42ND STREET FOREVER, VOL. 4: COOLED BY REFRIGERATION

U.S.A. | 2009 Featuring Bo Svenson, Lee Marvin Klaus Kinski, Martin Landau Reb Brown, Meg Foster Paul Naschy, Tiffany Bolling, etc. Color | 105 Minutes | Not Rated Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC) Synapse Films

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Also available: 42ND STREET FOREVER VOL. 3 EXPLOITATION EXPLOSION

7     8   10 = Highest Rating   Guest Review by Rod Barnett

In what appears to be a never ending stream of exploitation, horror, science fiction and action trailers, Synapse offers up 42nd Street Forever, Volume 4: Cooled By Refrigeration. In this nearly two hour plunge into preview madness, Don May and company have once again found something for just about every taste... as long as your tastes run to the drive-in/grindhouse fare from roughly the mid 1960s to the early '80s. If that describes you then there's something to put a smile on your face and since we're talking about trailers, there is little chance of becoming bored. These are classics of the art of cinema enticement and there are as many ways of luring in the crowd as there are clips on this disc — 48 to be exact, a veritable buffet of sleazy/cheesy goodness. Sit down and stuff yourself.     This fourth disc in the series easily stands up to its predecessors both in quality and scope. As with the earlier volumes, the trailers are grouped into rough genre clusters moving the viewer smoothly from one type of film to another. For me, though, there's a more enjoyable way to group these clips — there are the films you know about; the ones you've never heard of before; and then there are the movies that you cannot believe exist. While watching these fantastic collections I always find myself making a list of movies I have to track down. The sad fact though is that a lot of the movies represented here are very hard to find.     The disc starts off with a limp-looking Italian-made Godfather rip-off called The Syndicate: A Death in the Family. It appears to be part of the '70s crime genre but the trailer didn't sell me; if the dubbing in this preview is any indicator, humor rather than tension would be the standard reaction. Then we have Kentucky native William Girdler's Combat Cops, which looks like a fun low budget crime movie, but even with Austin Stoker I seriously doubt it's a lost classic on the level of Assault on Precinct 13.     Next are a few science fiction previews, starting with the amazing looking It Came Without Warning. This predates Predator and seems to have the same 'alien on the hunt' plotline, sporting some interesting practical special effects. The film looks like it would be well worth seeing and has one hell of a cast: Jack Palance, Martin Landau, Cameron Mitchell and an early screen role for David Caruso! Cornel Wilde's apocalyptic sci-fi film No Blade of Grass has a lot of promise and I've heard positive things about it for years, but it is very difficult to find. The trailer shown here only makes me want to seek it with more energy. Rounding out this section is the fun preview for Yor, the Hunter from the Future. This is one of my all-time favorite bad movies and the fact that it was made by the great Antonio Margheriti only makes its cheesy awfulness more fun. The film's trailer shows plenty of moments from the more ridiculous sequences; if what you see here makes you smile please join me in hoping for a DVD release of it sometime soon. (I even want the full three and a half hour cut from Italian TV, too!)     The bizarre '70s countercultural tale Simon, King of the Witches marks actor Andrew Prine's debut in this collection but sadly the clip is pretty beat up. Lucio Fulci's excellent giallo The Psychic makes an appearance; this trailer is very well done, focusing on the cool poster art also used for its DVD release. Schizoid looks to be a slasher film with the great Klaus Kinski playing a psychotherapist whose patients are stalked. This looks interesting if for no other reason than Kinski is always fascinating to watch and the idea of him as a therapist is ripe for amusement. Next is the trailer for Tender Flesh (usually titled Welcome To Arrow Beach), a thriller I had never heard of before. Starring Laurence Harvey and the beautiful Meg Foster (quite young here, and nude to boot!), it goes on my 'To Find' list even though I've read a few disparaging critiques.     Shifting into horror movies we have Silent Scream, which I haven't seen in more than 20 years. I'd even forgotten the cast features Cameron Mitchell and Barbara Steele. (It will be hard to revisit since it's not currently out on video.) The clip for New Years Evil makes it look like a fun slasher even if the concept of killing someone at midnight in each U.S. time zone is rather silly. The trailer for the wonderfully subtle Let's Scare Jessica To Death is far too long and mostly spoils all of the best moments that moody film has to offer. The trailer for Mortuary tries to sell it as a supernatural tale but it's actually a slasher — an effective tease for the movie though. Humongous is one of my fond memories from '80s pay cable. Not a good movie if my recollection is clear, but I watched this darkly shot 'disfigured killer on an island' movie so many times I bear it some real affection. The trailer presented on this disc is well put together and I'd really like to see a DVD release. (I may be one of the few.) The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman is the American retitling of the Paul Naschy monster mash-up better known these days as Werewolf Shadow. This is a fun film; the trailer is very exciting even if it is kind of slow motion-happy. The preview for Ulli Lommel's The Boogeyman manages to make a terrible movie look damned interesting, although I'd advise the curious away — tedium is Mr. Lommel's middle name.     From there we move onto a trio of trailers for Charles B. Pierce productions. The Legend of Boggy Creek looks as bad as it actually is with the surprise of a G rating. The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a fact-based period murder story that I've never seen but, since it is fairly well regarded, need to eventually watch. (That Dawn Wells from Gilligan's Island is featured adds a strange touch.) Grayeagle looks to be a stoic tale about a stoic Indian brave (Alex Cord) being stoic in the vicinity of Ben Johnson. I'm not sure it would be all that hot based on the evidence shown here.     Keeping the Indian theme going is Shadow of the Hawk with Chief Dan George and Jan Michael-Vincent. This supernatural film looks very interesting with some amazing effects highlighted in the trailer. Next is the Canadian Deliverance rip-off Rituals starring Hal Holbrook. This might be worth checking out but it has never been released to DVD and is hard to come by.     The next group focuses on mostly awful comedies from the '70s and early '80s. Americathon is an all-star, unfunny collection of skits in search of a script but I had forgotten that Elvis Costello (!) makes an appearance. Marty Feldman's broad, mediocre religious comedy In God We Trust is a fun trailer but only because it features material shot just to pimp the film. I have to admit the bits by Richard Pryor and Andy Kaufman are actually good. Die Laughing is a Robbie Benson vehicle that I remember seeing multiple times on cable in my youth. It's a mistaken identity/chase film but I don't think it's very good even if the sight of Bud Cort as the villain is interesting. Undercover Hero is a scattershot Peter Sellers attempt at humor that looks absolutely dreadful.     From here we hit the violent revenge section and the quality picks up. The Jezebels (AKA Switchblade Sisters) showcases everything about that Jack Hill sleaze classic that makes it great. Breaking Point is Bob Clark's very hard to see vengeance movie starring Bo Svenson and Robert Culp and although it looks like the preview might have given away nearly everything I still really want to find it. Fighting Mad is an early Jonathan Demme film set in Arkansas with Peter Fonda and Scott Glenn. The trailer looks fantastic and exciting with some deadly bow & arrow action from Fonda really amping up the violence. Bonnie's Kids seems to be a combination of domestic hell tale and crime movie with the luscious Tiffany Bolling ending up with a suitcase of mob money and trying to keep it. Is it wrong of me to want to see the film because she and co-star Robin Mattson seem to get naked at lot? Moving Violation is a revenge/chase story with young lovers on the run from corrupt small town cops and an evil Grandpa Walton. (Seriously — the bad guy is veteran character actor Will Geer who played the eldest Walton for years on TV.) Part 2 Walking Tall (yes, that is the title) brings us another appearance by Bo Svenson, moving us into 'redneck' movie territory, with The Klansman completing the slight shift. The sight of Richard Burton playing a southerner fighting against the local KKK leaders makes this the one film out of all these trailers that I'd beg to see. With Lee Marvin as a sheriff, Cameron Mitchell as a Klan member, O.J. Simpson as a black militant and a script co-written by Sam Fuller, it must be worth at least one viewing. Next up is the very good trailer for The Soldier, which showcases all the reasons to see the film. Sadly, as someone who saw it years ago, I can tell you that this short preview contains all the good moments it has to offer, managing to waste Klaus Kinski... an almost unforgivable crime.     If there are disappointments in this collection they are rare. There are few Blaxploitation movies represented, with Monkey Hustle putting its best pimp-tacular foot forward, showcasing a pretty silly role for the great Yaphet Kotto. Blackout looks to be a pretty generic 'big city in panic' movie with a cast that might make it interesting. After all, anything with a slumming Ray Milland and June Allyson has to be worth it to see just how far beneath them the material gets. I had never heard of March or Die, a French Foreign Legion film that looks like a lot of money spent poorly, even if the sight of Gene Hackman and Terence Hill together makes me curious. A more conventional team-up pairs a super-hammy Lee Marvin with Roger "007" Moore in director Peter Hunt's sprawling WWI African adventure Shout at the Devil, complete with exploding German battleship. The Hard Heads is a redneck sheriff vs. bikers movie with Alex Karras as the cop. It looks to be pretty dumb but I'm curious how the biplane figures into everything. And I'm pretty sure the crash of that plane seen in the trailer was not on purpose! Strangely, the entire set ends with previews for a couple of female-centered sports movies that look a bit dull... even if the sight of statuesque Susan Anton in a swimsuit (Goldengirl) is very enticing.

