Blu-ray
ad-copy: ‘Think the first one was yummy?
Hope you left room for seconds!’
Following
their stupendous TRAILER TRAUMA
Blu-ray, released earlier this year, Garagehouse Pictures returns with DRIVE-IN MONSTERAMA, an utterly mammoth
3½-hour compilation of 96 horror-themed trailers, many of which have never been
seen anywhere else. Considering the vast
amount of trailer compilations released over the last couple of decades on both
VHS and DVD, it’s really quite amazing just how many rarities the team at Garagehouse
still manage to uncover. Instead of
listing every trailer on this disc, let’s peruse through some of the
highlights.
Compiled
by Garagehouse Pictures’ Harry Guerro and DVD Drive-In’s George Reis, DRIVE-IN MONSTERAMA, opens with a
couple of info spots about the MPAA’s then-new GMRX rating system (“General”,
“Mature”, “Restricted” and the dreaded “X Rating”), as well as “Monsters Do
Have Their Place”, an animated piece highlighting the evils of Pay TV. Right from the get-go, things begin with a
rare double feature spot for George Schenck’s SUPERBEAST (1972) and Hollingsworth Morse’s DAUGHTERS OF SATAN (1972), a pair of Filipino-shot horror pictures. This is immediately followed by Nathan
Juran’s rarely-seen The BOY WHO CRIED
WEREWOLF (1973), which, thankfully, will at long last make its bow on
Blu-ray this July courtesy of Scream Factory.
Javier Aguirre’s DRACULA’S GREAT
LOVE (1972, “The most devastating Dracula in history.”) gets a lengthy,
once impossible-to-see trailer featuring the film’s toned-down ‘clothed’
version, while Vernon Sewell’s The BLOOD
BEAST TERROR (1968) is marketed with considerable hyperbole under its more
garish U.S. title, The VAMPIRE-BEAST CRAVES BLOOD.
Still
unavailable as a proper feature release, a preview for Bud Townsend’s The FOLKS AT RED WOLF INN (1972) also
shows up, which is soon followed by an excellent trailer for Jerry Warren’s – ahem
– not-so-excellent FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND (1980, “Ruthless
science finds no limit, no boundary…”).
Then it’s Hammer time, with a pair of hard-to-see previews for Terence
Fisher’s FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER
FROM HELL (1973) and Brian Clemens’ CAPTAIN
KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER (1972). Gialli also get some solid
representation, with an alternate trailer for Lucio Fulci’s A LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN (1971) under
its U.S. re-title SCHIZOID, while the
U.S. trailer for Emilio P. Miraglia’s The
NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE (1971) also appears, which is then
followed by a rarely-seen AIP trailer for Massimo Dallamano’s DORIAN GRAY (1970).
J.
Lee Thompson’s still-unavailable The
REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD (1975) also appears via a unique and
unforgettable trailer, and although Legend Films neglected to include the
trailer on their own DVD, one for Waris Hussein’s The POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY (1972) turns up here. We’re then treated to Alfred Vohrer’s
late-entry krimi The GORILLA GANG (1968), starring Uschi Glass, and then it’s off to
Canada for Eddy Matalon’s bargain-bin VHS staple, CATHY’S CURSE (1977). Of
course, Jess Franco also gets some love with a very rarely-seen U.S. trailer
for The DEMONS (1972) while François
Legrand’s (a.k.a. Franz Antel) TOWER OF
THE SCREAMING VIRGINS (1968, “Prisoners of sex trapped in a love cage!”)
also appears, and is yet another feature which is still unavailable on disc.
Throughout
this impressive compilation, some trailers are arranged by their analogous themes
or similar titles via “word association”, which leads into numerous “house”
films, including Narcisco Ibáñez Serrador’s The HOUSE THAT SCREAMED (1970) – still conspicuously absent on a
decent domestic DVD or Blu-ray (although it did get released [widescreen, yet] on
former format in 2007 as part of Shout! Factory’s ‘Elvira’s Movie Macabre’
line, paired-up with a full-frame print of “Ernst von Theumer”/Mel Welles’ MANEATER OF HYDRA [1966]) – while
Robert Hartford-Davis’ The SMASHING BIRD
I USED TO KNOW (1969) appears under the much more exploitative title of HELL HOUSE GIRLS (“You can chain-up
only so much passion!”). Despite being a
VHS mainstay, William Fruet’s DEATH
WEEKEND (1976), a Canadian variation of Wes Craven’s LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972), also appears under its AIP retitling
The HOUSE BY THE LAKE, and rather
unbelievably, is STILL unavailable on
disc, as well. Venturing onto various
“blood”-themed films, James Kelly’s The
BEAST IN THE CELLAR (1970) and Piers Haggard’s superlative The BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW (1971), which
were both produced by British studio Tigon, also appear among spots for the
more customary but still very welcome Filipino Blood Island pictures, including
Gerardo De Leon’s and Eddie Romero’s BRIDES
OF BLOOD (1968). Probably the
biggest surprise here is Claude Mulot’s excellent The BLOOD ROSE (1970), which, despite getting a high-quality DVD release
from Mondo Macabro, neglected to include a theatrical trailer, so it’s nice to
finally see the rarely-seen one for Allied Artists’ stateside release.
The
rarities keep right on coming with a pair of Freddie Francis shockers,
including The PSYCHOPATH (1966) – which
still remains unavailable anywhere on disc – and TALES THAT WITNESS MADNESS (1973, “Come face to face with your
fears.”), which never showed up on Olive Films’ domestic Blu-ray release of the
film itself. John Hancock’s LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971) is
yet another title whose magnificent trailer never showed up on Paramount’s DVD
release, while Bert I. Gordon’s NECROMANCY
(1972) starring Orson Welles also puts in an appearance here, as does Bernard
McEveety’s The BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN
(1971), a trailer which also failed to appear on Columbia Tri-Star’s DVD.
Incredibly,
this is only a tiny taster of the vast feast of goodies that awaits viewers within
TRAILER TRAUMA 2: DRIVE-IN MONSTERAMA;
but to top it all off (bonus!), the
disc also comes with an excellent in-depth commentary courtesy of George Reis
and Keith Crocker – director of The
BLOODY APE (1997) and whom, alongside Reis, was the co-editor of The Exploitation Journal – which is filled with all sorts of great
factoids. Mastered in 4K, ALL of the trailers look great, despite
the age of the “various 35mm prints.” The
interior of the Blu-ray case includes a complete list of all 96 trailers, plus
a brief essay by Ian Zapczynski on the allure of trailer compilations. In addition, the disc includes trailers from
Garagehouse Pictures’ first two releases, Paul Kyriazi’s NINJA BUSTERS (1984) and TRAILER
TRAUMA. Order it from Diabolik DVD NOW!
