I’m the sort of New Yorker who bemoans what’s happened to Times Square. I go there now and see the Blade Runner lights and advertisements and the crushing crowds of Red Staters hypnotized by running new tickers and I am saddened. I remember a time when going to Times Square was a sign of bravery, when you had to have some street smarts to avoid getting mugged (an episode of Everybody Hates Chris perfectly showed how such muggings among kids would happen: “Yo, lemme see a dollar.”). We bought ninja stars and ventured into the thick haze of smoke to spend quarters at the epically seedy Playland Arcade.
The one thing I never did was see the great exploitation films of the time in their natural habitat, the grindhouses that had taken up residence in once-respectable legitimate theaters (which have now come full circle and play Mary Fucking Poppins as a live action play). But Synapse Films’ 42nd Street Forever series of DVDs have let me vicariously enjoy one aspect of that experience – the often brilliant trailers for truly bad movies. If you don’t already have Volumes 1 and 2, you should buy them… now! (Click here for Volume 1. Click here for Volume 2).
But the 42nd Street experience wasn’t just kung fu movies and slasher flicks. It was also hardcore porn – which was quite different from the stuff kids are growing up on today. For one thing, they had plots that are actually about as legitimate as a Michael Bay movie’s. Also, nobody shaved. And they had trailers! Now Synapse is coming with a special XXX-rated volume of the 42nd Street Forever series, and it contains trailers for such classic skin flicks as
ALEXANDRA
ALL AMERICAN GIRLS
AROUSED
BEVERLY HILLS COX
BEYOND DESIRE
BLONDE AMBITION
BLONDE HEAT
BURLEXXX
COMING TOGETHER
DEBBIE DOES ‘EM ALL
DEBBIE DOES DALLAS III
DESIRE
DEVIL IN MISS JONES III
DEVIL IN MISS JONES IV
DRACULA EXOTICA
“F”
FASCINATION
FOR SERVICES RENDERED
GIRLS ON FIRE
G-STRINGS
HEART THROBS
HOT BLOODED
HOT LIPS
I WANT TO BE BAD
MAKING IT BIG
MATINEE IDOL
NAKED SCENTS
NASTY GIRLS
NOTHING TO HIDE
THE ODDEST COUPLE
ORIENTAL JADE
PASSAGE THROUGH PAMELA
THE RIBALD TALES OF CANTERBURY
SCANDALOUS SIMONE
SCHEHERAZADE: 1001 EROTIC NIGHTS
SENSATIONS
SHOWGIRLS
SKIN TIGHT
SLIP INTO SILK
SUPERGIRLS DO GENERAL HOSPITAL
SURRENDER IN PARADISE
TICKLED PINK
TIGHT AND TENDER
TRASHY LADY
ULTRA FLESH
Supergirls Do General Hospital sounds pretty awesome.
This disc isn’t going to be available everywhere, considering it’s essentially porn. So if you’re over 18 or just want to see people of your parents’ generation getting their hairy swerve on, you can pre-order the disc from Amazon by clicking here.
42nd Street Forever: XXX-Treme Special Edition cums on March 26th!