There used to be a time when it was something special to walk into a grindhouse theater. Generally, these were once lush movie palaces in urban centers. What were once glamorous portals to a magical world enjoyed by both the wealthy and the poor in Depression-era America’ eventually became run-down, faded ghosts of their former glory. You could always count on a full assortment of disreputable types lounging in the faded seats: from hoodlums, crooks, winos, hookers, perverts and junkies to loners, film freaks, and future creative geniuses. While all of them came to escape something, most were there to be entertained by films from genres generally looked down upon by “decent” society.

Maybe the only thing better was pulling your large American sedan into a stall out in the rural drive-in theaters.  Again, the ambiance and atmosphere were electric. The denizens of the drive-in tended to be different than the grindhouse, but they all came for the same escape provided by the gigantic, flickering images of light projected before them.

Before the feature (or features) to be shown that night were the ads for the various cinematic gems “coming soon to a theater near you.” The most unenviable slot of the night occurred right then. In the theater, there were countless distractions to contend with, including those still shuffling to their seats (not the most prompt lot), conversations that continued from the way in, and the short attention spans of those who were anxious to see anything from European boobs, to Chinese martial artists, to the latest crazed manic chopping up the teenagers from some small, Midwestern town. Even at the drive-in, you weren’t safe from the outside world crowding into your forthcoming journey. Usually the summer sun was still setting, significantly fading the images on the screen. Sometimes, though, that wasn’t even noticed yet, as you were still trying to hang that shitty little speaker on your window and tweak the stubborn knob in order to get the volume just right.

This was the swamp that those who created movie trailers had to wade through in order to get their message out.  They knew that they had to WOW the audience, and quick. Before public opinion polls, before market research data, before scientific psychological models, there was simple common sense. A distribution company learned, through trial and error, what their audience wanted and how to tell them that they wanted it. The movie trailer became an art form and a sales tool baptized by fire.

Sure, take the lowly movie trailer for granted, but in doing so, you miss out on one of the most interesting and unheralded crafts in modern cinema. Intrepid bands of collectors and fans realized this long ago and made real efforts to save and preserve as many of these trailers as they could. Thanks to the advent of home video, and more importantly, the insatiable appetite of the DVD consumer, we live in a golden age for trailer fans.

As I profiled previously in 42nd Street Forever: Volume 1, the folks at Synapse Films have graced us with another volume of trashy trailer treats.

42nd Street Forever: Volume 2 features 56 new trailers that, once again, cover every genre and sub-genre of film.  From the ‘40s to the ‘80s, we get another fascinating sampling of titles. While some of these films may not be very good, it doesn’t matter if there is a great trailer. Sometimes a good trailer is all you need… a two-to-three minute mini-movie that shows its stars, its big set pieces, and its absolute best stuff, all in a handy, condensed package.

This time around, the titles include:

…Tick …Tick …Tick, Amazons Of Rome, The Babysitter, Black Sampson, Born Losers, Burnout, The Clones, College Girls, The Curious Female, The Dark, Deadly Blessing, Delinquent Schoolgirls, Dirt, Dixie Dynamite, Dragstrip Riot, The Evictors, The Evil, Female Jungle, The Giant Gila Monster, Gigantis: The Fire Monster, The Guy From Harlem, Helga, The Hellcats, Hells Angels On Wheels, The Hideous Sun Demon, I A Woman, Invitation To Ruin, Kenner, Kiss The Girls And Make Them Die, The Last Of The Secret Agents?, Mission Mars, Mister Billion, The Monster Of Piedras Blancas, Ms. 45, Murders In The Rue Morgue, Pick-Up, The Pom-Pom Girls, Rabid, Revenge Of The Gladiators, Revolt Of The Slaves, Rolling Thunder, Samson And The Slave Queen, Savage, Savage Sisters, Shogun Assassin, Skatetown USA, Spy In Your Eye, Stingray, Street Girls, Sugar Hill, Take A Hard Ride, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Trunk To Cairo, Van Nuys Blvd., When Women Had Tails, Wild Rebels, and The Woman Eater.

While this line-up wasn’t nearly as strong as the trailers from Volume 1, that may be more due to my personal tastes than to the quality of the films, but I did especially enjoy the following:

Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979)
Remember when roller disco was a popular fad? No? Well, remember that it spawned a mini-genre of films including Xanadu and Roller Boogie? Still no? Hey, it even made a resurgence with the recent release, Roll Bounce. Still nothing, eh? Hell, Skatetown, U.S.A. wasn’t even the most famous roller disco film, but with this cast:  Scott “Chachi” Baio, Flip Wilson, Ron “Horshack” Palillo, Maureen “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!” McCormick, Melissa Sue Anderson, Ruth Buzzi, rocker Dave Mason, Billy Barty, Murray Langston, Judy Landers, Dorothy Stratten, and Patrick “The Swaze” Swayze, it should’ve been. “The greatest story ever… rolled” indeed!

