Drive-In Delirium: With a Vengeance (Blu-ray Review)

Reviewed by: Tim Salmons
Review Date: Aug 23, 2019
Format: Blu-ray Disc

Director

Various

Release Date(s)

Various (July 3, 2019)

Studio(s)

Umbrella Entertainment

Film/Program Grade: A-
Video Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B
Extras Grade: B-

Review

[Editor’s Note: This is an Australian REGION FREE Blu-ray release]

A popular trend among various home video labels nowadays is to compile a collection of movie trailers and present them on disc as the main feature rather than as an extra. Notable favorites include both the 42nd Street Forever and Trailer Trauma series. Umbrella Entertainment has taken a stab at this extremely niche market previously with three Drive-In Delirium releases: ’60s and ’70s Savagery, Maximum ’80s Overdrive, and The New Batch. Today, we’re taking a look at their newest collection, With a Vengeance. With a total of 157 trailers, it’s certainly a monumental set of vintage marketing materials to cull through, but if you enjoy watching them, this collection is right up your alley.

Split into two parts with the option of watching everything all at once, there is a pre-show, an intermission, and a post-show, all of which contain vintage commercials and drive-in advertisements. In Part 1: Cruise Control, which contains 79 trailers (all chapter divided), there’s Shaft, Super Fly, Hammer, Hell Up in Harlem, Blackenstein, Coffy, Foxy Brown, The Human Tornado, Drum, Penitentiary, Kiss Me Deadly, Never Take Candy from a Stranger, Underworld U.S.A., The Candy Web (aka 13 Frightened Girls), The Killers, Harper, Cop-Out (aka Stranger in the House), The High Commissioner (aka Nobody Runs Forever), Bullitt, Otley, Get Carter, Revenge (aka Inn of the Frightened People), Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The French Connection, French Connection II, The Seven-Ups, The New Centurions, Serpico, Busting, The Destructors (aka The Marseille Contract), The Gauntlet, Sweeney!, Sweeney 2, The Big Sleep, Saint Jack, The Long Good Friday, The Salamander, 48 Hours, Deadly Force, Blue Thunder, Savage Streets, Certain Fury, Naked Vengeance, Tenement (aka Slaughter in the South Bronx), Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, The Park is Mine, Cobra, Best Seller, Shakedown, Messenger of Death, The Presidio, Blue Steel, Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects, Lock-Up, Road House, The Camp on Blood Island, Ten Seconds to Hell (aka The Phoenix), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Dark of the Sun (aka The Mercenaries), Ice Station Zebra, Hornets’ Nest, Three Days of the Condor, The Eagle Has Landed, Force 10 from Navarone, Seven, Firefox, Wargames, The Package, The Italian Job (1969), The Hot Rock (aka How to Steal a Diamond in Four Uneasy Lessons), The Getaway, The Great Train Robbery, Le Mans, White Lightning, Gator, The Gumball Rally, The Blues Brothers, and The Stunt Man.

In Part 2: The Year We Make Contact, which contains 78 trailers (all chapter divided), there’s The Strangers of Bombay, Sword of Sherwood Forest (aka Rogues of Sherwood Forest), The Colossus of Rhodes, The Pirates of Blood River, Mozambique, The Vengeance of She, The Million Eyes of Sumuru, The Castle of Fu Manchu, Wonder Women (aka The Deadly and the Beautiful), Terminal Island, Gold, The Wilby Conspiracy, Raise the Titanic, The Wicked Lady, Frog Dreaming (aka The Quest), Firewalker, Flesh+Blood (aka Flesh and Blood), River of Death, The Yakuza, Force Five, Kill and Kill Again, Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, Comanche Station, The Magnificent Seven, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, Navajo Joe, Django, Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!, Return of the Seven (aka Return of the Magnificent Seven), Hang ’Em High, Once Upon a Time in the West, 100 Rifles, More Dead Than Alive, Barquero, Duck You Sucker! (aka A Fistful of Dynamite), Lawman, Hannie Caulder, The Revengers, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Billy Two Hats, Get Mean (aka The Stranger Gets Mean), Mad Dog Morgan, The Return of a Man Called Horse, It Came from Outer Space, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Village of the Damned, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, Gas-s-s-s (aka Gas! or It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It), Beneath the Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man, The People That Time Forgot, Time After Time, The Chain Reaction, Alien 2 (aka Alien Terror), Battle Beyond the Stars, Galaxy of Terror, Forbidden World, Heavy Metal, Looker, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Brainstorm, Strange Invaders, Yor, The Hunter from the Future, Dune, The Last Starfighter, Supergirl, Desert Warrior (aka Wheels of Fire), The Adventure of Hercules, Sinbad of the Seven Seas, Highlander, Masters of the Universe, Innerspace, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, The Sisterhood, and Leviathan. At the end are trailers for the Drive-In Delirium releases ’60s and ’70s Savagery, Maximum ’80s Overdrive, and The New Batch as well.