NOTE: The disc also includes trailers for Can I Do It Til I Need Glasses?, The Loves & Times of Scaramouche, Hog Wild, The Chicken Chronicles, Best Friends, Our Winning Season and Coach.

As you'd expect from a trailer compilation, picture and sound quality varies from clip to clip but overall the presentation is very good. Even the worst looking trailers are complete and colorful; sound is mono and as clear as you could want. The presentation is 16x9 enhanced, showing off the different aspect ratios. As an extra Synapse has brought back the three exploitation film fans Michael Gingold, Chris Poggiali and Edwin Samuelson to record a commentary track. As on their track for Volume 3, they present a wealth of information about nearly ever single trailer on the disc and even manage to wedge in some good jokes and info about films only tangentially related to what we see. Their behind-the-scenes tales of how some things got made and how others got altered in production are always fascinating. It was amazing to hear about Gene Hackman's repeated failed stabs at film directing as well as the on-location romantic shenanigans of Lee Marvin and Richard Burton; factoids about the huge budget of Shout at the Devil are quite eye-opening. Also on hand is a reel of vintage TV spots, for Blackout, Jackson County Jail, Superchick, Thunder & Lightning and The Junkman.     Altogether this is yet another home run from Synapse and I will simply repeat my usual hope that the series continues. These DVDs are a treasure trove for trash film nuts. 2/03/09

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