Re: "Slashers: Why The Bad Rap?"

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Tom Hutchinson, don't you dare question him.

That very question has just been posed over at the great Planet of Terror and the answer is simple. Utter snobbery. But not just toward slashers, but to the modern horror era generally considered sparked by Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 1974 with H.G. Lewis pissing gallons of blood in the waters a decade earlier. The old guard's fans hated, and perhaps still hate, their Draculas, mummies, and ghouls becoming irrelevant to moviegoers.

Before the prevalence of home video, Fangoria, fanzines by the children of this new period, and eventually a plethora of horror-devoted websites, blogs, podcasts, forums, and conventions; old stuffy guides packed with stills with text that I assume no one figured anyone would actually read were the primary source for "serious" horror comment.

Not all critics derided the on-going sea change in the genre, but many loathed and simply didn't seem see at the time much of what they saw in the Golden Age of Horror had synthesized into a new style that reflected audiences more aware of realities after the trials of real atrocity and political chess striking home. That's not to condemn the importance of still enduring cultural icons, but horror films weren't confined to black-and-white children's fodder anymore. Audiences needed something equaling or topping the violent flashes streaming into their homes nightly.

What's more frustrating is how blatantly arrogant, untrustworthy, and unknowledgeable some of these reads are. It wasn't just enough that these biased authors swayed readers at every sentence, but based on some of their radically incorrect plot outlines, it's not hard to assume they didn't even watch the films they so bashed. Sometimes something like a Texas Chain Saw or Halloween might get a small photo but zero mention in the text. That's fair, right?

After realizing that, these books are little more than a resource for vintage stills and in no way worth the paper they're printed on otherwise. Of course, nowadays horror fans still rabidly bitch about new trends. Though I'd like to believe that both pro and homegrown critics have more credibility with the positive resource of the Internet and ease of viewing most any horror or cult item over-and-over at anytime for assessment.

Here's some entertaining bullshit mined from these old disposable guides:

From Horror & Fantasy in the Movies by Tom Hutchinson, 1974:

On Night of the Living Dead (1968): "...the hero's dead neighbors are resurrected and surround his house, calling to him to come out and join them...ultimately it says less than it thinks it's saying." Referring to an inset photo: "...corpses march towards the house of the hero in Cesar Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968)."

From The Encyclopedia of Horror edited by Richard Davis, 1981:

On Dawn of the Dead (1978): "...showed in macabre detail what happened when zombies overran New York. Most of the action takes place in a large supermarket awash in blood."

From Horrors: A History of Horror Movies by Tom Hutchinson and Roy Pickard, 1983:

On Alien (1979): "a perfect example of how much sci-fi films now rely on monster effects at the expense of the plot...no more than a B movie [with] a theme that's hardly new...substandard film [of] plot banality..."

On John Carpenter's The Thing (1982): "...teeters dangerously on the edge of what is acceptable in horror films...[the audience] should not be made to feel so uncomfortable that they feel sick and ill."

On When a Stranger Calls, Prom Night, Friday the 13th, and the "gruesome" Texas Chain Saw Massacre: "...most films of this ilk are no longer film at all; they are simply mindless horror comics in the hands of amateur young directors whose only objective is to produce more shocks with each succeeding movie."

On Dawn of the Dead (1978): (extremely misquoting the film): "They gravitate to places that have meant a lot to them when they were living," says one of the characters in the most overt statement yet about such a consuming and consumed society..."

On Fulci's Zombie (1979): "...yet another movie that used radiation as the reason why zombies [were] rampaging and overrunning New York."

On The Evil Dead (1982): "...presumed that audiences had paid to see a film with just such a title they would not want to be bothered with any rationalizations. The writer-director Samuel M. Raimi has gone so far over the top as to be out of sight."

From The Best, Worst, and Most Unusual Horror Films by Daniel Moore:

On Blood Feast, Last House on the Left, and The Hills Have Eyes: (under Worst Films, dubbed "Gore Films") "None of these are really good...the violence isn't even well done." 

From An Album of Modern Horror Films by Frank Manchel, 1983:

On the then emerging slasher trend: "Why, with all the critical uproar and badly made films, is the degrading cycle still going strong? Men who feel threatened by independent, attractive successful women are the biggest fans of the modern psychological thriller. They enjoy watching liberated women "get what's coming to them"....audiences seem bored with story, action, and characters."

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Prevue #66 Dec '87 Article: Trick or Treat (1986) Film Preview

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A nice little discovery was made out of a pile of old Prevue magazines picked up yesterday for pennies. The defunct magazine, formerly known as Mediascene and Comixscene, was mostly geared toward mainstream fare with several page movie previews with large color and b/w stills and a few paragraphs of sizzle selling the featured movies. It's a good source for '80s action fans since the likes of Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Norris, and Bronson seem to pop up in every issue (for example, #62 features Commando followed directly by Death Wish 3, it was a mini-Christmas flipping through those pages).

