DVD Review: Grindhouse Trailer Classics 3

It’s time for bad movie fans rejoice, as the third instalment of the Grindhouse Trailer Classics series presents us with a collection of previews from 55 of the dodgiest cinematic ventures ever committed to celluloid. These little known horrors range from downright sleazy looks at the sexploitation genre to some of the most deranged cinematic slashers. If that’s not your thing, this wonderfully warped collection also features the downright weird – I’m talking ‘a group of highly intelligent dogs robbing a bank weird’ in the strangely amusing The Doberman Gang.

Grindhouse Trailer Classics 3 is the perfect DVD for connoisseurs of bad cinema or a great a start to a bad movie night. It’s also a nice collection for those that may not have been able to experience these delights first hand when they were originally released in the 1970s and 1980s. The trailers themselves are well selected, although some are slightly more entertaining than others.

The collection gives us some glimpses into the late night horror genre in the likes of Invasion of the Flesh Hunters, where John Saxon (who makes a couple of appearances in this) where a ‘satanic force turns unsuspecting victims into rabid hungry flesh hunters’ and literally everything is shot at, explodes or is eaten (if not all three). This is continued with It Came Without Warning where Jack Palance and Martin Landau fight of a flying blob of jelly that likes to suck people’s faces off (yes, really).

There’s an odd, outdated charm about these trailers from the sleazy narration (which I’m sure is the same bloke 80% of the time) growling such lines as ‘Sweden, where topless bands belt out the throbbing rhythms of a turned on generation’ in Sweden: Heaven and Hell, and there was me simply thinking it was the home of ABBA and Ikea. The sleaze continues with a look at The Swedish Wife Exchange Club and Swedish Fly Girls, where the narrator tells us ‘Critics and Reviewers rate this as the best film to come from Copenhagen’ – I had no idea the Scandinavian film industry was in such a bad state! These soft-core trailers can get slightly tiresome, as there’s a fair few.

There’s more than a hint of racism in both Soul Soliders, where a group of black stereotypes join the fight in the American Civil War, and the Pam Grier lead, Black Mama-White Mama. There’s also trailers for several sexist ‘strong women’ flicks like Superchick, which tells us of an air stewardess who can fight crime and fix you a nice drink at the same time or Police Women where ‘you’ll be taken on a rollercoaster ride of hard hitting violets and soft curves…’.

Although slightly offensive to a sensitive audience today, these are outdated trailers that are perfect for a laugh. I was even left with a small list of films that I wanted to see after watching this collection – mainly the wonderfully titled, The Lady In a Car With Glasses and a Gun (featuring no less than the great Oliver Reed). Despite a couple of less entertaining trailers in this collection, it’s generally a very fun and often highly amusing look at Grindhouse cinema.

Rating: 3/5