I wouldn't say it's an easy task to do a review of a set of movie trailers, because there is no plot or story to go by. But this particular one has a kind of wrap around story; or better yet it reminded me of the old horror host television movies I used to watch when I was a kid. The movies usually being older than death, or just really bad, you had a host that would make up kooky stuff during the movie breaks to make the experience that much more enjoyable, or laughable depending on the host and your mood.
And that brings us to Mad Ron's Prevues From Hell. A definite tongue-in-cheek trailer compilation. This is probably not the first compilation ever released, but it's from 1987, so it is one of the early ones to be sure. These days trailer compilations are plentiful, and there is no wrap around story, or guest host..... just two to four hours of trailers. Not saying that it's a bad thing, but sometimes you need a few minutes break from the trailers to get a breather in, and Mad Ron's compilation allows that with its silly and irritating hosts Nick (Nick Pawlow) and his demented zombie puppet Happy.
The "plot" of the "film" goes like this: Nick and happy are hosting a series of Mad Ron's (Ron Roccia) movie trailers for a theater full of zombies. Mad Ron himself is chained to the movie projector to be able to show the previews and not hurt anyone. There are some corny, funny and embarrassing gags along the way. Blood-buttered popcorn, arguing zombies, and some horrible jokes told by Happy and Nick. An interesting note: the makeup was done by a young Jordu Schell, who would go on to do makeup effects for such films as The Mist, Cloverfield, Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem and Avatar.
As far as movie trailers, if you've seen quite a few trailer compilations, then you've probably seen most of these.... but here is some of what you'll see: Wildcat Women (a 3-D trailer, and I didn't have my glasses handy, so I'm not sure if the 3-D worked or not), I Drink Your Blood, Ilsa, Deranged, Three on a Meathook, Love Me Deadly, Cannibal Girls, Deep Red, Toxic Zombies, Black Christmas, Blood and Lace, Bay Of Blood, Last House On The Left, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Blood Spattered Bride, I Dismember Mama, Torso, and Beyond The Door. Some of these are shown under alternate titles, which is fun to see.
People should really try to hunt this title down and pick it up. I've seen it quite cheap at different places. It used to only be available as a VHS tape, but it is on DVD now. You'll be able to see an early example of what trailer compilations used to be like before the grindhouse craze came along.