Horror flicks seem rare in the publication, I guess they figured Fango was the go-to, but Charles Martin Smith's satisfying metal-flavored horror yarn Trick or Treat is buried in the back of #66 (dubbed a "comedy/thriller"?!?). This film still needs a decent DVD presentation, but the likelihood of that was hampered by a glut of shady cheapie discs a few years ago. Fingers-crossed someone will look into this one now that those releases aren't clogging dollar stores anymore. This write-up at least provides some tidbits from the late Tony Fields who played the hair-teased demonic rocker and director. Mayyyyybeeee you'll see,
someone's put a spell on me!

Femme Fatale Article: Caroline Munro: The Black Cat by Alan Jones

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Interesting little article from the pages of Femme Fatale (09/00/Vol.7/4&5 "Hammer Vamps" double issue) concerning Luigi Cozzi's still seldom seen Demons 6: De Profundis (Il gato nero/The Black Cat) (1989) (thoughts here). Most odd is the lack of noting how Italian producers weaseled their way out of fully paying Munro for her involvement, which can be read about over at Lost Video Archive in a 1991 Fangoria article. Shades of Adrien Brody's recent problems with Argento's Giallo.

Creepshow (1982) - 1983 Warner Home Video VHS & 1982 Plume Graphic Novel

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One of the reasons I deeply respect the late Fangoria/Gorezone writer Chas. Balun were his frank, to-the-point opinions. He was a divisive character amongst his critics. They often pointed to his tendency of changing his viewpoints over time (yet don't we all?), showing extra favor toward the work of friends in the business (Jim Van Bebber can do no wrong), and being somewhat blinded by ample flares of gore. Reading through Balun's work, these charges are clearly true in some instances, but generally he would tell it like it is irrespective of the popular perspective. As Stephen R. Bissette aptly put it in Balun's great compilation, Gore Score 2001: The Splatter Years, "an unapologetic Gorehound [that] dared to stand and be counted."

In that very same guide rests his thoughts on George A. Romero's homage horror anthology, Creepshow (1982). True to form, Balun sees this amalgam as I, "a mildly uneven mix of horror rehash, predictable stories, and a strange schizophrenic bonding of comic books, animation, [and] gaudy pop lighting..." My opinion may not go quite that far, but I've secretly never cared for this widely accepted classic. Romero is obviously crafting his love letter to the glorious days of pre-code comics that reveled in salacious depictions of dastardly femme fatales and grisly fears from beyond the tomb. There's no fault to that since they're still awesome fertile ground for the horror movie to explore. Our beloved George's workman-like direction just can't take advantage of his preferred medium to lift the EC Comics-comic style beyond what's already experienced on the page. Not to mention the gaggle of unlikeable characters. That's another touch to what Creepshow's paying ode, but it's just tough to reap enjoyment from watching a bunch of bitter assholes in what should be an orgy of ol' horrortastic fun.

And I hate saying that because it sounds like I'm breaking some sacred commandment. Like the ghost of Vincent Price will suddenly fling the door open and in a blaze of blinding light sling a phantom axe into my face for such an indiscretion. I may have never warmed to it, but Creepshow deserves respect. It's the kind of all-star gathering--like Romero's crew and production with a John Carpenter cast--that we don't see anyone of a such big Hollywood scale. It's sad to think that it probably couldn't happen today anyway.

I mean, what the hell would that look like? A found footage, torture porn psycho drama starring Tobin Bell and some random young piece o' ass directed by Eli Roth? On the other hand, Creepshow has a cavalcade of welcomingly familiar faces in front of the camera and instantly recognizable credits that can be likened to a delayed gift to horror fans that stands as a landmark of a lost era. Nowadays, godawful spoofs like Stan Helsing are marketed to us like we're supposed to be grateful anyone cares enough to even do that much. Still, while Creepshow isn't a bad film by any stretch, it's personally one that isn't visited too often and I always come away underwhelmed when I do. Might even have a softer spot for Gornick's often beat-on sequel...

Although that doesn't mean I don't like Warner's original clamshell video release from 1983. There's something tactile and substantial about holding these big plastic cases in your hands. The layout of the clamshell VHS cover below was the same template Warner used until 1985 when they switched to the usual cardboard slipcover. Despite this edition of Creepshow not being very rare at all, it's my favorite clamshell from the studio. The large paperback graphic novel, published by Plume/New American Library in July 1982, is much rarer. Written by King with art from Berni Wrightson (his first collaboration with the author), it's a full color comic telling of the movie drawn in EC-style. And yes, that's King looking like Madman Marz without the fucked nose on the back.

Sundown Follow-up: Fangoria #88 Nov. 1989 Article - The Town that Dreaded SUNDOWN by Larry Barsky

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Given the near total lack of information about Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (aside from the DVD), I thought scanning this old Fangoria article chronicling aspects of the production might both educate and entice. This Fango has Halloween 5 as its cover story. Click the pics for full readable sizes!

Click for the other three pages»

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Some thoughts and factoids about Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (1995)

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With BoGD going through an impromptu spat of demonic horror viewing, an entry about Ernest Dickerson's Demon Knight was inevitable. The Cryptkeeper's first "official" foray onto the big screen is one of the best contemporary horror films of the '90s and the last great studio genre picture before Craven's postmodern slasher meanderings. Although some of that might be the sentimental value talking. This is one of the first "new release" features from my early days of discovering the genre. My mom even allowed me to watch it upon first renting the tape--a huge event for a 12-year-old.

