GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS 2 (2008) *** ½

In 2007, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez came out with the cult classic Grindhouse, and it introduced a new generation to the world of ‘70s exploitation and drive-in movies.  It also sparked renewed interest in old grindhouse movie trailers.  The UK-based Grindhouse Trailer Classics was one of the many trailer compilations that came out around the same time to capitalize on Grindhouse’s release.  (I can’t say “success” because it was a box-office flop.)  This second collection followed the next year, and it’s an even better compilation than the first one as far as I’m concerned. 

Grindhouse Trailer Classics 2 predominantly focuses on the exploitation hits of the ‘70s.  Sure, there are a couple trailers from the ‘60s and ‘80s scattered about, but about 90% of the films come from the glorious ‘70s.  The concentration is mostly on badass babes and Blaxploitation badasses.  Along the way, we get some great taglines like, “The one thing she can’t give is legal consent!” from Jail Bait Babysitter, Snuff’s “Filmed in South America, where life is cheap!”, and Tender Flesh’s “It makes the killing in Snuff seem like amateur night!”.  The best trailers though feature rhyming schemes in their taglines.  There’s Black Shampoo (“A woman entices… a chainsaw slices!”), Dolemite (“If you crave satisfaction… here’s the place to find that action!”), Foxy Brown (“Pam Grier is back to do a job on the Mob!”), and The Bodyguard (“Faster than Ali… Meaner than Bruce Lee… Sonny Chiba, the Streetfighter is the dirty, mean, murder machine!”).

My favorite trailer is for The Tigress, which is just a retitling of Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia.  I’m not sure why the studio chose to drop the Ilsa connection (they sure as shit play up Dyanne Thorne’s involvement), but it certainly makes it stand out from the rest of the pack.  Almost to balance the books, there’s also a trailer for Jess Franco’s Wanda, the Wicked Warden, a Dyanne Thorne movie that was retitled to cash-in on Ilsa. 

In case you’re wondering, here’s the complete round-up of trailers:  Night Call Nurses, The Tigress, Sister Streetfighter, Chain Gang Women, Black Shampoo, The Undertaker and His Pals, Jail Bait Babysitter, The Violent Professionals, The Cheerleaders, Cut-Throats Nine, The Black Gestapo, Sacrifice (AKA:  Man from Deep River), Dolemite, The House That Screamed, Dr. Minx, Don’t Go in the House, Cinderella 2000, The Hunchback of the Morgue, Criminally Insane, Foxy Brown, Bloody Pit of Horror, The Pink Angels, Nightmare, The Depraved, Don’t Look in the Basement, The Arena, The Naughty Stewardesses, Snuff, The Twilight People, The Worm Eaters, The Virgin Sacrifice (AKA:  Axe), Mean Mother, Tender Flesh, Wanda the Wicked Warden, The Death Dealer, Invasion of the Blood Farmers, Deep Red, Mighty Peking Man, Blood Orgy of the She-Devils, The Bodyguard, Virgin Witch, Women in Cages, The Exterminator, Don’t Answer the Phone, Raw Meat, Street Law, Flesh Gordon, Vampyres, Rabid, House of Psychotic Women, The Girls Who Do, The Driller Killer, Nurse Sherri, Chinese Hercules, and Invasion of the Bee Girls.