DUSK TO DAWN DRIVE-IN TRASH-O-RAMA SHOW VOL. 4 (1997) ***

This is the fourth collection of exploitation, grindhouse, and drive-in trailers from the purveyors of filth at Something Weird.  It is another enjoyable compilation that is consistently entertaining for fans of trailer compilations (like me).  Though some of the trailers this time around are a little on the tame side, the scads of nudity in The Devil’s Wedding Night preview almost singlehandedly makes up for it. 

Things kick off with a trailer for an obscure Blaxploitation flick called Blackjack starring William Smith and Tony Burton, followed by The Big Bust-Out (“Machine Gun Babes Mixing Death with Desire!”), and the hilarious trailer for the “Orgy of the Living Dead” marathon that features a man in a straitjacket who has just gone insane from watching Revenge of the Living Dead, Curse of the Living Dead, and Fangs of the Living Dead.  From there, we get trailers for Three Tough Guys, The Screaming Tiger, The Devil’s Wedding Night, Stacey!, Blood and Lace, Cut-Throats Nine (which has a “Terror Mask” gimmick), The Road Hustlers, Out of It, Zeta One, The Grasshopper, Naked Evil, The Strawberry Statement, Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster, Don’t Make Waves, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, Shaft in Africa (“The Biggest Shaft of All!”), Humanoids from the Deep, She-Devils on Wheels, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Creatures the World Forgot, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes, Musical Mutiny, The Only Way Home, The Mating Urge, The Loch Ness Horror, The Wondrous Story of Birth, Flesh Feast, Bootleggers, Psychic Killer, Three the Hard Way, Penitentiary, and Battle of the Amazons.  Then we get a run of Kung Fu flicks like Superdragon (starring “Bruce Lee”), Death Machines, Shanghai Lil and the Sun Luck Kid, and Fury of the Black Belt.  The collection concludes with previews for The Trial of Billy Jack, Detroit 9000, Black Rodeo, The Harrad Experiment, and Thunder Fist (which advertises, “Kung Fu Karate Action for the Entire Family!”).

Some of the titles skirt on the fringes of what you would expect from a “drive-in” compilation, but since many of them are super-rare and/or offbeat, it’s kind of a moot point.  Other trailers will be familiar to you, especially if you’ve seen as many trailer compilations as I have.  Then again, who’s going to mind seeing such gems as Psychic Killer and Penitentiary again?  While Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 4 isn’t quite up to snuff with Vol. 3, it’s still a worthwhile addition to any trailer compilation junkie’s collection.