I knew I had to revisit this one last night after flipping through the radio and landing on Pantera's Cemetery Gates on my way home from work. A song that you just don't hear on standard FM, let alone any Pantera, that's on Demon Knight's soundtrack along with groups like Ministry, Rollins Band, Sepultura, and Gravediggaz. I spend many a night listening to that battered CD doing homework.

Anywho, Demon Knight still holds up exceedingly well today despite never being particularly frightening. It's a brand of horror that steadily went straight-to-video after the effects of Scream and its malaise of derivatives. Demons just aren't winning box office fodder anymore and this outlandish screamfest inadvertently hammered in the final nail. A shame really, as some of the scariest and some of the most easygoing of modern horror involved Satan's servants. Preppy teens in self-aware peril and agonizing torture became the average movie-goer's new scare fare.  

The presence of strong, non-racially motivated African American characters is what might be the most refreshing aspect. There's no urban settings or Tyler Perry Madea stereotype bull here; just black and white characters desperately trying to maintain a unified front against man-about-Hell Billy Zane. Well, all except Thomas Haden Church's Roach. The actor then primarily known as the bumbling mechanic on the sitcom Wings delivers a perfect backstabbing asshole...with smokin' nipples. William Sadler, veteran of two episodes of HBO's Crypt series, conveys his lead's generations of divine right merely through his grisled visage. God of character actors Dick Miller gets a very meaty part, any film that does this automatically earns good boy points, and Miller should have patented the "loveable drunk" bit role which he can pull of masterfully in his sleep. Of course, the self-deprecating coolness of Zane's Collector steals the show out from everyone. It's performances like this that make one wonder why Zane never seemed to gain the popularity he should have, but then again, his abilities evoke those of Bruce Campbell and we all know of his "limited" mainstream status nowadays.

Onto the trivia, Demon Knight (along with Bordello of Blood) had the unfortunate fate of being one of Universal's horror titles licensed out to Image Entertainment for distribution on DVD while Uni handled the VHS and Laserdisc. Image didn't produce any special features, so Universal didn't feel the need to do so or have the option to port anything over from Image for their independent DVD re-release in 2003. Although a short EPK video was made (seen here). The following tidbits are from Tales From The Crypt: The Official Archives by Digby Diehl. An excellent, full color coffee table book covering (most comprehensively) the original EC comic run, HBO's television series, Crypt collectibles, Demon Knight, Bordello of Blood, and more. The book is out of print and can be pricey, so I felt the need to share these facts about Dickerson's film for those who don't have it.

• Writers Reiff, Voris, and Bishop first penned the screenplay in 1987 while in college.
• The Collector was originally known as The Salesman. 
• The screenplay was shopped around Hollywood with director Tom Holland (Fright Night, Child's Play) initially interested with wishes for Chris Sarandon as Brayker and Tommy Lee Jones as The Collector. Holland instead went on to bomb with 1987's Fatal Beauty.
• Pet Semetary director Mary Lambert was then interested, but after Semetary's sequel bombed her chance to helm was dashed.
• The writers started to think their creation was cursed until their screenplay was optioned by Universal with Ernest Dickerson, a fan of the Crypt comics and Famous Monsters magazine, joining up with the writers to iron out the script.
• Dickerson initially wanted Willem Dafoe and Val Kilmer as The Collector and Brayker respectively.
• The way the demons are born was inspired by Hydra's teeth forming the skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts (1963).
• Shooting the demons in the eyes was inspired by the old adage "the eyes are the window to the soul"
• EC Comics pioneer Max Gaines and comic censorship crusader Fredric Wertham would have particularly taken issue with the ocular violence in the film.
• The original idea for the look of the demons was guys in black suits and sunglasses until effects man Todd Masters thought that was dumb.
• Masters's extremely lean demon design was economical with batteries placed in the crotch piece for the radio-controlled tail.

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Today was Horror Mag & Mega Awesome Poster Day on my Picking in the Sticks!

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Traveling ninety miles in the wilds of Pennsylvania for two days straight to look for the types of stuff I geek out over is daunting. The state isn't particularity known as a haven of horror, despite the upcoming Horrorfind Weekend dropping in Gettysburg instead of Murderla...I mean Maryland. That's not a slight against the birth place of the modern zombie, but it doesn't come to mind as a natural place to unearth horror goodies. It's actually a hard place to find a certain type of most things.

Antiques and collectible shops can be found all over the lower half of Pennsylvania--most are shit. You either get that high brow garbage for people that can afford to blow thousands on darky wind-ups or gaudy eight hundred pound dressers. Or broken, old, and sun-bleached crap no one wants. Or crafts. Fuck crafts. There's also so much that you might walk into a place with nothing while the shop across the street you didn't even consider is a honeyhole. Whatever the case, VHS is treated with the same apathy, but with generally higher prices. No old dude, your tape of Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever isn't worth four bucks along with your other two hundred easily found tapes that will never sell.  Ma'am, you're worthless Disney tapes have tripped into negative points of worthlessness from their covers being so faded that it's impossible to tell what the movie is unless you look at the tape. Take several trips to the dumpster.      

