AKA The Madhouse of Dr. Fear, The Revenge of Dr. Death

1974, Directed by Jim Clark

Now this is what it’s all about – thirty seconds of shrieking and weird-masked murderers.

I absolutely love how the narrator builds everything up to be a horrifying experience, then deflates the whole mood by revealing the movie is rated PG. You couldn’t make it up, etc.

In case you’re wondering what this film is all about – Vincent Price plays an actor who is released from a mental institution. The character he plays in horror movies then seems to take on a life of its own and start murdering people without Price being present. Peter Cushing is involved somewhere.

I will say one thing in Madhouse’s defence – the blobby fanged mask the murderer wears is pretty cool.

Favourite bit: “Rated PG.” Of course.

IMDB LINK

AKA Hausu

1977, Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi

Now this is what it’s all about – a seventies trailer of such batshit insanity that it makes you feel confused and upset by the end of it.

So what’s happening here? Starting off with some genuinely creepy goings on, it suddenly turns into a jolly teen musical, then with a terrible animated special effect we’re back into creepsville. Then at 1:10 everything goes mental and we’re assaulted with screeching cats, man-eating pianos and goodness only knows what else.

A surreal and almost psychadelic mix of horror and absurdist humour, House assaults the senses with a cavalcade of ropey blue-screen effects and silliness. And excellently it’s just been released on DVD in the UK so you can give yourself a migraine whenever you fancy! Just don’t get it confused with the better known American horror of the same name released in 1986.

Bonus: You really must see these extra clips below. Seriously. I’m not kidding.
Piano Death, Banana Scene, Killer Lampshade.

Favourite bit: The disembodied fingers playing the piano.

IMDB LINK

AKA Lady Karate, Female Fighting Fist in Danger

1974, Directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi

Action! Karate! Screaming! Weird pseudo-levitation! An awkward looking sex scene! And possibly the least convincing dummy-falling-off-a-bridge scene in history!

Sister Street Fighter seems like a fairly standard seventies kung-fu flick, with plenty of punches, kicks and weird set-pieces. It’s an obvious off-shoot of the popular Street Fighter movies, and the mighty Sonny Chiba himself even appears in a few scenes to help things along as violently as possible.

This trailer is almost totally incoherent, and apparently the plot of the full movie is pretty much nonsense. It does looks like a whole lot of fun, though, and I think that’s what they were aiming for.

I believe this is the first movie featured on Trailer Club 70 which has been released on blu-ray (on the same disc as its sequel.) Just imagine how bad that falling dummy must look in high definition.

Favourite bit: The guy with his head stuck in the wall right at the start.

IMDB LINK

1967, Directed by Herschell G. Lewis

Only a madman could understand it all, they say. That’s not the best indication that a movie has a clear narrative…

The plot synopsis genuinely is something weird – a man is facially disfigured in an accident which also inexplicably gives him psychic powers. He is then coerced into shacking up with a grotesque shape-shifting witch who fixes his face, and they go off to banish ghosts and catch a serial killer. All in a day’s work.

Something Weird lacks the usual gore of Herschell Lewis’ movies, but makes up for it by not making much sense. Brilliantly, some people remember a “3D” version of this movie.

The excellent DVD company Something Weird Video took their name from this film – they specialise in hoovering up the rights to forgotten and strange old movies and releasing them to the home market before they’re lost forever. Trailer Club 70 salutes them.

Favourite bit: The incredibly sub-standard make-up on the witch. School panto a-go-go!

IMDB LINK

1966, Directed by Conrad Rooks

No, your speakers have not broken. There is no sound at the very start of this trailer.

Conrad Rooks wrote, directed and starred in this seemingly autobiographical tale of an extended cold turkey session, undertaken after 5 years of solid drug addiction. Sounds jolly!

I’d never heard of Rooks but he appears to have been at the heart of the sixties psychedelia scene if this movie’s cameos are anything to go by – Allen Ginsberg, Ravi Shankar and William S. Burroughs himself all appear as actors. Far out, etc.

This trailer has a distinctly art-school feel about it – I have a horrible feeling Chappaqua was some kind of trippy vanity project for Rooks. I’d lay down money that there is no coherent plot and dull, extended hallucination scenes. Hey, it did win the Silver Lion Award for pretentious self-indulgence at the Venice Film Festival…

Favourite bit: “I withdraw from the case!”

IMDB LINK