Eagerly delivering another assortment of drive-in intermissions, fast-food snipes, commercial ads, and loads of amazing film trailers, this direct follow-up to THE AGFA HORROR TRAILER SHOW from 2021 quickly establishes another high-energy party landscape, and as anyone familiar with AGFA’s previous Mystery Mixtapes, this is much more than a collection of just coming attractions. Moving at lightning-fast intensity, this is without a doubt AGFA’s most heavily stylized effort, which is given an extra jolt of adrenalin (“There’s something special in the air. Something magical. Can you feel it? Magic… everywhere!”) by way of some ingenious – and very dynamic – cutting. Weaving together the usual showtime countdowns (“Show Starts in 3 minutes!”) alongside commercials for Lee designer jeans, Activision video games, and some of the most infamous PSAs from the ’Eighties (“This stuff is crack. The most addictive form of cocaine.”), this extraordinary tapestry of pop culture obsession brilliantly succeeds in attaining a terrific audiovisual harmony, which is every bit as eye-popping and ear-shattering as you might expect.
Fascinating to watch, the integration of the film trailers is also exceptional whose excesses are frequently interwoven into the nostalgically dated proceedings (the complete trailers are also present elsewhere on the disc) beginning with Jamie Luk’s ROBOTRIX (1991), an insane Hong Kong take on ROBOCOP (1987), which is immediately followed by the family-friendly C.H.O.M.P.S. (“A bite-sized, motorized, transistorized, computerized, bundle of teeth!”, 1979) about a mechanical guard dog. Of course, being an ’Eighties-centric compilation, it’s not surprising to see Penelope Spheeris’ THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE METAL YEARS (1988) get some love, which nicely segues into another decibel shattering preview for The Shaw Brothers’ SEX BEYOND THE GRAVE (1984), one of the studio’s many wild horror outings from the period. Quickly switching gears yet again, Peter Jackson’s one-of-a-kind MEET THE FEEBLES (“The adult puppet movie with something to offend everyone!”, 1989) is up next, while Gregg Araki’s rather polarizing ’Nineties indie THE DOOM GENERATION (1995) perfectly summarizes AGFA’s creatively courageous aesthetic in their wild comingling of art and trash.
Bolstered by additional overly-keen big budget commercials for the likes of General Electric (which features an entire slew of new wave styled characters from Gary Numan’s worst fucking nightmare), Dr. Pepper (“Out of the ordinary. Like you.”) and Worlds of Wonder’s Lazer Tag, other no less significant trailers include a highly-condensed – and far-better – preview for the Showtime stinker THE BIRDS II: LANDS END (1994), Frank Henenlotter’s BRAIN DAMAGE (“It will turn you inside out!”, 1988), another condensed cut of Sun Classics’ THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTERS (1975), the Jerry Lewis misfire SLAPSTICK OF ANOTHER KIND (1982), the Something Weird Video obscurity THE SINS OF RACHEL (“The oldest, newest, dirtiest, cleanest, detective story you’ve seen in years!”, 1972), MEATBALLS 4: TO THE RESCUE (1992), which features Corey Feldman and Jack (ERASERHEAD) Nance (!), Marcelo Epstein’s breakdancing extravaganza BODY ROCK (1984) with Lorenzo Lamas, the ludicrously-titled Hong Kong action film TOUGH BEAUTY AND THE SLOPPY SLOP (1995), Hal Needham’s endearingly popular RAD (1986), Adrian Lyne’s superb directorial debut FOXES (1980), more ’Eighties nostalgia with Fritz Kiersch’s TUFF TURF (1985), a couple of Manson family previews, Tina Hirsch’s MUNCHIES (“They’re Cute. They’re Cuddly. They’re Out For Blood.”, 1987), and a very amusing trailer for Jackie Kong’s BLOOD DINER (1987) hosted by the world famous “Gore-Met, Phil A. Mignon.” Reworked with the utmost style, this is just a smattering of delights which await viewers in this jumble of fast-moving clips, making this one of AGFA’s most prestigious and enjoyable trailer compilations yet.
Preserved from a “newly struck 35mm theatrical print of the show,” all of the inherent flaws in the various trailers and clips include the usual speckles of dirt and debris, and some occasional faded colour, but everything still looks nicely detailed and very strong. Adding plenty of aural intensity, the DTS HD 2.0 mono audio also sounds terrific, even with all the customary pops and crackles. Special features begin with an audio commentary from the entire team at AGFA who enthusiastically discuss these “incredible time capsules” alongside their recollections of first seeing these films via cable-TV, film festivals, and videocassette. They also go into great detail on how everything was pieced together, their many interesting editing choices, and why many of the trailers have been abbreviated. Like the show itself, this is briskly-paced listen with everyone having lots to say about the production and the films themselves. Additional special features include Rated R (8m35s), another quick-fire mix of TV-spot title cards from a wide variety of films, the hallucinogenic The Day The Earth Got Free Richard Pryor’s Photos (3m26s), and the entirely bizarre Just When You Thought It Was Safe (3m30s), ensure that THE CULT OF AGFA TRAILER SHOW is yet another consistently enjoyable must-have disc! Order it from Vinegar Syndrome.
