Massacre at Central High (1976)

It was through his working relationship (primarily as a cameraman) with Russ Meyer that Rene Daalder was recommended by Meyer to direct 1976s Massacre at Central High. According to IMDb.com trivia, it was Daalder who conceived and created the well known portion of The Great Rock 'n Roll Swindle where Sid Vicious sings "My Way".

Massacre at Central High tells the story of David, a new student at a California high school whose strong minded independence puts him in direct conflict with the popular kids clique. The "in" crowd rules the school with violence and intimidation but when they seriously injure David, they push him to exact ultimate revenge. But with one "in" crowd gone, another materializes to take it's place.

Always enjoyed this film and have gone through a couple vhs copies through the years, but am currently without this in my movie library. Definitely more thought went into the storyline than your average exploitation flick and I have an early episode of the Gene Siskel and Robert Ebert show Sneak Previews to thank for turning me on to this one. Both the trailer and feature are presented below.

The Trailer

The Feature

Combat Shock (1986)

The unflinchingly grim 1986 film Combat Shock (originally titled American Nightmares) is my favorite of all the Troma releases.

Writer/director Buddy Giovinazzo's film portrays a cold, violent world in which Frankie Dunlan (played by the directors brother Rick Giovinazzo) trudges through an absolute shit sandwich of a bad day, compounded by horrific flash backs to his time fighting and then being tortured as a P.O.W. in Vietnam. Betraying the Rambo-esque one sheet art, this film occupies the same dark places as both Eraserhead and Street Trash. It would make a sick double feature with either.

the feature

Cryptic Slaughter - 1986 - backyard show

 
Here's some wild footage of Cryptic Slaughter hanging out and playing a 1986 backyard show in Bel Air, California.
Thanks to luismosh for posting.

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

With all the political rancor so prevalent currently, I thought it was time to harken back to that simple question once asked by Robert Plant "Does anyone remember laughter?"    Back in 1985 Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, Michael Winslow, Bobcat Goldthwait, and the rest of the cast and crew of Police Academy 2 certainly did and below is the cinematic proof.

the trailer

  the feature