I also had ignorant assholes crowding me out with surprising frequency both days. As a guideline of courtesy, if someone is already looking at a small box or general section of movies, I make a point to wait at a distance until they move on. I don't stand pretty much right by their side, lean over right in front of them, and/or reach across right in front of their faces to grab something. I had this occur on five or six occasions from both sexes young and old. Stand the fuck back, especially if you're one of those idiots who has to look at the cover of every movie to identify it. Learn to read or get a new hobby. You'd think in a place with so much beautifully empty countryside...

I might sound just a touch bitter, but I'm pretty excited. All said and done, some badass stuff was saved from the clutches of the land of John Deere and cow shit. Most of these classic mags were only five bucks or less which is nuts considering their age and popularity on the collector's market. Also scored a few fresher horror movie mags for $2 a piece. But the real story are the two posters I absolutely had to make mine.

The first, a full size 27x40 one-sheet for Redneck Zombies for Trans World Entertainment's home video release. This isn't the film's original poster (seen here), but the TWE re-design either sent to or requested by video stores to help drum up awareness. I love Pericles Lewnes's feature way more than what's recommended to the general public, so I had to own this. There is some staining along the bottom left, but the huge graphic is bright and in great condition. The second, a 24x36 advert for Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors from Media's video release. Another favorite, this one (I believe) was part of a two poster set that were sent to video stores bound together. The perforated bottom edge indicates that the long sheet was probably tore in half to result in two posters. I see these posters marrying my prior love for the movies and my present love for the tapes and movies. I'll be framing these real soon!

TALES OF THE ZOMBIE #1, Curtis/Marvel 1973

MONSTERS UNLEASHED #1, Curtis/Marvel 1973

CREEPY #50, Warren 1973

ALIEN OFFICIAL MOVIE MAGAZINE, Warren 1979 (sticker on the outer bag)

(Ultra Violent #7 & 8, Dark Side #118, Filmfax #42, Rue Morgue #85)

Click to see pictures from the pillage!»

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Swap Meet Finds: You opened the box, we came...

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This morning yielded a great haul. So much so I'm going to do a bulleted rundown with details on what I discovered. Many of the tapes are from a familiar dealer, notice the price stickers, who disappeared a few weeks ago. No idea what happened, but a guy that buys everything in bulk from other sellers that can't move their stuff had the tapes for nothing. All the tapes were either a buck or 50¢ and the books were $2(!) a piece.

• Penitentiary (Xenon)
  
• Midnight (1989, notice the cover is ripped from Barbeau in Creepshow)
• Friday the 13th, Part 6: Jason Lives / Halloween II
• The Concrete Jungle (1982, RCA/Columbia Home Video, quite rare)
• Severed Ties (1992)
  
• Dawn of the Dead (Thorm EMI) / Raiders of the Lost Ark (factory sealed)
• Angels Hard as They Come (1971, Embassy Video)
• Not of this Earth (1988)
• Scream (1981, Vestron / destroyed box but the tape looks good)
• Phantom of the Opera (Robert Englund)
• Jacob's Ladder / Fright Night
• Fun in Acapulco (1963, extremely old Magnetic Video edition)
• Manhunter / The Reptile (Anchor Bay clamshells)
• DVDs: The Wicker Man (theatrical) / Zombie Pack w/ Zombi 3 / After Death / Killing Birds
• MGM Greatest Moments (51 minute video sampler hosted by Roddy McDowall)
• Drunken Master II / Fist of Legend (Tai Seng uncut editions)
• The Concrete Jungle (1982, the real British M.I.A. Video VHS, not a bootleg, unsure how I found this one in the States!)
• Johnny Guitar (1954, NTA Home Video)
• Point of Terror (1971, Neon Video clamshell)

• Horror and Fantasy in the Movies by Tom Hutchinson (1974)
• Horrors from Screen to Scream by Ed Naha (1975)
• The Best, Worst, and Most Usual Horror Films (1983)
• Cult Horror Films by Welch Everman (1993)
  
• The Movie Treasury: Horror Movies by Alan G. Frank (1974)
• The Movie Treasury: Gangster Movies by Harry Hossent (1974)
• An Album of Modern Horror Films by Frank Manchel (1983)
  

Click to see the pictures of the haul»

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Swap Meet Finds: Today was Mainstream Bootleg and Karate Kid Day!

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Oh how my life is thrill-packed! Heh. Anywho, anyone who is a seasoned swap meet picker is probably quite aware of the following phenomenon. This doesn't happen every time, but there's certain days where you see the same particular yet random things again-and-again. Maybe a movie, book, or something strange like the same portable Technics radio or Dora the Explorer umbrella. Well, today I kept seeing sellers across different swap meets with a variety of bootleg tapes of '90s flicks and the old RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video tape of The Karate Kid, Part II. Must have seen that one five times today.

