Drive-In Delirium: The Final Conflict (Blu-ray Review) – The Digital Bits

DirectorVarious

Release Date(s)Various (April 7, 2021)

Studio(s)Umbrella Entertainment

[Editors Note: This is a 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, among others. Umbrella Entertainment has taken a stab at this extremely niche market previously with four Drive-In Delirium releases: 60s and 70s Savagery, Maximum 80s Overdrive, The New Batch, With a Vengeance, and Dead by Dawn. Today, were taking a look at their newest collection, The Final Conflict. With a total of 181 trailers, its 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: The Heretic, which contains 94 trailers (all chapter divided), theres Queen of Outer Space, The Lost Continent, Godzilla vs. Megalon, The Final Programme aka The Last Days of Man on Earth, Dark Star, Invasion: UFO, Alien Attack, Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman II, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Dark Crystal, Conan the Barbarian, Conquest, Fire and Ice, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Def-Con 4, Star Crystal, The Falling aka Alien Predators, Remote Control, Bug, The Giant Spider Invasion, Squirm, Empire of the Ants, Kingdom of the Spiders, The Uncanny, Prophecy, Swamp Thing, Link, Uninvited, The Captive Female aka Scream Bloody Murder, Axe, Race with the Devil, Burnt Offerings, The Evil, The Fury, Magic, Dracula (1979), Beyond Evil, The Watcher in the Woods, Phobia, Nightbeast, Julie Darling, Re-Animator, Street Trash, The Hitcher, Scared Stiff, Fright Night II, A Black Veil for Lisa, Schizoid aka A Lizard in a Womans Skin, Who Saw Her Die?, Knife of Ice, All the Colors of the Dark, A Candle for the Devil aka It Happened at Nightmare Inn, Lisa and the Devil aka The House of Exorcism, The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue aka Dont Open the Window, Strange Shadows in an Empty Room, The Cat's Victims aka Watch Me When I Kill, The Chosen aka Holocaust 2000, Killer Nun, Macabro, Tenebrae, A Blade in the Dark, Paganini Horror, Beyond the Door III, Scream of Fear aka Taste of Fear, The Sorcerers, The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, And Soon the Darkness, Fright, I, Monster, From Beyond the Grave, Bram Stoker's Dracula aka Dan Curtis Dracula, Satan's Slave, Inseminoid, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, Klute, Marathon Man, The Deep, The China Syndrome, Body Heat, The Fan (1981), The Seduction, The Star Chamber, The Osterman Weekend, The Mean Season, D.O.A., Dead Calm, Death on the Nile, The Mirror Crack'd, Ordeal by Innocence, and Murder by Decree. Theres also a humorous United Artists Theaters PSA with Chevy Chase at the end as an intermission.

In Part 2: The Quest for Peace, which contains 87 trailers (all chapter divided), theres Ransom (1974), Juggernaut, The Towering Inferno, The Hindenburg, Rollercoaster, Airport '77, The Concorde: Airport '79, The Delta Force, Sister Street Fighter, Kill or Be Killed, Shaft's Big Score, Shaft in Africa, Cleopatra Jones, Friday Foster, Death Occurred Last Night, Caliber 9 aka The Contract, The Death Dealer aka Almost Human, The Tough Ones aka Rome Armed to the Teeth, Point Blank, P.J., The Thomas Crown Affair, Midas Run aka A Run of Gold, Villain, Prime Cut, Hickey & Boggs, Bonnie's Kids, The Candy Snatchers, Badge 373, The Klansman aka Burning Cross, The Killer Elite, Street People aka The Executors, The Enforcer, The Silent Partner, Cruising, Lone Wolf McQuade, Beverly Hills Cop, Malibu Express, Commando, Wanted Dead or Alive, Blind Fury, The Cycle Savages, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, White Line Fever, Smokey and the Bandit, Act of Vengeance aka Rape Squad, Angel (1984), Savage Dawn, The Annihilators, 3:15 aka 3:15 the Moment of Truth, A Dandy in Aspic, Some Girls Do, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, A View to a Kill, Hopscotch, Duel at Diablo, Death Rides a Horse, Soldier Blue, The Spikes Gang, The Green Berets, The Bridge at Remagen, Zulu Dawn, Uncommon Valor, Hell Camp aka Opposing Force, Little Fauss and Big Halsy, Junior Bonner, The Longest Yard, Big Wednesday, Skatetown, U.S.A., Victory, Rocky IV, Windrider, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, FM, The Muppet Movie, Meatballs, Monty Python's Life of Brian, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Ghostbusters, Top Secret, Spies Like Us, Vampire's Kiss, Nurses for Sale aka Captain Roughneck from St. Pauli, Percy's Progress aka Its Not the Size That Counts, Sunset Cove, Felicity, and Fairy Tales. At the end are trailers for the Drive-In Delirium releases Dead by Dawn and With a Vengeance 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. Theyre not squeaky-clean as they do still contain instances of scratches, speckling, and other types of film damage, but theyre quite presentable and stable throughout. The sole audio option for everything is English 2.0 DTS-HD with no subtitle options. Each trailers 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 The Curse of VHS Delirium, a sequel collection of Australian VHS-sourced previews. There are 59 in all (making for a grand total of 240), including The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Incredible Melting Man, The Humanoid, Bronx Warriors 2 aka Escape from the Bronx aka Escape 2000, Starman, The Blob (1988), My Stepmother Is an Alien, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, The Confessional Murders aka House of Mortal Sin, Grizzly, Piranha II: Flying Killers, Creepshow, Mortuary, Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture (1986), Dark Tower, Watch Out, We're Mad!, Odds and Evens aka Trinity: Gambling for High Stakes, Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure, Nice Dreams, Things Are Tough All Over, No Sex Please, We're British, The Van, Stir Crazy, Stripes, The Toy, Hanky Panky, Spring Break, Screwballs, One Night Stand, Big Trouble, Erik the Viking, Enter the Ninja, Ninja III: The Domination, Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, Rappin', Doctor's Wives, The Burglars aka Le Casse, Gloria, Escape from El Diablo aka California Cowboys, Thunder aka Thunder Warrior, The Siege of Firebase Gloria, Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming, Hells Angels Forever, Holocaust 2000 aka The Chosen, Suspiria, Brutes and Savages, The Jupiter Menace, Amin: The Rise and Fall aka Rise and Fall of Idi Amin, The Bushido Blade, Ator, the Fighting Eagle, Death Vengeance aka Fighting Back, Rottweiler aka Dogs of Hell, Superman III, Carry On Up the Jungle, Carry On Abroad, Carry On Girls, Percy (1971), Bullshot, and My Tutor. Interspersed throughout are promos for RCA Columbia Pictures and Thorn EMI. Like all of these trailer collections, I always find this one to be the most enlightening and entertaining due to the obscurity of some of the titles.

Theres 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, youre 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

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Drive-In Delirium: The Final Conflict (Blu-ray Review) - The Digital Bits