaint I still have to give this DVD a high recommendation solely based on the content alone in the amount of fun I had while watching this.
9.5/10
The Video
“ONE MAN CHALLENGES NATURE, ON THE NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES!!!”
Video quality for this release is a tricky mistress. On one hand technically I should want the best quality that the disc can provide, but the other half of me really wants the video quality to be as horrible as possible to keep in line with the gritty, dirty feeling of watching it. I almost want them to go out and find it dirtiest 35mm print they have and then transfer that to DVD. So let’s just say some trailers, those that have been more popular than others, look better than some of the lesser-known titles, in fact at one point I’m pretty sure they got some footage from a VHS tape. I never had a problem making out what was happening on screen but seriously what type of quality do you want with this level of content?
8/10
The Audio
“ANGLES OF VENGENCE ON A MASSIC OF MARATHON! LUSTING, BUSTING BABES.”
Audio on the other hand is not as much of a problem, the disc is presented in a stereo-mono mix (meaning each front right and left speaker are playing the same thing and not a true mono mix) and really I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sound feels flat and hollow, screams ring out and peak multiple times, shotgun blasts have absolutely no stage presence and it sounds absolutely beautiful to my ears. Again with the video quality sort of standard, the audio quality I really want to be absolutely horrible except when it comes to dialogue in this disc delivers on that premise. So technically speaking, this sounds horrible, but I loved every moment of it.
8/10
Packaging and Special Features
“THREE SPITTEN KITTENS ON A ROARING RAMPAGE OF REVENGE!!!”
Packaging for this disc comes housed in a white DVD case with some great hand-drawn artwork on the front. On the back they even included some of the original poster art from some of the titles presented on this disc. Really great see that artwork featured.
Special features on the other hand are a little bit of a letdown, but really there’s not a lot you can do with something like this, unless you really want to get an interview with someone like Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino. The first special feature is called “Bump ‘N’ Grind” which basically is a introduction guide to what grind house cinema is, or was, its history and why it’s so special to cinema fans. This runs about 20 minutes long and covers all the bases, which isn’t bad but I would’ve preferred a more in-depth discussion about the actual experience of going to a Grindhouse. Next after that is the entire grind house poster art in a gallery, which is really great. There’s something about looking at all this original artwork knowing it was all hand-drawn and none of it was Photoshopped, I really wish this art style was used more often; It’s more iconic and just something you want to hang on your wall.
6/10
Overall (not an Average)
“THEIR BODIES WERE CAGED….BUT NOT THEIR DESIRES!
Overall would recommend this disc? Oh hell yes, in every way. It’s two hours of just beautiful classic horribleness, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Be sure to get some liquor, get some friends, and laugh, scream and cheer while watching this.