The day started off with a bang...sorta. The first tape I found within minutes of the first place was Video Gems's big box of I Dismember Mama (gotta love this trailer). The only problem is that the actual tape is missing with the inner clamshell case having a big Continental Video sticker indicating Class Reunion Massacre. Blah, it was only a buck and I already have both tapes with I Dismember Mama being cut-up. The same guy had the common Anchor Bay Evil Dead 2 clamshell and a beat up Transmutations. Still want to check out the latter since my copy was unplayable with ribbons of mold invading the tape. Finally, the 1992 Columbia/Fangoria Films embarrassment, Severed Ties.

Though in what's the coolest buy of this weekend, I got a binder containing Fangoria #268, 270, 275, 277, 279, 280, 288, 290, 291, Horrorhound #20-22, Rue Morgue #95, and Heavy Metal Fall 2007 30th Anniversary Special for $14!?!

Five, six, grab your spiral notebook

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Found this for three bucks this morning, from 1989 with unmarked pages. What's with kids today, huh?

This whole Shock Festival thing...

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Am I the only left cold by Stephen Romano's Shock Festival, at least in paper form? Much like the faux trailers in Grindhouse, this book complies a pandora's box of pulpy 42nd Street backwash, filmmakers, and actors that never existed luridly splashed upon soiled paper found on the sticky floors of some seedy Big Apple dime theater. That sounds great...until you flip through the pages for yourself.

Well, that was my personal reaction flipping through this weightless tome at Borders a few weeks back. I had never heard of Shock Festival before this run-in and at first glance thought it had the makings of one of the most awesome cult film coffee books ever on aesthetic grounds. After about three seconds, this lust deflated with the realization everything was made up. Anyone whose been a devotee of maverick exploiters knows it's hard enough to keep up with the real selections lurking across the globe yet to land into our grubby hands for consumption.

Yes, it's colorfully rendered junk food (think those weird spongy pink peanuts) for those who hold Christina Lindberg and Soledad Miranda in goddess status. I just couldn't help thinking that, at best, this rather expensive ($25-40) book can be likened to an annoying dream. You know, those dreams were one finds great material wealth only to realize it'll all be gone once your eyes crack open? You then grumble and roll over trying to avoid the old hag.

This sounds mighty hypocritical of me, but why should I give a damn? No doubt much creativity, knowledge, and love of the aped material from Romano and artists pour from the pages. I'd just much rather pick up and actually learn something from a few Video Watchdogs, HorrorHounds, or a similar priced book/guide covering a real cult movie subgenre or filmmaker. The commissioned poster art and mentions of hiring Shock Festival for said art jobs on the official site only smell of the book being a portfolio with an MSRP for Mr. Romano. The 352-page book is like reading the back stats on baseball cards of players who went nowhere. Who really cares after an initial browse through it? It's not like years later you finally see one of these hidden gems and then pick the book back up to once again read with a new perspective.

There is a Shock Festival DVD release coming in at a whopping three discs (DVDTalk review) that seems like a better investment for the sake of the real trailers included. Still, give me 42nd Street Forever or give me death. Since this entry is basically free publicity for SF, I'd say judge for yourself (preferably first hand before you buy), just because Grindhouse's trailers rocked the Casbah doesn't necessarily lend the concept to something equally as good when presented in such large quantities.

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Too Old for Candy?

Yes sir, another BoGD look what I bought entry! On Halloween no less. Of course, no one is too old for candy (well, not entirely true) but it sure is a damn good excuse to buy more horror flicks today instead of a bag of "fun size" Snickers that will only rot your teeth, make you smooch greasemonkey mechanics, and say things like "Peanutopolis."

I hit up a madhouse Wal Mart this morning to snag the Gritty Horror Tales triple feature for Baby Blues (imdb link). Who knows when they'll pull all those five buck horror selections after today, especially this particular disc being a chain exclusive. Next Best Buy for Slaughter High (unrated) and Fido in Fear.net's body bags for 2 for $15 (see list at FiS). Let's Scare Jessica to Death was in a dump bin with a bunch of other mostly non-horror $5 titles and I gave in to a $24.99 Blu-ray of Night of the Creeps. This one will be watched tonight so hopefully I'll deliver thoughts tomorrow on this gem (already have the HBO Laserdisc and bootleg DVD-R) and its presentation on Blu-ray.

The rest above are in great shape used from a local music shop, Record & Tape Traders, which for some unexplained reason rang up $3 even though marked $5. The one below Meatball Machine is Canadian Splatter Rampage edition of The Dead Next Door. Nothing special (full frame, no extras), but the cover is awesome. Tales of Voodoo, Volume 2 features Godfrey Ho's Diamond Ninja Force (1986) and Primitives (1978). I've wanted to see The Amazing Screw-on Head for quite some time and had forgotten about it until today. Prom Night '80 is Echo Bridge's anamorphic widescreen edition with an illustration of Jamie Lee with bouquet and bloody axe as the cover. Stay away from the full frame disc from Alliance Atlantis with a picture of Jamie Lee lifted from an H20 promo still reflected in a knife blade. The R-rated disc of Shadow: Dead Riot was only a buck, so yeah.

