42nd Street Forever: Volume 1

This is a trailer compilation. The great thing about cult film trailer collections is that you can watch them in small increments, or just run the whole thing to bask in hours of absurdity. Sometimes, you even discover films that somehow slipped under your radar, like I did when I watched the trailers for "Ginger" and "Raiders of Atlantis."

This collection seems to concentrate heavily on the lurid and sexual, and I tend to enjoy a more balanced platter. Give me trailers from ridiculous action movies, martial arts flicks, raunchy exploitation films, space operas, cheesy horror flicks, foreign film oddities, and absolutely do not forget the cheapo monster movies. "42nd Street Forever, Volume 1" is predominantly trailers that are long on the sex (yes, John Holmes appears in some), including at least two promotional spots for 3D porn movies.

Not certain if I would see a 3D porn movie in a theater; if I did, I imagine that my seat of choice would be in the very back row. Do not get me wrong, there were some great trailers that showcased some attractive women doing what women do in exploitation films. There were also a few instances of my personal nemesis: naked man ass (and the other, floppier side).

Thankfully, The Green Slime makes an appearance, as does Destroy All Monsters (the latter seeming horribly out of place here). "The Pink Angels" looks astounding, because the plot involves a male motorcycle gang with feminine flair. "Shocking Asia" did shock me - I prefer to be warned before Asian ladyboys start dancing around in their birthday suits, but the geisha palace and sex museum offset that a bit.

Watching the trailer for Welcome Home Brother Charles, I was mystified why they revealed everything else, but failed to use what has to be that film's biggest lure: the protagonist employs his manhood like a python to choke his enemies to death. Starcrash's trailer was great, and it was even ballsy enough to show the "torpedoes" crashing through the windows of Count Zartharn's space fortress (man, I love that movie).

Many of the trailers for crime and action movies were a bit tepid and confusing, despite some great titles. What guy could resist paying a buck for the chance to watch "The Bullet Machine?"