One of most fun times I’ve had watching a movie..
Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival (2010)
Directed By: Stephen Romano, Victor Bonacore, Michael Gingold, and Richard Griffin
The Prologue
I was always a bit of a weird kid growing up. Long before the days of becoming an internet geek, I’d sit around with the family when video tapes were rented and I was a happy kid in doing so. But, while everyone would moan and groan and want to hit the fast forward button during the trailers that ran before the feature film, I’d enjoy every minute of them and look forward to seeing them. Keep in mind there was no internet when I was a kid. I couldn’t look on Youtube and news sites and see what’s coming out. So I loved trailers and Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival, gives me PLENTY of what I have always enjoyed and then some. And if you love trailers, then there is no question in my mind you will love this release.
The Movie
Stephen Romano (who is an acclaimed screenwriter from Showtime’s Masters of Horror) presents the companion piece for the book of the same name in, Shock Festival, on DVD. A set that brings you three discs full of trailers and promos from a wide range of different genres. Not only that, but it includes many “fake” trailers that were made in the old style for the Shock Festival. You get over seven hours of entertainment with the third disc being a audio disc with radio promos! When you add it all up, you get one of the very best sets I’ve seen in a very long time.
You might think off hand that you wouldn’t get much satisfaction from a set that gives you nothing but trailers, both real a fake. But if you think you can’t get any enjoyment from it, then you need to think again. In the same way that I loved the fake trailers in the film, Grindhouse, I loved each and every moment of seeing trailer after trailer on the screen. No matter if they were from real movies or fake ones, they were equally as enjoyable. And the quality of many was at such a level that if it was a fake film’s trailer, it made me want to see that movie really be made.
It’s all goes down like this. Disc one, gives you a marathon of fake trailers as well as a full film length onslaught of exploitation films. Disc 2, gives us horror trailers full of some very famous (or cult-like famous) films, as well as Shock Festival television archives. Which if you didn’t know, means it gives us trailers that were made for television. When you mix that in with the third disc of radio promos (not to mention all the cool commentaries and more) you have something that just feels special. If you like trailers, you’ll without question hold this set dear to you. Even if your not that big on them, you may be converted with something like this.
Overall I found this DVD set to be well put together and overall MAJORLY enjoyable. Movies I had seen before, I loved seeing the trailers. And there were many movies I had not heard of that the trailers made me actually want to seek out and watch. From corny G rated movies to sextastic X rated films (with such names as “Flesh Gordon”), there’s trailers for pretty much everything here. There was talk awhile back about someone wanting to make a movie made up of nothing but fake trailers. There was also questions on if that could work as a film on it’s own. After seeing this I can safely say that I believe if a movie like that is made, IF it has half as much heart as this movie here does and is as well put together, it could succeed. But no matter if that movie ever comes or not, I’m pretty content with just having this.
The Conclusion
What we have here is a classic set from the folks at Alternative Cinema that needs loads of respect from all of you. If you want to see it, and you should see it, CLICK HERE to get your hands on a copy. It may just be trailers, but it’s still very entertaining, well put together, and extremely fun. One of the better sets I’ve seen and I think there’s plenty here for all of you to enjoy.
The Rating (8/10)