Also my copy of Trick 'r Treat: Tales of Mayhem, Mystery, and Mischief by John Griffin arrived the other day and although the book is thee must-have for fans--it arrived sealed in plastic. I'm one of these "DO NOT OPEN" collector freaks so I'm contemplating ordering another to open and enjoy. I spent a good portion of time thumbing through one at Borders before the DVD and couldn't believe such through, wonderfully creative book was complied for a completely untested movie. Now that I've fallen in love, I want to dig through its pages with fresh eyes. When I do get another (or just decide to open this one); I'll give it a write-up here.

Book Ramblings: Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide by Glenn Kay

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Published by The Chicago Review Press, 2008.

If you're looking for an easy-reading horror flick-oriented guide to give as a holiday gift to a young budding horrorhound niece or nephew, Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide makes a great, freshly up-to-date candidate. That isn't a mark against this book, but there's nothing too thought provoking here for seasoned horror fanatics.

The guide is broken up chronologically starting in the '30s to present day tracking the gradual change from voodoo minion to raging infected in the horror subgenre. The foreword by Re-Animator/From Beyond director Stuart Gordon is very short and comes off as a halfhearted history of zombiedom which is the point of the guide anyway. The only thing of value is a small tidbit on Gordon wanting his Re-Animator re-animated to act animalistic as if on a "super meth speedball."

The brief interviews are no great shakes as well. Everyone knows Greg Nicotero and Tom Savini love to talk so you've probably heard their spiel before in numerous other chats. To be blunt, I couldn't care less reading the Q&A's with Dawn 04' /LotD zombie extra John Migliore, LotD's Number 8 Jennifer Baxter, Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness chief Colin Geddes, or Diary of the Dead-EFX handlers Gaslight Studios. I decided not to read the interview with Fido director Andrew Currie concerning his film--still on my unseen wishlist. This leaves only two insightful (yet still condensed) sessions with Braindead/Shaun of the Dead special make-up tech Stuart Conran and Lucio Fulci's daughter Antonella.

Kay's reviews are breezy, well-written, and cover a good number of obscurities (nearly 300 in total) yet are mostly unchallenging. Ratings are denoted by little zombie sketches and you can call which films receive the top "Highly Recommended" rating in your sleep. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but again hardened genreheads probably won't find much to bitch over with the author's critiques. Though fresh meat just dipping their toes into the guide's topic will learn much about the important examples and their place in history. If I had to take issue; The Child (1977), The Video Dead (1987), Redneck Zombies (1987), Sole Survivor (1983), The Dead Pit (1989), Burial Ground (1980), Zombi 4 (1989), and Zombie Holocaust (1980) all deserve not to be avoided "at all costs." Also Jean Rollin's 1978 The Grapes of Death (Les Raisins de la mort) is one damn fine addition to the brain-eater spectrum and I struggle to praise Land of the Dead as highly, Mr. Kay.

As aforementioned, Zombie Movies works well as a great starter for youngsters. The writing is inoffensive, the images are mostly in monochromatic PG-13, and dammit, don't you remember how much fun those dusty horror film books you had as a kid were? Aside from that recommendation, I'd suggest rabid celluloid deadheads seek out Jamie Russell's much more comprehensive Book of the Dead: The Complete History of Zombie Cinema published by FAB Press still in-print as of this writing.

Just in: The Art of the Nasty, 2nd Edition

UPS just dropped Salvation/FAB Press's just released revised edition of Nigel Wingrove and Marc Morris' The Art of the Nasty at my door. I had never heard of the first edition from Redemption Books back in 1999. This hardcover 160-page book (1st edition was a paperback @ 140 pages) is billed as the most comprehensive collection of British video nastie and pre-cert video sleeves ever assembled. There's 450 front covers separated into the still banned nasties, "ban lifted" nasties, sleazy pre-certs, and "best of the rest" pre-certs categories. Each title is given a paragraph detailing various details like plot points, video/DVD re-issues, potential cuts, odd quirks, and best/worst picture. There's also an appendix featuring every release from the studios featured in the book in list form before the incredible piece of extreme state censorship known as the 1984 Video Recordings Act was passed. A revised and the original 1999 introductions from Wingrove start the book.

The glossy cover and page layout is extremely streamlined and attractive. Though all the "whiteness" might require kid gloves for heavy reference if one cares about the book's condition. There is overlap with FAB's Shock! Horror!: Astounding Artwork From The Video Nasty Era, but I'm noticing unique covers in both. Awesome artwork and you can see why they (negatively) caught the public's eye. If only there was an American VHS sleeve tome!

Book Ramblings: Gore Score 2001 by Chas. Balun

The Splatter Years
Published by Michael Matthews Publishing, WA / 2000
First Edition (complete with little spelling/title labeling errors)

A collection of reviews from his two prior '80s Gore Scores and Deep Red magazine, Balun's observations are sure to leave many pleased and as many bewildered. Gore Score 2001: The Splatter Years is a 303-page paperback review guide packed with alphabetized "capsule" reviews starting with The Abomination (1988) and ending with Zone Troopers (1985). Black and white film stills/posters and little interesting quote insets from Horror personalities are scattered throughout. There are two bookend articles by Jack Ketchum and Stephen Bissette concerning Balun's (minorish) influence on genre writing along with a short introduction by Balun. The reviews are accompanied with a 0-4 skull rating in half increments ("0" represented by a dog), body count number, director, year, and runtime (sometimes).