The video and audio quality is much better than what you might expect. While some of the drive-in advertisements are occasionally low grade, all of the trailers have been HD-sourced. They’re not squeaky-clean as they do still contain instances of scratches, speckling, and other types of film damage, but they’re quite presentable and stable throughout. The sole audio option for everything is English 2.0 DTS-HD with no subtitle options. Each trailer’s soundtrack is mostly clean and clear with next to no real interference, other than occasional distortion and light crackle, which comes hand in hand with the quality of the trailers themselves.

Only one extra is included (other than the reversible inner sleeve with slightly alternate artwork and a list of all of the trailers), which is Son of VHS Delirium, a sequel collection of Australian VHS-sourced previews. There are 45 in all (making for a grand total of 202), including a set of Video Classics VHS intros and interstitials, Beyond Evil, Superstition (aka The Witch), Maniac, The Evil Dead, Sweet Sixteen, Mutant (aka Night Shadows), Vampyres (aka Daughters of Darkness), Torso, Amityville 3D, The Dead Zone, Tattoo, To Kill a Clown, Fort Apache, The Bronx, The Bounty, Caged Heat (aka Renegade Girls), The Retrievers (aka Hot and Deadly), Raw Force, Conan the Destroyer, Loving Couples, Splitz, Hollywood High, Gas Pump Girls, Hot T-Shirts, Gosh! (aka Alice Goodbody), The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (aka Hollywood Blue), Charlotte’s Web, Follow the Sun (1983), Master of the Game (1984), Flying High, The Keeper (1976), The Intruder Within (1981), Secrets of a Super Stud, Sweet Savage, The Yum Yum Girls, Girls at the Gynecologist (aka Teenage Sex Report), Mustang: The House That Joe Built (aka Mustang House of Pleasure), Incoming Freshmen, French Nympho, Spermula, Flesh Gordon, Diary of a Space Virgin (aka The Sexplorer, The Girl from Starship Venus), Fairy Tales, Fantasm (aka World of Sexual Fantasy), Fantasm Comes Again, and Love You!. Of the trailer collections in this set, I found this one to be the most enlightening and entertaining due to the obscurity of some of the titles.

There’s not much more I can do to recommend this set. It certainly gives you a peek at a lot of different films that you might not otherwise have been aware of (as well as some old favorites), and thanks to Drive-In Delirium, you’re likely to queue up your various streaming devices and Blu-ray and DVD wishlists with new titles to check out. Yet another great collection.

