It’s time for another edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers. This week’s edition has no set theme beyond the fact that, in-between typing up the six trailers featured here, I was also trying on different outfits. Multi-tasking!
1) Performance
From 1970, it’s the debut film of Nicolas Roeg (though technically, he co-directed by Donald Cammell). Reportedly, acting in this film led to costar James Fox having a nervous breakdown.
This is the trailer for Mario Bava’s infamous, trend-setting giallo. Bava’s preferred title for this film was Bay of Blood though it was released under several titles, including Carnage and my personal favorite, Twitch of the Death Nerve.
3) The Comeback
This 1978 film is from the criminally underrated director Pete Walker. The trailer has a similar feel to Lamerto Bava’s A Blade in the Dark. Who is Jack Jones and was he actually an international singing sensation? So many questions.
4) The Class Reunion Massacre (a.k.a. The Redeemer)
What an odd little trailer. It starts out all slasher-like and then suddenly, it decides to go all Omen.
Yup, that’s what it is alright. From directed Ted V. Mikels.
6) Candy
This trailer is from 1968, which — if you’ve seen the trailer — is kind of one of those “well, duh” facts. Based on a book by my fellow Texan Terry Southern (hence, the tag line), the film features Walter Matthau, Richard Burton, Ringo Starr, Marlon Brando, and James Coburn all taking advantage of Ewa Aulin (who, much like James Fox in Performance, reportedly had a nervous breakdown as a result of making this film). The film was directed by Christian Marquand who, years later, would play the main French Plantation Guy in Apocalypse Now Redux.
Through the Shattered Lens 
You must’ve caught onto some of my brainwaves. I was looking at “Twitch of the Death Nerve” for the next Daily Grindhouse. 🙂
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I love Twitch of the Death Nerve so. Closest Mario Bava ever came to social satire. 🙂
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I learned two things watching these trailers, #1 I only really have enough different kind of clothes that I was unable to complete the wardrobe changes after the third trailer. And #2 is I need to get some of these in my netflix queue.
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lol, of these six films, I’d recommend seeing Performance and Twitch of the Death Nerve (though it’ll probably be listed under the title Bay of Blood as far as Netflix is concerned).
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Clearly, you are not a fan of the classic TV series “The Love Boat”. Jack Jones sang the theme song.
Have you seen “Candy”? Is it as bad and weird as the trailer indicates? If so, how did the producers assemble that cast? (It seems that Mick didn’t want to be outdone by Ringo, thus “Performance” two years later. The Stones were always chasing the Beatles.)
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lol, I’ve never actually seen the Love Boat but I’ve heard the theme song.
Candy is really, really bad. lol. It’s basically a bunch of “swinging” stars giving self-indulgent cameo performances while Ewa Aulin, in the lead role, appears to be heavily drugged. (According to a biography of Marlon Brando that I read a few years ago, she actually was.) It’s one of those movies that sounds like it should be a lot more fun and campy than it actually is. 🙂
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