The writer/reviewer certainly has his foes with charges of altering reviews over time. Balun has a salty, almost juvenile wit about his insights and revisiting the book it does less for me now. The obvious high ratings are there; Henry, Cannibal Holocaust, Re-Animator, Braindead, and Evil Dead (& 2) are given a "classic, must-see" 4-skulls. Yet other highly regarded flicks are puzzlingly passed off to the shitpile. Lustig's Maniac is the biggest (most offensive?) example, being deemed a "reprehensible snuff film made by former pornographers" that's a "low point in a long, long season of low points."

Say what? Other examples are 1.5 skulls for Intruder, 1 skull for I Spit on your Grave, 1 skull for The Lost Boys, 2 skulls for Friday the 13th: Part 6: Jason Lives, 2 skulls for Phantasm, and 2.5 skulls for Near Dark. Somehow Sommer's 1999 Mummy gets a few sentences and a 3 skull rating. The length of reviews seem wacky as well. Graveyard Shift is given a full column, while Humanoids from the Deep is a short plot summary. Monster Dog is simply "Title says it all. With Alice Cooper. Fuck It."

Though I can't not recommend Balun's rants and raves. Reading this book back in 2001, a copy purchased from and signed by "Chas" himself at the first Horrorfind, I was surprised at all the flicks covered I had never heard of. Looking at it now, I realize this isn't a bad read for those not very familiar with the wealth of titles still landlocked on VHS. Many are available on disc, but with many being around 1985 through 1989ish, quite a few are still "tape titles." Some covered are the aforementioned The Abomination, Lunchmeat, Forced Entry, Dreamaniac, Rocktober Blood, and L. Bava's The Devil's Veil. Balun even sticks in a few Hong Kong nasties; like Dr. Lamb, Retribution Sight Unseen, Run and Kill, and Centipede Horror.

For the $10-$15 prices seen online, I'd say Gore Score 2001 is worth picking up for the sheer amount jogged through, especially when looking over his fluffy and boring Beyond Horror Holocaust which I actually regret buying.

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Goodwill Finds: The Quickening

Went out today to a bunch of area Goodwills and Salvation Army thrift stores. Found cool shit.

The Nightmare Never Ends (Premiere Entertainment Clamshell)
Music Video from Streets of Fire (26 minute promo tape with 5 music videos and making-of)
Slaughterhouse (on Beta!)
Relentless
Circuitry Man
Bloodsport (Cannon VHS, vintage Kumite)
Prom Night (1981 MCA VHS)
Prom Night 3: The Last Kiss (The DVD is heavily edited)
My Name Is Nobody (KCA Home Video)

The Movie Treasury: Horror Movies by Alan G. Frank
Bruce Lee: King of Kung-fu (published in 1974)

A Mitsubishi HS-U560 4-Head Hi-fi VCR. This is the top of Mitsu's "Perfectape" line as far as standard VHS is concerned. The next level up, the 570, is the exact same build except with S-VHS playback. It's power, video/audio, and cable components are separated within the deck and the power supply is freakin' huge for a VCR. It was sitting atop of a pile of shitty Sansui units and after some haggling I got it for $10 with the remote. Appears to work perfectly, playing Hellraiser III now, played Fright Night 2 earlier.

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Books That Should Be Translated: Million Mook's Splatter Carnival

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Unsure why I bought this from Amazon.jp a few years back. Besides the fact literature seems dirt cheap in Japan, I don't speak or read a lick of Japanese. Well, I can say "help me" in creepy voice from K. Kurosawa's outstanding Kairo. This film reference guide, Splatter Carnival 2001, was as far I could tell part of a series of seven pocket-sized cinema guides. The only others I can remember were devoted to action flicks and Kaiju.

Unfortunately, the binding is so tight there's no way to scan pages without breaking the spine, but I'll do my best to describe the contents. Running at 286 pages, this guide covers everything from Japanese classics, American slashers, Italian gore, British creekers, and a shitload of stuff in between. The bulk is in black and white with colors ads and a "nightmare gallery" scattered throughout. The nightmare gallery consists of glossy color images of posters, memorabilia, garage kit statues, and soundtracks. There's one particular soundtrack CD for Lustig's Maniac pictured in which the disc is in the shape of Joe Spinell's head with him looking all sweaty psycho! I want that, dammit!

The layout is a bit puzzling. The guide is mostly chopped up with "Horror Maker's Profiles" followed by little write-ups on the given director/actor/make-up artists films with (many) small stills. Many recognizable names like Clive Barker, H.G. Lewis, George Romero, Jess Franco, Tom Savini, Dario Argento, Pete Walker, David Cronenberg, Paul Naschy, Jean Rollin, Mario Bava, Umberto Lenzi, Ruggero Deodato, Sam Raimi, Joe D'Amato, and Giannetto De Rossi are covered. The strange part comes in with portions seemingly having a randomized order to the reviews, especially towards the back end of the guide. The Shining is featured next to The Boogeyman which is followed by The Lift and Death Ship. Though it seems like subgenres like vamps, zombies, Hammer's output, and Japanese horror are loosely sectioned off. It's also cool to see Re-Animator called "Zombio", Scanners "Telepathy 2000", and Phantasm "The Never Dead."

