42nd STREET: XTREME EDITION

Orgies for eye and ear, theatrical trailers are an art form enjoyed by exploitation devotees for their ability to tell entire stories in a scarce few minutes -- often with more directness than the very films they represent. Highlighting peak emotional thrills, and embodying in their spinning action the very atmosphere of a feature, previews offer the juicy lean meat of a story without the time filler fat. In this age of DVD technology, where rare films have been graced with pristine transfers, it is small wonder that the trailer compilation has found a welcome home. Following in the pioneering work of Something Weird Video and Ban One, the folks at Synapse follow up their own successful 42nd Street Forever (2) trailer collection with 42nd Street Forever: XXX-Treme Special Edition. Just as sleazy as it sounds, this juicy assemblage of 49 hardcore trailers is an homage to the cum-splattered, smoke laden days of yesteryear's skin theaters, capturing the raunchy sense of adventure that one imagines surrounding those arenas for self abuse.

Improving on the pioneering efforts of Something Weird's sexploitation trailer compilations, Synapse brings a dimension of structure and respect -- not to mention dedication -- to classic cinematic pornography. While this might appear a paradoxical way to treat films whose subject matter and approach were anything but respectable, the result is satisfying, presenting lost rarities and classical previews in surprising clarity . . . without cleaning them up too much. An erection worthy assemblage of 'adults only' extreme action, this release is a subversive cultural artifact -- a document of a bygone art form. The films represented here look better, I expect, than they ever did in their original runs, and display an admirable desire to leave no holes unopened. These moments of lewd, rude, slurping and humping shamelessness bring to mind an era in adult cinema when even pornos were seen as honest-to- god movies, and attempted to structure narratives/stories alongside hardcore action. For this alone the compilation is worth the cost, charting the days before the entire industry went direct to video. Similar in tone and quality to the recent Smut Palace Insanity release (but with heightened picture quality), 42nd Street Forever XXX-TREME SPECIAL EDITION tantalizes. The several movies featured here clearly understood that their only goal was to appeal to the primal instincts of (mostly) male audiences. The trailers show no sign of loosing their salacious impact, featuring such high profile 'stars' as Harry Reems, Ron Jeremy, Ginger Lynn, Seka, and many more. From well worn adult powerhouses like Debbie Does Dallas (3) and Showgirls to genre rarities like Passage Through Pamela and Ultra Flesh, this compilation runs as a quick pace, never slowing down. You'll need more than one Kleenex.

Several of these trailers look quite good. In some cases, it's easy to wonder if they don't look better than the features themselves, which bodes well for Synapse, who obviously put much effort into the project. Fear not, though, for nothing can 'clean up' the on screen action. The low budget production values instil a living sense of 42nd street atmosphere, complete with occasional popping noises, frizzles, and signs of hard use (pun intended!) expected from such dirty little cheapies. A noteworthy addition to a much abused industry, this X-Treme Special Edition is worth tracking down.

Review by William P. Simmons