This weekend, because of both the Oscars and some personal matters I have to take care of, I will not be posting my usual Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers post. I sincerely apologize but I promise that the feature will return in two weeks time, on March 10th.
Let me take this time to ask a question of my fellow grindhouse and exploitation film enthusiasts. Are there any trailers that I have yet to feature that you personally think I should? In other words, what are your favorite trailers? If you’re feeling too shy (or not shy enough) to use the comments box below, feel free to e-mail me at LisaMarieBowman@live.com.
Again, the feature will be back in two weeks. Until then, here’s a picture of a racoon holding a kitty.
Hi and welcome to the latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation trailers! To be honest, I’m usually way too ADD to come up with (let alone maintain) any sort of theme with my trailer posts but this weekend — almost by pure chance — a theme has emerged! So, without further hold up, let us consider 6 Trailers of the Dead!
1) Night of the Living Dead (1968)
How have I done nearly a 100 of these posts without featuring the trailer for George Romero’s landmark Night of the Living Dead?
2) The Astro-Zombies (1968)
Apparently, 1968 was a big year for the dead returning to life.
3) The Majorettes (1986)
The Majorettes was directed by the late Bill Hinzman, the guy who played the Cemetary Zombie in Night of the Living Dead.
4) Dawn of the Dead (1978)
To be honest, I think I’ve already featured this trailer in an earlier post. However, there’s no way that you can start a post with Night of the Living Dead and then end it with Day of the Dead without finding some room for Dawn of the Dead in the middle.
5) Dead Heat (1988)
Wow, this looks really, really, really … not good. However, according to Wikipedia, it’s about zombies and it’s got the word “dead” in the title so it works theme-wise.
6) Day of the Dead (1985)
I’ve watched this trailer several times and those arms still make me jump every time!
I’m running a little bit late on getting this Valentine’s weekend edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers up and running and for that, I apologize. Last night, around midnight, I found myself at Target waiting for them to start selling the latest Twilight movie…well, let’s just not go into it, okay? Instead, here’s 6 trailers for your Valentine’s weekend.
1) Valentine (2001)
Oh. My. God. This is such a bad movie! Seriously terrible. However, it is Valentine’s Day weekend…
2) My Bloody Valentine (1981)
The original.
3) My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009)
The remake, which is a lot better than Avatar.
4) Emmanuelle (1974)
Valentine’s weekend is all about either celebrating romance or being alone and bitter. I’ve been told that Emmanuelle can be used for both of those purposes. “This movie will be shown only in special theaters.”
5) Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977)
Not surprisingly, Italian director Joe D’Amato put his own individual spin on Emmanuelle (or Emanuelle as he spelled it, in order to get around copyright laws). This is probably one of the more explicit trailers I’ve ever posted so keep that in mind before you watch it.
6) Superfly (1972)
This trailer isn’t connected to Valentine’s Day at all but it’s got a lot of style.
Finally, let me just say, regardless of whether you’re in love, in lust, or mired in lonely bitterness, Happy Valentine’s Day!
Well, its Super Bleh weekend, the time of year when everything is just football, football, football! And Lisa says, “A bleh on both your houses!” Still, because I love theme posts, here’s the latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers — 6 Super Trailers For a Super Weekend! Yay! 8)
1) J.D.’s Revenge (1976)
He came back from the dead to possess a man’s soul, make love to his woman, and get the vengeance he craved!
2) Texas Adios (1967)
Starring the best, the one and only Franco Nero!
3) H.O.T.S. (1979)
Trailers like this prove that it was apparently a lot easier to be considered attractive back in the 70s.
4) Inglorious Bastards (1977)
I think this film features a former football player so it goes with the whole Super Bowl theme. Plus, the title was borrowed for Quentin Tarantino’s super Inglorious Basterds.
5) Wild Orchid (1990)
This film was directed by the super Zalman King who passed away on Friday. R.I.P.
6) Roadhouse (1989)
The film co-stars the even more super Ben Gazzara, who also passed away on Friday. R.I.P.
This is one of those films that seems to show up in a dozen or so public domain DVD compilation packs. The “lake” in this film looks a lot like White Rock Lake and when I first saw this film, I was convinced it had actually been filmed down here in Dallas. However, I subsequently found that there actually is a Crater Lake up in Oregon. There’s no word yet on whether or not there’s any monsters living in that lake but you have to figure there would be, what with it being Oregon and all.
2) Shogun Assassin (1980)
Just the story of a single dad and his baby. Awwwwww!
3) 100 Rifles (1969)
Obviously, this was one of the many American attempts to make a Spaghetti western. “This film has a message…”
4) Soylent Green (1973)
Yes, we all know what’s in Soylent Green.
5) Xtro (1982)
Oh my God, this trailer freaks me out!
6) Scarface (1983)
Oh, stop it. I don’t care how many “respectable” actors are in the film, you know that Scarface is like totally a grindhouse film.
