6 Classic Trailers For Loyalty & Law Day!

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since today is both Loyalty and Law Day here in the United States, it’s time for a special edition of Lisa Marie’s Grindhouse Trailers!

The Super Cops (1974)

So, you think you can just ignore the law, huh? Well, the Super Cops have got something to say about that! This film was based on the “true” adventures of two widely decorated NYPD cops. The cops were so good at their job that they were even nicknamed Batman and Robin. Of course, long after this movie came out, it was discovered that they were both corrupt and were suspected of having committed more crimes than they stopped. Amazingly, this film was directed by the same man who did Shaft. The Super Cops are kind of annoying, to be honest.

2. Super Fuzz (1980)

Far more likable than The Super Cops was Super Fuzz. Terence Hill plays a Florida cop who gets super powers! Ernest Borgnine is his hapless partner. The film was directed by Sergio Corbucci, of Django fame.

3. Miami Supercops (1985)

In 1985, Terence Hill returned as a Florida cop in Miami Supercops. This time, his old partner Bud Spencer accompanied him.

4. Miami Cops (1989)

Apparently, Miami needed a lot of cops because Richard Roundtree decided to join the force in 1989. Unfortunately, I could only find a copy of this trailer in German but I think you’ll still get the idea.

5. The Soldier (1982)

In order to celebrate loyalty, here’s the trailer for 1982’s The Soldier! They’re our government’s most guarded secret …. or, at least, they were. Then someone made a movie about them.

And finally, what better way to celebrate both Loyalty and Law Day than with a film that pays tribute to the Molokai Cops? From Andy Sidaris, it’s….

6. Hard Ticket To Hawaii (1987)

Happy May Day!

6 Classic Albert Pyun Trailers

Posted on November 27, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Albert Pyun (1953 — 2022)

I just heard the sad news that director Albert Pyun has passed away at the age of 69.

In honor of Pyun’s career, it’s time for a special edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film trailers! The six trailers below were all designed to promote films directed by the great Albert Pyun.

The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)

Albert Pyun made his directorial debut with this film, which starred Richard Lynch. The Sword and the Sorcerer was Pyun’s most financially successful film.

2. Dangerously Close (1986)

In 1986, Albert Pyun directed the teen vigilante classic, Dangerously Close.

3. Cyborg (1989)

Due to the presence of Jean-Claude Van Damme in the leading role, Cyborg remains one of Pyun’s best-known films.

4. Captain America (1990)

20 years before Kevin Feige and the MCU, Albert Pyun brought Captain America to the big screen!

5. Omega Doom (1996)

In 1996, Albert Pyun was responsible for this post-apocalyptic western, starring Rutger Hauer.

6. Tales of an Ancient Empire (2011)

Finally, in 2011, Pyun directed his long-awaited sequel to The Sword and the Sorcerer, Tales of An Ancient Empire.

Rest in Peace, Albert Pyun.

Albert Pyun Films That We Have Reviewed:

6 Horrific Trailers For October 31st, 2022

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For today’s Halloween edition of Lisa’s Marie Favorite Grindhouse Trailers, I present to you, without comment, 6 trailers for six horror films that I feel are unfairly overlooked. If you’re still looking for something to watch this Halloween night, I recommend any of the films below!

Happy Halloween!

1. Lisa (1989)

2. A Field in England (2013)

2. Two Orphan Vampires (1996)

3. Scream and Scream Again (1970)

4. Messiah of Evil (1973)

6. Lisa Lisa (1977)

6 Horrific Trailers For October 30th, 2022

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s the day before Halloween.

Are you still struggling to get into the mood?

Well, have no fear! The latest edition is Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse Trailers is here to help you out!

Presented without comment, here are 6 classic trailers for the day before Halloween….

Carnival of Souls (1962)

2. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

4. Halloween (1978)

5. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

6. Zombie (1979) (a.k.a. Zombi 2)

6 Horrific Trailers For October 24th, 2022

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

7 more days of Horrorfest.

7 more days of Halloween.

And you know what that means, right?

It’s time for a new edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse Trailers!

I Drink Your Blood/I Eat Your Skin (1970)

It’s a double feature like none other! The majority of the trailer (understandably, in my opinion) is devoted to clips from I Drink Your Blood. What is I Drink Your Blood about? It’s about a little kid who gets rid of a bunch of annoying hippies by giving them food that has been infected with rabies!

2. Grizzly (1976)

Wow, I wonder where they got the idea for this movie from!

3. The Crater Lake Monster (1977)

Awwww! What a cute monster!

4. Cathy’s Curse (1977)

Beware of Cathy …. and her doll too!

5. Jennifer (1978)

A bullied teenage girl has psychic powers …. hmmmm, this sounds familiar….

6. The Children (1980)

“Something terrifying has happened to the Children!” This actually a pretty scary film but somehow, the trailer is even scarier.

6 Horrific Trailer For October 16th, 2022

Posted on October 16, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s Sunday and it’s October and that means that it’s time for another edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse trailers! For today, we have six trailers from the early 80s! These where the years when the only thing bigger than the Italian zombie boom was the American slasher boom. And we’ve got the trailers to prove it!

