This edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers is a sentimental  and sad occasion for me.  I’m a Scorpio (and, seriously, who is shocked to hear that, right?).  What that means is that I’ve got a birthday coming up this Tuesday.  I’ll be turning 25.  I’ll be a quarter of a century old.  So, this will be my last installment of this series as a young woman.  Next weekend, when I post the next installment, I’ll be an adult.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really think about this until I’d already selected my trailers for this installment.  So, I wish I could say that there’s some sort of deep meaning behind why I picked any of these posts.  But there’s not, with the exception of I Drink Your Blood.  And my selection of I Drink Your Blood has less to do with my birthday and more with the fact that it’s the 17th greatest movie ever made.

Anyway, let’s get to the trailers and try not to think about the fact that I’m getting old…

1) Food of the Gods

Two things I love about the trailer: the pompous opening 40 seconds (I loved it when Exploitation mocks the Mainstream through imitation) and the presence of Marjoe “Bad, not evil” Gortner.

2) Tintorera

This is the Mexican version of Jaws.  Not only was it directed by the infamous Rene Cardona, Jr. but it stars the original HUGO STIGLITZ! 

3) Prisoner of Paradise

Prisoner of Paradise (which I have never seen) is apparently a hardcore war film from the 70s that starred John C. Holmes’s cock.  The star does not appear in this trailer.  Instead, we get things blowing up followed by something else blowing up which is followed up by something — wait for it — blowing up.  And then, suddenly, we’re on the beach.

4) Machine Gun McCain

Speaking of blowing things up…Machine Gun McCain is one of the many Italian crime thrillers that came out in the late 60s.  They were not only far more violent than American thrillers but usually a lot more interesting too.  Earlier on Saturday, I bought this movie on DVD.  The guy working the register looked at it and said, “I’d watch this first because Britt Ekland’s in it.” 

5) Hell’s Bloody Devils

While the Italians were exploiting the Mafia, Americans were exploiting motorcycle gangs.  Hell’s Bloody Devils is a typical example with a typically 1970 political subtext.  It was directed by Al Adamson who, years later, was apparently murdered and buried in cement.

6) I Drink Your Blood

I Drink Your Blood was released on a double bill with an old black-and-white zombie films called I Eat Your Skin.  All the  scenes in the trailer below are from I Drink Your Blood.  I love the trailer because it is just classic grindhouse.  However, I Drink Your Blood is also one of the best films ever made.  The 18th best, to tell the truth.  Seriously.