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Moriarty’s One Thing I Love Today! 42nd STREET FOREVER VOL. 3: EXPLOITATION EXPLOSION!
Hey, everyone. “Moriarty” here.
I know right now it’s cool to be giddy over the various HD releases showing up in our homes via On Demand premieres or on Blu-Ray disc, and believe me... as soon as I get my PS3 back (long story and longer process) from Sony, I plan to spend about 72 hours watching all the Blu-Ray discs I have stacked on my desk and unopened right now...
But let’s not get crazy. DVD is still where most consumers are buying and renting, and there is a lot of amazing content that is only coming out on standard-def. Case in point, my item for the day, the latest in one of the very best ongoing DVD series right now...

Once again, Synapse Films has put together a mix-tape of exploitation gems, two hours of some of the craziest, coolest, funniest trailers you could hope to see played together. As much as I appreciated the work Don May did on the XXX-TREME edition of the series, where he put together some of the most well-known and entertaining hardcore porn trailers of the ‘70s and ‘80s, I’m not just going to throw on a porn compilation while I’m working. This latest entry is fun, packed with a lot of action and horror stuff from the ‘80s. Lots of Cannon films. FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH, complete with the KILL BILL/IRONSIDE sting. Italian horror films. PATRICK. JENNIFER. BUG and PHASE IV. KILLER FISH and BLOOD BEACH. Lots and lots and lots of ‘80s titties. SURVIVE!, which is a low-budge riff on the story of the cannibal soccer players in the Andes. A based-on-a-true-story Jim Jones film that looks really lurid and trashy and, shocking, stars Joseph Cotten. I loved the TABOO trailer with Maud Adams and Bruce Dern, and now I’d love for someone to release the goddamn film on DVD, please. Bronson. Jerry Reed.
I mean... seriously. Jerry Reed co-starring with Peter Fonda. Do I need to say more?
What I find most entertaining about a two-hour block of these trailers is the way it sort of plays as all one movie in your memory when you think back on it. Like you’ve got Donald Pleasance and Ali McGraw and Bert Convy and Karen Black and Lee Van Cleef and Sho Kosugi and Peter Cushing and Adam West all in this one totally batshit flick. Some sort of Bizarro-MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD.
And if you want to hear one of the most relaxed, informal, and entertaining commentary tracks in recent memory, check out Michael Gingold, Chris Poggiali, and Edwin Samuelson chatting about these films as the trailers play. It’s just like hanging out with three incredibly well-prepared film geek friends... genuinely informative but entertaining first.
I hope there are 20 more discs in this series at least. And if there are, I’ll feature every single one in this column, because that’s just how good they’ve all been so far. If trailers aren’t your thing, then maybe this recommendation will leave you cold, but for anyone who ever felt like the best part of an afternoon in the theater was the previews, or for anyone who can’t help their fetish for pop trash of a previous era, this is an essential addition to a collection.

Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles


Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
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...anyway, can't wait to see this mori! there's so many films that i'll never have the opportunity or the time to see and great sets like this give you a tiny bit of the experience.
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As opposed to TABOO? I know, I'm an annoying pain in the ass with this post but since I have your attention; love the disc and love the article Mori! I think the Phase IV trailer steals the show on this volume, now 'thats' a film they need to release on DVD! Lastly, have you seen Hanke's 'Funny Games US' yet? I'd be interested to read a review but realize this film is kind of old news I suppose since it's a near identical remake of a film he made over 10 years ago.
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Classic exploitation film fans should check out The Deuce: Grindhouse Cinema Database. Its like the IMDB meets wikipedia but for just older exploitation flix. Very cool!
www.grindhousedatabase.com -
Keep it up, Drew! You're going great!
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"seriously. Jerry Reed co-starring with Peter Fonda. Do I need to say more?"
Sure. You forgot to mention that this product was so highly anticipated, it's distributor considered a Dec. 18, 2009 theatrical release date it to intimidate James Cameron. Avatar's budget just went up another 100 mil thanks to blackmail. -
Rented that movie in high school on VHS and there is a scene where the boom mike almost rests on the noses of the actors as they talk. Hilarious! One of the trailers on this compilation (Devil Times Five) is out on dvd and it's not bad. Leif Garrett as a murderous
kid. Sold! -
is SS HellCamp (now on DVD). Unbelievably offensive. Worse than Ilsa: She Wolf Of The SS. There's a scene where a neaderthal "Nazi Experiment" creature rips the pubic hair from a female prisoner and eats it..skin and all. Then he rapes he to death. Watch that with your parents.
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... we'll get compilation discs with trailers for such classics as Ghost Rider, Eragon and Jumper. So enjoy this while you can, folks.
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If there are eventually 20 discs in this series, the numbering's gonna be all wonky now.
But seriously, I thought they'd pretty much bled-dry all their options on the first two discs for non-porn fare. How can there be more to support dozens more hours-worth? I realize there are many more grindhouse films out there left to cover, but surely not every one had a trailer. -
Very badly.
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I just wanted to thank everyone for the excellent responses to the DVD. I am Edwin Samuelson of AV Maniacs.com. I was the moderator on the commentary for the DVD.
If you guys, liked the commentary, you should check out a show I host entitled, The CIneFiles. It's a little TV show out of Manhattan that is hosted by film geeks for film geeks. There a few episodes on viewing at www.youtube.com/cinefiles. Please check them out if you have the time.
Thank you,
Edwin Samuelson
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That movie freaked me out as a kid, especially since the murderous ants were in Arizona where I grew up. Wasn't that a TV film, as well? Also loved SNOWBEAST from 1977, more nightmares for kids (always a good thing).
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I have all four releases in this series (barring the rare original Vol. 1) and I have to say that this release kinda scraped the barrel a bit with it's selection. I hope Vol. 4 has a few more gems and fewer duds. plus, my copy is defective, the disc freezes during a couple of the trailers.
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...Because every time I do, I rue the fact that I don't have the money or time to go out and purchase and watch just about every film on there. Except some of the italian sex comedies. Fuck they are bad.
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I bet he thought because it was in cheap european films nobody would know. I recently bought Italian ghost story, A Whisper In The Dark starring the man himself and long thought forgotten and yes on DVD. Boring old, compressed DVD. Still love the old format. A Blu Ray player can wait.
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has a bunch of exploitation trailers not on the 42nd St comps. and some tv movie clips from the 70'
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These DVDs are awesome :>
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... pay no attention to the early post where I said "I won't pause for weekends."
Of course I will. The "daily" column is five days a week. To clarify. And I did all five last week. So I get a f'ing cookie. -
Brilliance.
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I recently bought the first two volumes in the series, and they're worth every penny. For someone like myself who missed out on the "grindhouse" experience, they're a real treat.
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For true?
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