1. Friday the 13th (1980)

Needless to say, if you’re going to talk about American horror in the early 80s, you have to start with Friday the 13th. Interestingly enough, the first Friday the 13th was less a traditional slasher film and more an American take on the giallo genre.

2. Halloween II (1981)

The 80s were also the year that Hollywood learned to love the sequel. As a result, Michael Myers returned and so did Dr. Loomis. The current franchise claims that all of this never happened but we all know better.

3. The Beyond (1981)

While the Americans were dealing with slashers, the Italians were committing themselves to the zombies. Though Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond was not widely appreciated when first released, it’s reputation has grown over the years.

4. The House By The Cemetery (1981)

Eventually, Fulci combined both zombies and slashers with The House By The Cemetery.

5. Poltergeist (1982)

Of course, not every horror film that came out in the early 80s was about a slasher or a zombie. Poltergeist was a haunted house story. Though the trailer says “Steven Spielberg production,” the film was directed by Tobe Hooper.

6. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

Even the Halloween franchise tried to do something new with the third film in the series. Like The Beyond, this is a film that was underappreciated when released but which has since become a horror classic.

6 Horrific Trailers For October 9th, 2022

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s Sunday and it’s October and that means that it’s time for another edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse trailers! For today, we have six trailers from the early 70s. This was the era when horror started to truly get …. well, horrific!

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970)

First off, we have the blood and scream-filled trailer for Dario Argento’s The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. This Italian thriller made quite a splash when it was released in America. Indeed, for many Americans, this was their first exposure to the giallo genre. This would go on to become Argento’s first (and, so far, only) film to be nominated for a Golden Globe. (Read my review here!)

2. House of Dark Shadows (1970)

Speaking of blood and screaming, 1970 also saw the release of House of Dark Shadows. Personally, I think this is one of the best vampire films ever. The trailer is heavy on atmosphere.

3. The Devils (1971)

In 1971, British director Ken Russell scandalized audiences with The Devils, a film so shocking that it will probably never been in its full, uncut form.

4. Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972)

Italy was not the only country sending horror films over to the United States. From Spain came the Tombs of the Blind Dead.

5. The Last House on the Left (1972)

Speaking of controversy, Wes Craven made his directorial debut with the infamous The Last House On The Left. The trailer featured one of the greatest and most-repeated horror tag lines of all time.

6. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Finally, even as horror cinema changed and became more extreme, Hammer Studios continued to tell the long and twisted story of Count Dracula. They brought him into the present age and dropped him in the middle of hippie-infested London. No matter how much the rest of the world changed, Dracula remained Dracula.

6 Trailers For October 2nd, 2022

Posted on October 2, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With Horrorthon underway, it’s time for a special October edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse Trailers! Today, I bring you 6 spine-tingling trailers from the 30s and the 40s! Say hello to old school horror at its best!

Dracula (1931)

First off, here is the original trailer for the 1931 version of Dracula! Yes, it’s a bit grainy and it’s a bit creaky and …. well, it’s old. But listen, if I had been around in 1931 and I saw this trailer, I definitely would have been at the theater on opening day. “Do vampires exist?” the trailer asks. No, they do not but who knows? Maybe the trailer would have made me question my beliefs for at least a day or two.

Apparently, the odd scene with Edward Van Sloan and the mirror was taken from an outtake. The scene itself is not in the film and presumably, that mirror was not supposed to fall off the wall. Also, it’s interesting to note that Dracula was not a Halloween film but instead, it was released just in time for Valentine’s Day!

2. Frankenstein (1931)

Of course, Universal followed Dracula from Frankenstein. Again, this is one of the original trailers for the film and not a trailer that was put together and released in later years. The trailer does, at one point, say, “It’s coming back!,” so I’m assuming that this version was sent to theaters where the film had played previously. The trailer features a few scenes that were cut from the film and also a few alternate takes,

3. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

If you have a weak heart …. you better leave now! The early Universal horror films are not necessarily thought of as being grindhouse films but this trailer is pure grindhouse.

4. The Wolf Man (1941)

In the 40s, Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster were joined by a werewolf named Larry. Here is the original trailer for The Wolf Man.

5. Cat People (1943)

In 1943, horror took a new, psychological turn with the original Cat People!

6. House of Frankenstein (1944)

Finally, in 1944, all of the great monster came together. Before The Avengers, before the Justice League, before the Snyder cut, there was the House of Frankenstein!

Next week …. more horror trailers!

6 Classic Trailers For Umberto Lenzi’s Birthday

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week’s edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse trailers is dedicated to Umberto Lenzi, who was born, on this date, in 1931. Lenzi was one of the most prolific of the Italian directors who came to prominence in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. A craftsman at heart, he directed films in every genre. Admittedly, he was never quite the critical favorite that Argento, Margheriti, Deodato, Bava, Fulci, and Soavi were. That’s a polite way of acknowledging that Umberto Lenzi was responsible for a few very bad films. But he directed some good ones, as well. Even if he’s not as acclaimed as some of his contemporaries, I think every Italian horror fan has at least one or two Lenzi films that they will happily defend to the grave.