Deadly Blessing (1981)
What’s better than a movie with Amish people? A movie with evil, killer Amish people, that’s what! Fuck yeah! Deadly Blessing heralded in the Amish movie craze of the ‘80s (well, ok, just Witness,) directed by Wes Craven and staring Maren Jensen, Lisa Hartman, Michael Berryman, Earnest Borgnine and Sharon Stone(!). This is a trailer for a film I had never even heard of, and it left me wanting to see the film in the worst way. Why the hell isn’t this on DVD?!?

Rabid (1977)
Director David Cronenberg’s second film and starring Marilyn Chambers (Behind The Green Door), Rabid is considered a low-budget classic. Another great example of Cronenberg’s exploration into his seeming mistrust of technology and science, as doctors inadvertently unleash flesh eating zombies into Canada. With definite nods to the work of George Romero, this trailer completely sucks you into the story and leaves you craving more.

Take A Hard Ride (1975)
Hey, where have I heard that name before? This is a spaghetti western, but with an all-star cast of exploitation heroes and villains, including Jim Brown, Lee Van Cleef, Jim Kelly, and Fred Williamson. Simply put, this 20th Century Fox film looks badass!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
One of the greatest horror films ever made, pure and simple. The beauty of TCM is that is always implied more horror than it actually showed, and it left viewers thinking they’d seen more than they had. This film works on the gut level, and the trailer is all that and more. It tells you very little, but it leaves you feeling anxious and unsettled. Images of corpses come briefly into view, followed by the exaggerated sound of a camera flash, and then slowly fade into darkness. The voice-over tells us what the critics have said, echoing what people had probably heard from their friends. It successfully builds anticipation the same way that climbing the first big hill on a roller coaster will do. Strangely, this is one of the few titles not listed on the back of the DVD case.

Sampson And The Slave Queen (1963)
Sword n’ sandal peplum at its finest here! Not only do we get legendary strongman Sampson (played here by bodybuilder Alan Steel… hee hee), but in one of those great “huh?” moments that make for a good, crappy film, Zorro appears to save the day!

Last Of The Secret Agents? (1966)
Apparently there was a void to fill in Hollywood when Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis broke up. The theaters were filled with films starring imitators, none with the star power or talent of the original duo. In this one, we get a James Bond spoof and a Martin and Lewis knock-off, starring… Marty Allen and Steve Rossi? Oh, and an incredibly sexy Nancy Sinatra even pops up in this, both as a co-star and performing the title song. While this movie is probably hackey as hell, the mod trailer and groovy music drew me in. Sadly, this is another title nowhere to be found on DVD.

And because I love the lists, keep your eyes peeled for the following celebs:

Lawrence Tierney, Tommy Lee Jones, Dabney Coleman, Warren Oats, Jack Nicholson, George Kennedy, Robert Carradine, Jayne Mansfield, John Carradine, Audie Murphy, Jackie Gleason, Darren McGavin, Vic Morrow, Richard Crenna, Keenan Wynn, Cathy Lee Crosby, William Devane, Casey Kasem, Jason Robards, Godzilla, and the fairy from the Airplane movies!

Presentation
Everything I said before for Volume 1 holds true for Volume 2. Without doing any restoration, Synapse has done a fantastic job of getting the best quality trailers they could find.

My only complaint was that the trailer for …Tick …Tick …Tick was horribly out of sync. I don’t know if this was just my copy or if this was a problem across the board.

Extras
As with Volume 1, Volume 2 contains no additional extras. Although I’m repeating myself, I still think it would be fun to include poster art, lobby cards, and the like. A booklet with some background or history of these trailers would’ve been interesting too, but that is just nitpicking on a release that I am thrilled exists at all.

Wrap-up
Synapse has given us another spectacular collection of trailers that satisfies my love for the medium. As in the last collection, I’ve discovered a number of new titles that I need to add to my ‘wanted’ list. I hope I’m not alone, and that some of the films not already out on home video get a DVD release soon. While I don’t want to be greedy, I would love to see this series continue onward.

		42nd Street Forever: Volume 2
3.5		Feature - While the trailer selection might not be as strong as the last volume, it nevertheless satisfies.
3		Video - Some of these trailers look a little rough, but it is shocking that they even exist at all.
2.5		Audio - There were some syncing issues on my copy of this disc, but I don't know if my copy was the exception.
1		Extras - No extras. Some context, background, or history of the titles featured would've been nice.

3.5