The Eurotrash Film Pinnacle Project begins!

As I mentioned a few days back, I'll be compiling lists of top 10's from various luminaries of the fan world, as well as people like me... the average joe that just loves to watch his trash films and chat 'em up. What I'm hoping to do is figure out what the fans of Eurotrash film like the most-count up the repeats and rank up some stats. While it is simple, the actual numbers in and of themselves are a diversion really. I hope these lists will work for you as they do for me... a shopping list of things you have yet to see. Maybe a reason to dig out an old VHS or DVD and rewatch it-intrigued by the high regard others have for it. Or perhaps...just maybe, to see that you aren't alone in your like of some obscure film or another.
But what is meant by the term Eurotrash Cinema? For me, this phrase comes from Craig Ledbetter's ultra important, and still a great read even with the gap of years in publishing, ETC magazine. Craig came into my reading world at a great time, after being lured down the Euro Horror highway by writers like Tim Paxton (and the host of Monster! International scribes including Tim Lucas and Dave Todarello), Bob Sargent (ah, Videooze-where I first read of Thriller-A Cruel Picture) and Chas. Balun (with his Gorezone articles)-it was ETC that really got me obsessive. With a range as wide as could be, this magazine was gold on every page. Not to mention that you could easily drop a letter into the mail and get back an enthusiastic response from Craig about...well, anything!
What ETC showed me was that there was a lot more than Fulci and splatter out there... you had sleazy French sex romps, midgets vs. babysitters (well, that was all Bob's fault) and a world of bizarre action films to be discovered. That wide range is the tack I'm taking here. European Trash Cinema isn't Italian Horror, it isn't even horror exactly. It is disposable films, that by the sheer oddness, the crazy don't give a shit wackiness and yes...the stunning craftsmanship that can go into a movie all at the same time. It is about personalities like Paul Naschy that can write themselves into always having sex with a hot woman, even if they are playing a hunchback! It is about directors like Max H. Boulois that just want to tell stories like OTHELLO, THE BLACK COMMANDO! And yep, it is about nudity, violence, bad language, naughty situations and as much spaltter as you can take.
But don't forget it can be about Mario Bava and his careful lighting and inventive camera that roves and rips through tales of terror that will stay with you not just after you go to sleep, but forever. Or Jean Rollin and his one of kind beachfront property that only his vampires and virgins can inhabit.
It is about thrills-made in Europe. Spys, Robots, Black Gloved Maniacs, Naked Women, Groovy Chicks, Swinging Dicks (lots of those on show-ask Howard Vernon)...
It is about the things that make me smile when I'm staring at an 11th generation dupe of some Eurocine film I've long wanted to see (and in a language I don't understand) AND about the digital revelation of seeing the edges on Naschy's werewolf mask.
It's Eurotrash baby...just enjoy it.
So, tell me your favorites and I'll tell you mine. Tomorrow...we start!