42nd Street Forever, Volume 3: Exploitation Explosion

"Volume 3: Exploitation Explosion" is my favorite DVD in the 42nd Street Forever series. As someone who loves trailers for drive- in/grindhouse movies, volume three offers a well balanced selection. There are trailers for action films, martial arts movies, sex comedies, docudramas, thrillers, and (my favorite genre) horror films. The quality of the trailers is mostly excellent, and the entire disk is a great time. It is also an educational experience. I watched the Carrie-with-snakes film Jennifer because I loved the trailer on this disk! I even bought (albeit cheaply) King Frat because of the commentary track on this disk! After re-watching this disk, the film I most want to see for the first time is Phase IV, which has a hypnotic trailer. The film I most want to re-watch is, yes, The Devil Times Five!

In addition, I love the DVD's commentary track by Fangoria editor Michael Gingold, Shock Cinema writer Chris Poggiali, and AV Maniacs editor Edwin Samuelson. These guys are both entertaining to listen to and know their schlock. My eyes are not sharp enough to catch Samuel Fuller as the villain in the trailer for The Young Nurses. Thankfully, these guys point him out (as well as every Dick Miller appearance on the disk). The most fascinating comments are for: Convoy, Demonoid, King Frat, and The Life and Times of Xavier Hollander. I never knew that some theaters showing Demonoid gave out diplomas to the surviving members of the audience! I have a Holy Grail!

All of the disks in Synapse's 42nd Street Forever series are worth watching, but I find Volume 3 the most fun.

Not long ago (mere weeks ago, in fact), I found on YouTube a New York Public Access show, THE CINEFILES, wherein four New Yorkers- Edwin Samuelson, Eric Cohen, Jeff Gallashaw, and Michael Foltz- THOROUGHLY review movies Old and New. I've become addicted to the show to the extent that I'd like to suggest to them that they release their entire series on DVD. Anyone who's a die-hard movie fan can't miss this show- it's absolutely must-see. Even when I don't agree with them, their comments and their arguments for or against a particular film are compelling entertainment. THE CINEFILES are, to a man, the most ENTERTAINING critics I've ever seen. (And I would also suggest that the shows be transferred to DVD just as they are, with no edits to correct errors: these are, after all, Public Access shows and one of the things that I learned over the years is that ANYTHING can happen on a PA show...) I mention THE CINEFILES because Mr. Samuelson is one of the three narrators on the 42nd STREET FOREVER, V.3 commentary. It's always interesting to revisit some of these trailers, but far more fun to hear what the commentators have to say about them. The one gripe I have, having first been exposed to the in-depth insights of THE CINEFILES, is that there simply isn't enough TIME for the commentators to comment at length on the trailers. Maybe it'd be a good idea to have the commentators, a la THE CINEFILES, sit around a table and comment at length after each trailer is shown.