Search - 42nd Street Forever, Vol. 1 on DVD

A cornucopia of sleaze...

cookieman108 | Inside the jar... | 02/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"During the golden age of films, prior to television, massive, palatial, ornately decorated theaters were constructed as going to the movies was often an event. After television came about, many of these theaters (which subsequently suffered from neglect as audiences dwindled), particularly those in the inner cities, began catering to different audiences, becoming what was known as grindhouse theaters, with those located on New York's 42nd Street probably being the most relatable examples. Grindhouses would specialize in showing the stuff you probably wouldn't take your mother to see, as the films were often extremely graphic, sleazy, contemptible, and schlocky in nature from both foreign and domestic distributors...blaxploitaion, sexploitation (hard and soft core), hixploitation, nunsploitation, violent chop socky features, Japanese monster films, European horror sleaze, gore, giallo (Italian thrillers), `mondo' style films, nudie cuties...these were many of the various genres popular prior to the subsequent disappearance of the grindhouse venues by the mid to late 1980s, as the areas these theaters were located in were populated by what was generally considered the underbelly of society, and became easy targets as city leaders sought to garner favor with their constituents by sweeping clean the `scum', so to speak...but I digress...

In this DVD release of 42nd Street Forever Volume 1, Synapse Films provides an excellent representation of the diversity of the material popular over the years in these palaces of sleaze, in the form of 47 trailers, which were often better, by the way, than the actual features. Here's a listing of the trailers you get for the price of admission;

The Undertaker and His Pals (1966)
The Flesh and Blood Show (1972)
Women and Bloody Terror (1969)/Night of Bloody Horror (1969)
Blood Spatter Bride (1972)/I Dismember Mama (1974)
Corruption (1967)
The Butcher of Binbrook aka Graveyard of Horror (1971)
Ginger (1971)
Italian Stallone (1970), a porno flick featuring a young Sylvester Stallone!
Creampuffs (1981)
The 3 Dimensions of Greta (1972)
Hard Candy (1976)
The Centerfold Girls (1974)
Panorama Blue (1974)
Wicked Wicked (1973)
Teenage Mother (1967)
Charlie and the Hooker (1976)
Mantango (1963)
The Green Slime (1968)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
The Crippled Master (1981)
Werewolves on Wheels (1971)
The Pink Angels (1971)
The Depraved (1974)
They Call Her One Eye (1974)
Maid in Sweden (1971)
Behind Covenant Walls (1977)
Secret Africa (1969)
Shocking Asia (1974)
Chappaqua (1966)
Welcome Home, Brother Charles (1975)
The Legend of N***er Charlie (1972)
Boss N***er (1975)
The Bullet Machine (1975)
Death Drive (1977)
The Raiders of Atlantis (1983)
Star Crash (1979)
Confessions of a Summer Camp Counselor (1977)
Sunset Cove (1978)
Super Fuzz (1980)
Death Will Have Your Eyes (1974)
Death Has Blue Eyes (1976)
A Black Veil for Lisa (1968)
Ironmaster (1983)
The Rape of the Sabines (1962)
The Deadly Spawn (1983)
Devil's Nightmare (1971)

There's just over two hours of material on this DVD, presented in 1.78:1 letterboxed, enhanced for 16X9 TVs, with obviously formatted from different aspect ratios. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. Both the picture and audio quality vary from trailer to trailer, but most are quite good.

Cookieman108
"

For Flipped-Out Film Fanatics

reluctantpopstar | Hollywood, CA | 11/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you were too young to sit in a grindhouse movie theatre in Times Square back-in-the-day, (or too sensible), then you can recapture some of the seedy glory of times (square) gone by with this DVD in your own living room, with a much lower likelihood of a rat biting you or a drug addict puking on you.

You get a wide variety of trailers here in a wide variety of clas-SICK genres, from stomach-churning horror shows, to lead-blastin' action flix, to soft porn epics (no chillen, please! Adults only!) Great for throwing on at a party, as long as you have a bunch of sick individuals just like yourself partying down with you.

I could go into detail, mentioning all the great trailers like "They Call Her One Eye" and Fred Williamson's western "Boss N****r" But take it from me, this is a wild ride into a long-gone cinema wonderland.

There was a previous DVD with this title by Ban One Productions. That company has also assembled this DVD, but never fear if you have that earlier disc. There are only about 2-3 repeats on the whole show, so it's worth buying. Get it!"

Grindhouse Trailers

Bennet Pomerantz | Seabrook, Maryland | 04/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I was in high school, I discovered the Drive In cinema and the triple features. In the late 70's, I understood and watched many of the B rated trash and grindhouse film on the drive in screen. In those days, there were a large amount of trailers between the films. Sometimes watching the trailers were better than the movie itself.

It's 25 years later from my drive in days, I got a copy of this DVD. I watched this dvd with an open mind.

As I watched, memories of old flashed thru my mind. The trailers of many films I had seen ran on my DVD screen. Many bad as well as good film's trailer showcased the films of the 70's and its low budget drive in wonders. One would only hope some of these films would make it to DVD, so i could enjoy these trahy offerings again.

If you are looking for trailers from great cinema masterpieces, DONT GET THIS! if you are looking for Disney or family movie trailers, DONT GET THIS!

However If you want the previews of badly dubbed karate films (the Crippled Master), Schock Science Fiction films (The Green Slime,The Raider of Atlantis), Documentaries (Secret Africa, Shocking asia), Motorcycle Movies (The Pink Angels,Werewolves on Wheels) and misdubbed europian sex comedies (Charlie and the Hooker,Black Veil for Lisa)....THIS ONE'S FIOR YOU!

So if you are a child of the 60's or the 70's, you may remember some of these films from the trailers. If You are fan of film, you may enjoy this video trip down B rated memory lane of grindhouse cinema.

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD"

Crank Up The Grind - it`s a lapdance for your mind...

4-Legged Defender | ATL. GA. | 08/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is nothing one can add to Cookieman`s review listed here - all I can say is, if you were/are a fan of late 60`s to late 70`s grindhouse films, there is no better way to spend 2 hours of your life with your clothes on. Unfortunately, each sucessive volume in this series gets weaker, but the first two are essential guilty pleasures to revel in. Amen."