– Tim Salmons

Tags

100 Rifles, 13 Frightened Girls, 48 Hours, A Fistful of Dollars, A Fistful of Dynamite, action, Alice Goodbody, Alien 2, Alien Terror, Amityville 3D, Australia, Australian, Barquero, Battle Beyond the Stars, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Best Seller, Beyond Evil, Billy Two Hats, Blackenstein, Blu-ray, Blu-ray Disc, Blue Steel, Blue Thunder, Brainstorm, Bullitt, Busting, Caged Heat, Certain Fury, Charlotte’s Web, Cobra, Coffy, Comanche Station, comedy, Conan the Destroyer, Cop-Out, cult, Dark of the Sun, Daughters of Darkness, Deadly Force, Desert Warrior, Diary of a Space Virgin, Dirty Harry, Django, drama, Drive-In Delirium, Drive-In Delirium With a Vengeance, Drum, Duck You Sucker!, Dune, Enter the Ninja, erotica, Fairy Tales, Fantasm, Fantasm Comes Again, fantasy, Firefox, Firewalker, Flesh and Blood, Flesh Gordon, Flesh+Blood, Flying High, Follow the Sun, For a Few Dollars More, Forbidden World, Force 10 from Navarone, Force Five, Fort Apache, Foxy Brown, French Connection II, French Nympho, Frog Dreaming, Galaxy of Terror, Gas Pump Girls, Gas! or It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It, Gas-s-s-s, Gator, Get Carter, Get Mean, Girls at the Gynecologist, Gold, Gosh, Hammer, Hang ’Em High, Hannie Caulder, Harper, Heavy Metal, Hell Up in Harlem, Highlander, Hollywood Blue, Hollywood High, Hornets’ Nest, horror, Hot and Deadly, Hot T-Shirts, How to Steal a Diamond in Four Uneasy Lessons, Ice Station Zebra, Incoming Freshmen, Inn of the Frightened People, Innerspace, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, It Came from Outer Space, Kill and Kill Again, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Kinjite Forbidden Subjects, Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects, Kiss Me Deadly, Lawman, Le Mans, Leviathan, Lock-Up, Looker, Love You!, Loving Couples, Mad Dog Morgan, Magnum Force, Maniac, Master of the Game, Masters of the Universe, Messenger of Death, More Dead Than Alive, Mozambique, Mustang House of Pleasure, Mustang The House That Joe Built, Mutant, Naked Vengeance, Navajo Joe, Never Take Candy from a Stranger, Night Shadows, Nobody Runs Forever, Once Upon a Time in the West, Otley, Penitentiary, Raise the Titanic, Raw Force, Remo Williams The Adventure Begins, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Renegade Girls, Return of the Magnificent Seven, Return of the Seven, Revenge, Revenge of the Ninja, review, River of Death, Road House, Rogues of Sherwood Forest, Saint Jack, Savage Streets, sci-fi, science fiction, Secrets of a Super Stud, Serpico, Seven, sex, sexploitation, Shaft, Shakedown, Shoot!, Sinbad of the Seven Seas, Slaughter in the South Bronx, Son of VHS Delirium, Spermula, Splitz, Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, Strange Invaders, Stranger in the House, Super Fly, Supergirl, Superstition, Sweeney 2, Sweeney!, Sweet Savage, Sweet Sixteen, Sword of Sherwood Forest, Tattoo, Teenage Sex Report, Ten Seconds to Hell, Tenement, Terminal Island, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, The Adventure of Hercules, the Bad & the Ugly, The Big Sleep, The Blues Brothers, The Bounty, The Bronx, The Camp on Blood Island, The Candy Web, The Castle of Fu Manchu, The Chain Reaction, The Colossus of Rhodes, The Dead Zone, The Deadly and the Beautiful, The Destructors, The Digital Bits, The Eagle Has Landed, The Evil Dead, The French Connection, The Gauntlet, The Getaway, The Girl from Starship Venus, The Good, The Great Train Robbery, The Gumball Rally, The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood, The High Commissioner, The Hot Rock, The Human Tornado, The Hunter from the Future, The Intruder Within, The Italian Job, The Keeper, The Killers, The Last Starfighter, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, The Long Good Friday, The Magnificent Seven, The Marseille Contract, The Mercenaries, The Million Eyes of Sumuru, The New Centurions, The Omega Man, The Package, The Park is Mine, The People That Time Forgot, The Phoenix, The Pirates of Blood River, The Presidio, The Quest, The Retrievers, The Return of a Man Called Horse, The Revengers, The Salamander, The Seven-Ups, The Sexplorer, The Sisterhood, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Stranger Gets Mean, The Strangers of Bombay, The Stunt Man, The Vengeance of She, The Wicked Lady, The Wilby Conspiracy, The Witch, The Yakuza, The Yum Yum Girls, Three Days of the Condor, Tim Salmons, Time After Time, To Kill a Clown, Torso, trailer, trailer compilation, trailers, Umbrella Entertainment, Underworld USA, Vampyres, Village of the Damned, Wargames, western, Wheels of Fire, White Lightning, With a Vengeance, Wonder Women, World of Sexual Fantasy, Yor