Andrew J. Rausch

This was a toss up between 2 and 3 stars. The movies covered are an interesting mix and are most definitely trash cinema. To the extent that one can call a film from this genre a masterpiece there were certainly a few included. My disappointment with the book is not with the films selected but with the lack of consistency between the write-ups (they weren't reviews and some barely discussed the film, simply the "gams and...rump" on the covers and how "horny" the writer was as a teenager).

When I first opened the book, I was surprised to discover that there was no introduction. This is usually where you get the idea of how the editors envisioned the collection of essays and what might have been asked of the contributors. In other words, what connects these particular essays (?) beyond some large genre label. Come to find out there apparently was no vision for this collection beyond giving friends (I assume they are friends, at least the one named Allen Richards, since he is definitely neither a writer nor particularly intelligent) the opportunity to talk about how they used to sneak these videos into their homes as adolescents (though I can't say for sure some of these aren't still adolescent). A few of the chapters (there, a name for the things I can live with, they were indeed chapters) were interesting and actually talked about the movie as well as personalizing why the writer has an interest. The ones that were good were very interesting but having childish drivel scattered throughout was just frustrating.

While I clearly don't care for the lack of consistency or the way some of the chapters represented little more than the writer's wet dream, I would still recommend the book to people who want to know both the interesting aspects (from the writers who actually wrote about the films) as well as the ugly (in the person of the horribly childish 'writers') of trash cinema. Some viewing suggestions will likely come from reading the book and you can always skip the juvenile chapters. Just because it is called trash cinema doesn't mean the writing has to be trash, at least I don't think so.

Reviewed from an ARC made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mere)