Seeing as how the Oscar nominations are due to be announced on Tuesday, I thought I would devote this edition to Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation trailers to films that were snubbed by the Academy. Remember them while you’re watching Rooney Mara accept best actress.
1) A Life of Ninja (1983)
Despite the colorful trailer, this film was not nominated for best Costume Design, Art Design, or Cinematography. Instead, all three of those awards went to Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander.
2) The Shark Hunter (1979)
Franco Nero was not nominated for best actor for his performance here. Instead Dustin Hoffman won for Kramer vs. Kramer.
3) The Terrornauts (1967)
The true terror is that the 1967 Oscar for Special Visual Effects went to Doctor Dolittle and not The Terrornauts.
4) Americathon (1979)
The Academy has never really appreciated hard-hitting political satire which perhaps explains why the previously mentioned Kramer Vs. Kramer won best picture while Americathon was not even nominated.
5) Don’t Torture A Duckling (1972)
The Oscar for Best Foreign language film of 1972 was given to Luis Bunuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and not to Lucio Fulci’s classic giallo Don’t Torture A Duckling.
6) The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
And yet somehow, Annie Hall was named best picture.
First off, allow me to again apologize for being late with my weekly trailer post. I had some asthma issues that basically left me fairly useless on both Friday and Saturday. Still, better late than never. In this latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers, we acknowledge some films that were NOT nominated for Golden Globes.
1) The Flesh Eaters (1964)
I just recently got this one on DVD but I haven’t watched it yet. Of course, I love any trailer that starts out with a countdown.
2) Beach Girls and the Monster (1965)
The star of the film (which apparently co-stars the Watusi Dancing Girls), John Hall, was briefly a star back in the 1930s. This was his attempt at a comeback film and he ended up committing suicide after it was released.
3) Blast-Off Girls (1967)
This film was directed by the infamous Herschell Gordon Lewis. I want to be a blast-off girl!
4) Monsters Crash The Pajama Party (1969)
I don’t own this one on DVD, mostly because I’m kinda scared that if I watch it, a monster will pop out of the TV screen and try to drag me off to somewhere.
January is the time of year that you look at what’s being released into theaters and you think to yourself, “Oh my God, is it summer yet!?” This is the time of the Devil Inside and Joyful Noise. This is also the time when we find ourselves watching trailers and previews of upcoming films for just a little bit of hope that maybe things are going to get better.
And, on that note, here’s the trailer for Wes Anderson’s upcoming film, Moonrise Kingdom. I don’t know much about Moonrise Kingdom but, seeing as it’s directed Wes Anderson, it’ll either be very clever and unappreciated or else it will be so self-consciously quirky that I’ll end up having a seizure halfway through the film.
Let’s start off 2012 with this trailer for a low budget, drive-in film called Tomcats. It’s also known as Deadbeat, They Deserved It, and a few hundred other titles. The trailer is memorable for its light-hearted narration but the film itself is pretty dark (and kinda stupid, to be honest). By the way, this trailer features more than a little nudity and is definitely not safe for work.
2) Smokey Bites The Dust (1981)
This trailer was apparently used to advertise this Roger Corman production in Denmark.
3) Terminal Island (1973)
This is a landmark of feminist exploitation cinema. (Scoff all you might but there is such a thing and if you don’t believe me, go and read the best thing I’ve ever written, Too Sordid To Ever Be Corrupted.) Much like Smokey Bites the Dust, this trailer is in English but comes with Danish subtitles. It’s also NSFW.
4) Terror of Machagodzilla (1975)
And now for something completely different…
5) Across 110th Street (1972)
Who doesn’t love this film’s title song?
And finally…
6) Enter The Dragon (1973)
Yes, Enter the Dragon is an exploitation film. Just because it’s now considered to be a classic and it’s shown in film school (the first time I saw it was in film class) doesn’t change the fact that this film is pure grindhouse exploitation.
Welcome to 2012! Let’s make it a good one, just in case the Mayans were correct.
I’ve never seen this film but I’ve read about it and the plot actually sounds like it has potential: a killer is determined to kill a different person in each time zone across America over the course of one long, New Year’s Eve night. I get the feeling the execution was probably lacking but seriously, time zones are weird.
2) Student Bodies (1981)
This little satire of the slasher genre shows up on cable occasionally. I’ve never managed to make it all the way through but I do appreciate the gag with the killer continually stepping on chewing gum.
3) Screwballs (1983)
With a name like Screwballs it has to be …. uhmm, good?
4) Spring Break (1983)
Obviously, there was a serious lack of attractive people in the 1980s.
5) Ski School (1991)
Oh wait. The kinda attractive people were at the ski school. Emphasis on kinda.
6) My Tutor (1982)
However, as always, the truly cool people, were learning how to speak French.
Through the Shattered Lens 