According to SLIFR reader and cranky commentator extraordinaire The Mysterious Adrian Betamax, the trailer for Massacre Mafia Style (1978) (or, as the logo insists, Duke Mitchell’s Massacre Mafia Style) is the greatest trailer ever made. A hilarious distillation of what the M.A.B. describes as an otherwise boring, borderline unwatchable exploitation thriller (with a porno subplot that explains the movie’s dingy look and canned acoustics, as well as, perhaps, the moniker Duke Mitchell), this trailer has all the good stuff—an office massacre of indiscriminate savagery, bad squib effects, an inappropriately jaunty song to underscore how much fun firing rounds into people's skulls can be, and hilarious death throes, including that old reliable “Ouch, you shot me in the brain!” trick where the victim smacks his bloody forehead in disbelief before expiring. It's all interwoven with the movie’s bargain basement Godfather logo knockoff, each shock cut reminding you that the carnage you’re witnessing can be seen only in Duke Mitchell’s Massacre Mafia Style. (That’s Duke as Miceli, one of the heavily mustachioed assassins.) Watch it if you dare, and ponder two things: why they don’t make ‘em like this anymore, and if they did, would you want ‘em to?
That preview was great! “An exploitation thriller (with a porno subplot)” sounds like a movie I'd probably enjoy. I was especially impressed by the guy who died with his hands still in his pockets and the wheelchair death was also impressive. So many bad actors and so little time to shoot them all!
ReplyDeleteThe death-slide-into-a-urinal is a masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteI'm so stealing that for my next exploitation thriller (with a porno subplot).
Duke Mitchell?!? Of Duke and Sammy fame? In "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla", Duke and Sammy Petrillo perform an excruciatingly bad Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis ripoff. I can see why he dumped Sammy (such a ripoof, that Jerry Lewis sued him), but how did Duke get the work?
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to see this (or rather "morbidly curious" to) since I made the mistake of watching Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla. Sammy Petrillo is easily the most annoying human being ever to walk in front of a camera, making Duke Mitchell's piss-poor Dean Martin impersonation not look quite so bad in comparison.
ReplyDeleteThis is indeed that Duke Mitchell. And the song is a poor English-language translation of "Tic-a-Ti-Tic-a-Ta" which is the rock-style number from the "Big Night" soundtrack. The film is a grindhouse cult curiosity -- like "BLMABG." And Jerry Lewis never sued Sammy Petrillo -- he even used him on a Colgate Comedy Hour before deciding to let the guy be buried by the biz.
ReplyDeleteI've always considered this one of the greatest trailers of all time. However, it's not really a distillation of the film so much as it's just the first 2 minutes as is.
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