The Best of Sex and Violence

THE BEST OF SEX AND VIOLENCE is a rather mistitled trailer compilation. The trailers are cobbled together with nothing in common; some don't even feature sex or violence! They are pretty memorable, though, and it's great to see them all on one tape. But John Carradine was a mistake. His dialogue is embarrassing and stupid; how did he feel doing this? Then again, how could he have any shame? Over 3/4 of his movies are pieces of garbage! I recommend BEST OF to those looking for a nice sampler of psychotronic titles to seek out, but nothing more.

It's not really any thanks to Mr Dixon that this is such fun. The John Carradine links are at best vaguely amusing and at worst, inaudible or embarrassing. It is astonishing towards the end when even sons David and Keith are somehow talked into appearing, but dad does say something to the effect that have they no work to do to which there is a mumbled reply suggesting that maybe not after this! So embarrassing for the Carradines and just a few blaxploitation fight scenes too many, that seem not even to come under the overall title, but still the sordid 70s product shines through! Particularly good to see the 'I Spit On Your Grave' trail and an interesting one for 'Tourist Trap' and a film called, 'Single Girls', which was new to me and had the line; (whether from the film or just the trailer) 'If we can't get a man easy, then we get him hard'. the overlong blaxploitation segment starts well with, 'Dolemite' and 'Human Tornado' both spoken over by the man himself. All in all an interesting document and a super snapshot of a unique period of cinema history.

Ageing horror icon John Carradine hosts a compilation of twenty-eight trailers for a variety of weird and wonderful exploitation movies, ranging from low budget biker flick to sexy fairytale, from grindhouse horror to blaxploitation.

What makes The Best of Sex and Violence a success is the range and obscurity of the titles covered. I consider myself well-versed in trashy B-movies, but there were plenty of titles here that I hadn't seen, and even a few that were totally unknown to me.

After entertaining trailers for female biker movie Bury Me An Angel, crazy heist caper The Doberman Gang (in which dogs are trained to rob banks), and the very strange Tunnel Vision, Carradine gets into sexy mode for The Sin of Adam and Eve (which looks worth a watch for the very lovely and often naked actress known only as Kandy), erotic versions of Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella, a film called Fairytales (that is definitely for adults), Emanuelle Around The World, starring Laura Gemser, and Tanya's Island, in which Vanity gets raunchy with an ape!

After all of that T&A, it's onto the violence: I Spit On Your Grave, Tourist Trap, The Boogeyman, and Zombie, all of which I expect most avid horror fans will have seen.

The next handful of trailers are a mixed bag: The Single Girls (which I've seen and didn't like), The Working Girls, The Manhandlers, Dr Minx, Truck Stop Women, The Twilight People (my favourite trailer of the whole lot-it looks absolutely insane), Beyond Atlantis, The Devil's Wedding Night (another that I've seen, a so-so piece of Euro-sleaze), Sweet Sugar (which looks like trashy fun), Terminal Island (a forerunner of Ray Liotta movie No Escape), and Ebony, Ivory and Jade.

The remainder of The Best of Sex and Violence is devoted to blaxploitation: Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde, Dolemite, The Human Tornado (I got a dong as big as King Kong), and Disco Godfather.

Between each trailer, Carradine cracks a few lame quips, and is joined at the end by his sons, David and Keith, who look distinctly uncomfortable about being involved.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for all of the hilarious hyperbolic voiceovers (example: Flashing fists of fury strike like vipers of vengeance!).

I've never seen so much 70s exploitation, sex, humor, and violence in one film! This one has it all I recommend it to all fans of exploitation cinema.

Best of Sex and Violence, The (1981)

** (out of 4)

John Carradine hosts this documentary that shows trailers to countless horror, exploitation, sexploitation and blaxploitation pictures from the 60s to the late 70s. I'm sure when this film was originally released it was a great guide for fans of the genres to see pictures and then try to rent them at their local stores. I'm sure store owners would love having a copy of this because if people were willing to rent this then more than likely they were willing to come back for the films featured here. Many people love watching trailers but I'm not one of them yet I enjoyed this video because of Carradine. I was expecting just random jokes and discussion but that wasn't the case because everything Carradine says matches up to watch we're actually seeing. If we see a trailer for THE DOBERMAN GANG he will make a joke or comment on that film. There's a section on sexploitation that shows trailers for Cinderella (1977) and EMANUELLE AROUND THE WORLD and Carradine mentions that these sex pictures are great for certain things because when he was a kid he only had the Sears Catalog. The screenwriters also allow Carradine time to joke about his own life including some of the films he's made as well as a very funny joke about his old buddy Errol Flynn and another joke about Cecil B. DeMille. What really shocked me as well is how energized Carradine is. He was certainly just picking up a paycheck but that doesn't keep him from going all out and delivers a fun little performance. He also manages to show off his comic timing and he actually makes the majority of the jokes work. One of the best moments happens towards the end when his sons David and Keith make a cameo appearance and joke with their dad about borrowing the car and money. This little sequence is quite a priceless moment. It's also worth noting that the majority of the prints shown look horrible and it's funny to think that before DVD this is how fans had to view these films. Other trailers include: THE SIN OF ADAM AND EVE, THE BOOGEYMAN, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, ZOMBIE, BEYOND ATLANTIS, THE TWILIGHT PEOPLE, DR. MIX, DR. BLACK MR HYDE, SHE DEVILS IN CHAINS and countless others.