Today, in honor of Lenzi’s life and work, here are 6 trailers for 6 Umberto Lenzi films! These trailers, by the way, could be considered NSFW so watch them at your own discretion.

Spasmo (1974)

I will be the first to admit that I have shared this trailer quite often on this site. What can I say? I just love the way everyone keeps going, “Spasmo! Spamso!” Spasmo is giallo, one with the a plot that will keep you guessing.

2. The Tough Ones (1976)

Though Lenzi is probably best-remembered for his horror films, he also directed his share of violent, French Connection-inspired crime films. The Tough Ones is a good example.

3. From Corleone to Brooklyn (1979)

From Corleone to Brooklyn is another one of Lenzi’s crime films. While Corleone is a town in Sicily, there’s little doubt that the main purpose of the title was to trick people into thinking that this film was somehow connected to The Godfather.

4. Eaten Alive (1980)

Eaten Alive was one of the many cannibal films that Lenzi directed. This is actually one of the better examples of that rather icky genre. It’s certainly superior to Lenzi’s own Cannibal Ferox. Ivan Rassimov as Jim Jones turns out to be perfect casting. The trailer below is actually an edited version of the original trailer.

5. Nightmare City (1980)

This was Lenzi’s best-known contribution to the zombie genre. Uniquely, for the time, Lenzi’s zombies were fast and clever. The film was not acclaimed when it was originally released but it has since been cited as an influence on many recent zombie films. This is probably Lenzi’s most effective film as a director, even if the ending will probably have you rolling your eyes.

6. Nightmare Beach (1989)

Finally, in one of his final films, Lenzi brought together the spring break genre with the slasher genre. There’s some debate over how much of this film was directed by Lenzi and how much by a mysterious figure known as Harry Kirkpatrick. When I reviewed this film and mentioned the controversy, the film’s star, Nicolas De Toth, replied that Lenzi was definitely the one who directed. As he would definitely be in the best position to know, that’s good enough for me!

6 Classic Trailers For May 31st, 2022

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Delta Force (1986, directed by Menahem Golan)

93 years ago, on this date, Menahem Golan was born in Israel. After serving in the Israeli Air Force, Golan would attend the Old Vic Theater School in London before returning to Israel and launching his legendary career in film. With his cousin, Yoram Globus, and using Roger Corman as both a mentor and a inspiration, Golan would go on to producer and direct some of the most successful films in Israeli history. Eventually, Golan and Globus would purchase Cannon Films and would be responsible for some of the greatest (in a fashion) films of the 80s.

Though Golan was best-known as a producer, he never stopped directing. Today, on what would have been his birthday, Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse Trailers presents 6 trailers for 6 Golan films!

Lepke (1975)

After finding great success in Israel, Golan first attempted to break into the American market with this biopic about the head of the Mafia’s Murder, Inc., Louis “Lepke” Buchalter. Though the budget was low, Golan managed to get a name — in this case, Tony Curtis — to play the lead role. As you can tell, the trailer wanted to make sure that you knew that this film was about Lepke.

2. Enter the Ninja (1981)

This was, I think, the first film that Golan directed after buying Cannon Films. How great is Enter the Ninja? It stars Franco Nero as a ninja! Seriously, you don’t get much greater than that. Anyway, as I think I’ve stared on this site before, Enter the Ninja is a lot of fun and Franco Nero was the sexiest ninja of the 80s.

3. The Delta Force (1986)

Chuck Norris was a Cannon mainstay and it seems appropriate that he starred in The Delta Force, a film that was very important to Golan. The Delta Force was essentially a remake of an 1977’s Operation Thunderbolt, an Israeli film that earned Golan his only Oscar nominations when it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. The Delta Force did not receive any Oscar nominations but it has a legion of fans. Our own Jedediah Leland has frequently described this film as being the greatest ever made. I don’t know if I’d go that far but still, it is always satisfying to see Chuck blow up the bad guys at the end of the movie.

4. Mack the Knife (1989)

Menahem Golan directs a musical! Unfortunately, this film has never received a proper DVD or Blu-ray release. Though it was a Cannon production, Golan and Globus had a falling out (one that was, at least partially, caused by Golan spending money on films like Mack The Knife) and Golan ended up distributing this film himself. I find the trailer to be intriguing. The film itself is on YouTube so I’ll watch it someday …. maybe.

5. Hit The Dutchman (1992)

Much like Lepke, this film is about a real-life gangster. In this case, the gangster was Dutch Schultz. Interestingly enough, the trailer suggest that Al Capone was active in New York whereas everyone knows that, though Capone did get his start in New York, he didn’t become a prominent gangster until he relocated to Chicago.

6. Crime and Punishment (2002)

Finally, this adaptation of the great novel was a bit of passion project for Golan. He filmed it in Russia in 1993 but, because of financial difficulties, it was not given a release until 2002.