There's also an interview with Ryûhei Kitamura concerning Versus. The last few pages are dedicated to a grid listing of a plethora of films dating from 1944 to 2001 by year. Most feature English titles and include release year, director (in Japanese), leads (in Japanese), and abbreviations of the studios who released them on VHS and DVDs (if applicable) in Japan.

Very cool indeed, if only it was ported for English-speaking readers!

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'Zine Ramblings: Lunchmeat #3 Review

Lunchmeat Jones and the Temple of 1/2" Doom

Published by Comfy Couch Publishing / 2009
http://www.myspace.com/lunchmeatzine
lunchmeatvhs@gmail.com

Stupidly, I held off on the opportunities to nab Issues #1 and #2. A fanzine primarily focusing on horror and cult VHS seems right up my alley, and with some friendly nudging from Freddy in Space--I finally gave in to stubbornness and ordered #3 direct from eBay.

A quick wait and the magazine landed in my mailbox yesterday afternoon. After the slick and vibrant front and back cover, the next thing to strike me were the many welcoming staples of an indie fanzine. All the pages are printed in black-and-white on dull paper with no ads and little misspellings and format inconsistencies lurking about. This lack of sheen doesn't matter with the extremely concise use of page space with a ribald exuberance mixed into the ink. In fact, the magazine seems to strive for a rough feel with much of the text in a purposely distressed (but easy to read) "typewriter" font.

The bulk of the featured VHS reviews start things off with most written by either Josh Schafer and Ted Gilbert--as is most of the magazine. There's a nice, amusing flow between the two, usually with each writer alternating per whole page review. Front/Back cover scans are also included and you can these guys don't particularly mind stickered or the dreaded cut box. Though most importantly the tail end of the reviews usually detail the VHS edition itself; speaking to picture/sound quality, rarity, and/or the film's presumed distribution situation. I'm personally more into tiny nerdish details like this, so I was left wanting more, despite the attention given being much more than what you'd find anywhere else. Some of the flicks covered in no particular page order are The Black Room (1984), Screamtime (1983), W (1983), Mutant Hunt (1987), Deadline (1981), and Paperhouse (1988). Louia Justin also provides much appreciated thoughts on 1986's seldom reviewed and even "seldomer" found The Abomination. Oh yes, one day I will find you...

To be honest, after these reviews stopped, the spotlight on VHS lessens along with Lunchmeat's appeal to some extent. We move on to an article/review by Gilbert dedicated to vintage pulpy sci-fi mags; this time placing a Fall 1946 issue of Planet Stories under focus. Next an interview conducted by Rick Fusselman with David A. Prior; director of the legendary Sledgehammer, Killer Workout (reviewed as well), and Night Wars. Prior's still working as of late, but it's always nice to hear the thoughts of such seemingly "lost" genre directors and his earlier cannon snaps in well with the home video boom. The aforementioned Sledgehammer is certainly one of the most sought after in horrortapedom.

The late '80s/early '90s child-friendly TV spookfest Monsters is showcased in an article covering three of WorldVision's VHS releases. This might be the best aspect of the magazine, since I was a fan like Schafer and there being a plethora of such one-offs of obscure television on tape that are all too neglected by the horror community. Director of The Bloody Ape and longtime genre VHS collector Keith Crocker is interviewed, providing a taste to the enthusiasm of the hobby with war stories and tips on how to approach the art of dead format hording. Though I must admit never hearing of Mr. Crocker or his body of underground work before this, but that's just the magazine doing its job.

Rounding out the 'zine are articles concerning horror-tinted sword-and-sandal such as Bava's Hercules in the Haunted World and Fulci's Conquest, the Republic serials Zombies of the Stratosphere and The Crimson Ghost, a spread of the staff's favorite demonic VHS covers, and crossword pertaining to the world of Hammer Horror.

As mentioned, this more formal content provides good diversion from the magazine's primary theme, or at least VHS horror fanzine selling point. That's the problem though, there's too much "other" stuff (not that it's bad) while many things that are begging to be explored within the Realm of the Bloody Tape are untouched. Maybe golden era home video studio spotlights with reviews of their most popular releases. Throw in some reviews of tapes hailing from countries outside the States. Expand coverage to other dead formats like CED, Laserdisc, and even Beta. Perhaps a running price guide of sorts. A continual article showcasing one of the "rarest of the rare." Hell, crazy shit like tape collecting "theory" could be made so zany that it's magnetic to the last sentence.

I can't be too hard on these guys though. Like other great obsessive fanzines, hearts are clearly in the right place--as in splattered all over the page. It's funner, cheaper (tired of blowing a ten on genre mags), and refreshingly provides angles rarely touched in the biggies like Fangoria or Rue Morgue. I'm glad I decided to get in early and wholeheartedly recommend this issue, despite the growing pains. I'm there for #4 and look forward to see what is unearthed in the future. Viva la VHS!

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