Hi there! As some of you may have noticed, I took a week off from my favorite feature, Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers. I did this in observance of the 4th of July but now that the USA has celebrated yet another birthday, it’s time to get back to the things that really matter!
Our latest installment features Wings Hauser, a psychotic housekeeper, rabid grannies, and even a little dancing. Enjoy!
1) Nightmare At Noon (1988)
This almost ludicrously violent trailer has a slight Crazies feel to it, no?
2) Deadly Force (1983)
After that last trailer, I’m in the mood for some more Wings Hauser. Here he is in yet another violent trailer, this one for Deadly Force. I want to see this film just to find out what type of person keeps a bathtub and a grand piano in the same room.
3) The Housekeeper (1986)
She cooks. She cleans. She kills. And really, judging from the trailer, who can blame her?
4) The Ghost Dance (1980)
When you disturb the dead, you might pay the price. Like the best movies, this trailer comes with a message.
5) Rooftops (1989)
I like this one because it features dancing and … well, that’s about it.
Our first trailer comes to us from director George A. Romero. The monkey from this trailer also made an appearance in Toy Story 3.
2) Survival Run (1979)
As a film, Survival Run looks pretty bad but I think this trailer actually provides a public service. Seriously, stay out of the desert. Between the radiation mutants and the drug smugglers, there’s nothing good to be found out there.
3) Streets (1990)
I can imagine the tag line for a rerelease of this film — “Before Christina Applegate was keeping it Up All Night, she was keeping it up on the Streets!” I have to give credit for this discovery to the newest addition to TSL, the Trash Film Guru. Check out his review here.
4) Street Asylum (1990)
Continuing the theme of the streets, here’s another film about urban crime. This one stars Wings Hauser and G. Gordon Liddy.
5) Fatal Skies (1990)
Things aren’t much safer in the skies. This film, oddly enough, apparently star Timothy Leary.
6) The Freeway Maniac (1988)
Obviously, he’s been spending too much time on Central Expressway during rush hour. (Yes, that’s a Dallas-centric comment.)
I just had to start out with this because it represents everything that I love about these old school exploitation trailers. It’s just so shameless and cheerful about it all. This film is from Herschell Gordon Lewis and it features ESP, a really kinda scary witch, and a random LSD trip. The title of this film also inspired the name of one of my favorite companies, Something Weird Video. (I make it a point to buy something from Something Weird every chance I get. My most recent Something Weird video is a film from the 60s called Sinderella and the Golden Bra. Haven’t gotten a chance to watch it yet but with a title like that, how could it be bad?)
This is actually a really, really bad movie and I think the trailer goes on for a bit too long but it does have a few vaguely effective moments — i.e., when Dennis Christopher stares at the camera with half of his face painted. Plus, you can catch a young Mickey Rourke acting a lot like Michael Madsen.
3) Monster Shark (1984)
Now you may think that since this Italian film was directed by Lamberto Bava (credited here as John Old, Jr. because his father, Mario, was occasionally credited as John Old, Sr.) and has the word “shark” in the title that it’s yet another rip-off of Jaws. Well, joke’s on you because, as they state repeatedly in the trailer, “It’s not a shark!” Even if you didn’t know this was an Italian film before watching the trailer, it wouldn’t be hard to guess. First off, there’s the dubbing. Then there’s the scene of the film’s main character wandering around aimlessly. (Most Italian horror trailers feature at least one scene of someone just walking around.) And finally, there’s the fact that this is yet another trailer that uses a sped-up version of Goblin’s Beyond The Darkness soundtrack for its background music. While I haven’t seen this film yet, I plan to just to find out who Bob is.
Originally, I was planning on including the trailer for a Ted V. Mikels’ film called The Worm Eaters right here but I reconsidered because, quite frankly, The Worm Eaters is one of the most disgusting, stomach-churning things I’ve ever seen. I’m going to wait until I find five other equally disgusting trailers to feature it with and then I’m going to put them all up under the heading: 6 Trailers To Inspire Vomit. Until then, enjoy a far more pleasant trailer — Van Nuys Blvd. This trailer rhymes! I’m tempted to say that I could have written it but then again, I only write free verse poetry. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Van Nuys Blvd.
However, there was a darker side to Van Nuys Blvd. and here it is: Vice Squad, starring Wings Hauser. Eventually, I’ll review this film but until I do, check out our new friend Trash Film Guru’s review.
6) Crosstalk (1982)
We’ll conclude with the only thing scarier than Wings Hauser in Vice Squad — a computer that has not only witnessed a murder but enjoyed it!
This film called Rubber has been on the periphery of my radar for quite some time now. I’ve first heard of it when word trickled out of the After Dark Film Festival in 2010 where it was shown. From what I’ve heard of it the film wasn’t well-received when it was shown at 2010’s Cannes Film Festival. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t seen in a positive light over there. This film seems to be not the usual fare to get the applause and accolades.
Rubber seems to have gotten a more positive response outside of Cannes. This is especially true with the genre festival circuits.
From the looks of the trailer and synopsis of it on wiki I will hazard a guess and say that the tire is alive and looks to go on some sort of killing spree. The scene in the beginning of the trailer reminded me of the short film Treevenge! especially when the tire watched as a pile of rubber tires were being burned.
The film has been called a horror comedy and the trailer definitely gives it a dark comedy look to it. It comes out from Magnet Releases this April Fools Day.
Through the Shattered Lens 