Die Screaming, Marianne (1971)

I recently started looking at the work of British rough trade director Pete Walker, an individual who during the 1970’s tried to adapt the British horror/thriller genre to be more modern, picking up current issues and giving them a funky twist. Die Screaming, Marianne released back in 1971 was the movie that really put the director on the map, with 

its twisted tale of bizarre practices, betrayal, incest, deception, and mental illness.

Read more: http://cinemaroll.com/horror/die-screaming-marianne-1971/#ixzz1a1auXxlB

The Comeback (1978)

From acclaimed and heavily criticised British director Pete Walker came the 1978 movie The Comeback, a story in which a pop star plans to make a return to the industry after a bad relationship goes wrong. Starring a real life pop star Jack Jones who stars as Nick Cooper, the story to some level was close to home as Jones himself was planning a comeback album, of course his story was far different to Nick Coopers.

British horror of this era was somewhat tale in comparison to American and European horror, Pete Walker single handily changed this making British horror far more extreme, while this would now be welcomed it almost became the death nail for British horror with most of Walkers films becoming either heavily censored or completely banned like the movie Frightmare. The Comeback is one of Walker’s best received movies, but also the movie seen least of all of the directors work.

Read more: http://cinemaroll.com/horror/the-comeback-1978/#ixzz1a1aLhutG

The L-shaped Room (1962)

Having searched for many days for accommodation, Jane Fossett (Leslie Caron) arrives in the wrong end of town, and to the residence of landlady Doris (Avis Bunnage). An “Alien” in London, Jane comes from France and finds herself all alone, and with a dark secret. It’s 1962 and single women do not find themselves pregnant out of wedlock, well those that do are hidden away from the world. In Doris’ lodging house however in the misery of her 

predicament she finds herself in a new family, but the dramas are far from over.

Read more: http://cinemaroll.com/cinemarolling/the-l-shaped-room-1962/#ixzz1Zw7NNbd1

Grindhouse Trailer Classics

Who would have thought that trailers for movies could become as popular as the real thing? But this is exactly what has happened with Nucleus Films release Grindhouse Trailer Classics. Taking a leaf out of US DVD releases 42^nd Street Forever, a series of DVD’s that bought the power of cult, low budget and niche movie trailers into the homes of viewers, themselves inspired by Quentin Tarentino’s Grindhouse movie.

 

Watching trailers for movies from yesteryear may seem like a strangething to do, but if you’re a fan of classic movies of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s that were far from blockbusters like myself, two hours of Trailer viewing will be right up your street. Grindhouse Trailer Classics opens a sort of vortex to the past, a glimpse at life before the dawn of the multiplex cinemas of Warner, Venue, or Cineworld.

 

The success of this DVD was so unexpected that Nucleus films headed up by film historian Marc Morris and movie maker Jake West are about to release a second volume of this compilation series.

 

To be honest with you, there is not much you can say about a two hour DVD of trailers, however I can tell you about some of the trailers. The combination of trailers varies from horror movies, thriller, soft porn classics, and sex comedies.

 

Switchblade Sisters sees a gang of teenage girls who have a thirst for blood, and a love for sharp knives. Eyeball offers a red raincoat wearing serial killer as they select a series of victims, “No Suspense has ever gone this far” tells the narrator of the trailer. Wes Craven’s Last House On The Left trailer features footage actually edited out of the UK DVD release for the movie, making this a must for fans of the movie. Italian horror movies are well represented with trailers for Torso, Autopsy, Zombie AKA Zombie Flesh Eaters, and Doctor Butcher MD AKA Zombie Holocaust. How about Deadly Weapons a movie about a female assassin who kills her targets by smothering them with her enormous breasts. They Call Her One Eye features Christina Lindberg in the toned down version of this thriller/porn movie that inspired the Daryl Hannah character in Kill Bill. The Thing With Two heads sees the great Ray Milland near the end of his acting days as a head transplant patient whose head has been attached to the body of a black man who gets to keep his head too, the two headed man has a further issue because Ray Milland’s character is a racist. Pete Walker’s House Of The Whipcord offers British involvement to the piece and looks far sleazier than the reality. Fans of the Blaxploitation era will be treated to Truck Turner starring Isaac Hayes best known now as the voice of Chef from South Park, and Pam Grier movies Coffy, and The Big Doll House.  While more modern movies are featured with the appearance of Death Ship and The Perils Of Gwendoline.

 

Among the 55 trailers featured are some trailers never before seen in the UK. Granted watching trailers might not seem like that much fun, but believe me if you have a good sense of humour and a thirst for movie trivia this DVD will keep you amused for weeks.

 

 

Special Features

 

Bump And Grind – A 17 minute documentary presented by low budget horror actress Emily Booth gives you a look and a taste of the effect these low budget movies had on audiences. In between clips for trailers like Wham Bam Thank You Spaceman, Emily tells the story of Grindhouse trailers from their initial conception to their demise at the dawn of the 1980’s after the birth of videotape allowed cinemagoers the opportunity to see these weird movies in the comfort of your own home, rather than in semen stained seats, with audiences that were less than controlled. The documentary is based on the book Nightmare USA by cult movie novelist Stephen Thrower.

 

A series of posters are gathered together for you to get the unique feel of a bygone age, far from the modern politically correct age we now live in the posters could be every bit as shocking as the movies they publicise.

 

Finally there is a list of other movies from Nucleus a trailer for each one is featured the trailers include Between Your Legs, The Ugliest Woman In The World, Gwendoline, Fausto 5.0, London Voodoo, and Death Ship.