Let’s not kid ourselves: In this age of Netflix algorithms and Amazon recommendations, who in the hell wants to consult a book — ewwwww! — for suggestions on movies to watch?

You can’t see it, but my hand is raised, and high. I trust people more than math.

Amid Mike Watt’s Movie Outlaws and The Collinsport Historical Society’s Monster Serial series (currently two and three volumes strong, respectively), there’s no shortage of ink-on-page equivalents of the ol’ conversational chestnut, “Hey, have you ever seen [insert movie title here]?” For my money, there’s always room for more, so scoot over to make way for Trash Cinema: A Celebration of Overlooked Masterpieces.

Edited by Andrew J. Rausch and R.D. Riley, Trash Cinema asks a host of writers to wax chaotic on one of 55 movies — technically 54, since the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special played not in theaters, but on the TV set in your wood-paneled den — that, far more often than not, should not be missed for connoisseurs of cheese and sleaze. With only a couple of chapters falling flat, the highlights include:
• SOV pioneer Tim Ritter (Killing Spree) discussing how influential Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left has been for him personally;
• Dwarfsploitation author Brad Paulson appreciating the notorious Filipino spy parody For Y’ur Height Only, starring the diminutive Weng Weng;
• and Full Moon veteran screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner (Doctor Mordrid) delivering such a fevered defense of the 1972 horror/Western hybrid Cut-Throats Nine that had me seeking a copy of the Spanish film pronto.

You could take issue with the BearManor Media paperback’s subtitle — in what world are cult staples such as Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space “overlooked”? — or you could just ignore it and enjoy. I recommend the latter, because I devoured Trash Cinema as quickly as a stray dog to a dead hobo. May there be a second heaping helping. —Rod Lott

Get it at Amazon or BearManor Media.