DRIVE-IN DELIRIUM: WITH A VENGEANCE (2019) ***

Drive-In Delirium:  With a Vengeance is the fifth in the series of trailer compilations from Umbrella Entertainment.  The focus this time is on the action genre, although there are more than a few horror, sci-fi, and exploitation trailers sprinkled about.  While it still packs plenty of bang for your buck, I have to say it is my least favorite in the series so far.

Things kick off with a run of ‘70s Blaxploitation trailers (Shaft, Super Fly, Hammer) before branching off into trailers for the Dirty Harry and French Connection series.  Icons like Steve McQueen (Bullitt. Le Mans, The Getaway), Michael Caine (Get Carter, The Eagle Has Landed, The Italian Job), and Sylvester Stallone (Cobra and Lock Up) are well-represented.  I also enjoyed the trailers that were narrated by their directors (Sam Fuller’s Underworld, U.S.A. and Burt Reynolds’ Gator), a trend that should make a comeback.

After a short intermission that includes commercials for Kool-Aid (starring The Monkees) and KISS dolls, the second half begins with trailers for ‘60s adventures (Sword of Sherwood Forest, The Colossus of Rhodes, The Pirates of Blood River).  From there we get a taste of pulpy actioners (The Vengeance of She, The Million Eyes of Su-Muru, The Castle of Fu Manchu), Ninja flicks (Kill and Kill Again, Enter the Ninja, and Revenge of the Ninja), and a lot of Spaghetti westerns (including The Dollars Trilogy, a couple of Django movies, and Navajo Joe).  Finally, the collection concludes with a long run of Sci-Fi movies from the ‘70s (The Omega Man, The People That Time Forgot, Time After Time) and ‘80s (Star Trek 2:  The Wrath of Khan, Dune, The Last Starfighter).

Just because I can’t quite rank this collection as high as some of the other installments in the Drive-In Delirium series, don’t think that there aren’t some great trailers here because there are some truly memorable ones.  It’s just that the valleys are more prevalent than the peaks.  I mean at nearly six-and-a-half hours, it’s a given the overall quality would be uneven.  Sure, many of the films featured probably aren’t considered your typical drive-in fare (Serpico, The Long Good Friday, Best Seller), but there are still enough sleazy thrills (Savage Streets, Naked Vengeance, Tenement) here to justify the title.