Shock Xpress, Winter 1987

INSIDE:

-Ie Winter 1987

WIN LITTLESHOPOFHORRORSAND THELAMp ONVIDEO! FRI\NK HENENLOnER INTERVIEWED! RICCARDO FREDA FILMOGRAPHY! BRIAN DE PALMA ON BEING UNTOUCHABLE! SHAUN HUTSON'STOP TEN HORRORS! TOBE HOOPER ON CHAINSAWS ! FACES OF DEATHEXPOSED! BRAD F. GRINTER REDISCOVERED ! REVIEWS OF: COMBAT SHOCK . .. NIGHT OF THE SORCERORS . .. THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVEN . . . RIVER'SEDGE . .. BLOOD FREAK . . . AND MANY MORE! HAMMER SEASON TRASHED! VIDEO REVIEWS! RABID CORRESPONDENCE! VILENE./iS! VITRIOL! VENOM ! TOO MUCH!

Vol. 21ssue2. £1.25

PRESSWAYTO YOUR SKULL Well , wc're a lmost at the end of another year,

and this time we\:e succeeded in getling three whole issues out. But perhaps wc're some way towards solving the proble ms o f OU T erratic appeara nces (if quest ioned close ly o n that point J will of course deny all knowledge of ' improved' regul arity ... ) and wc' re certa inly continuing to

add to the 'design' aspect. H all goes well this issue will sec us through to the new year, with the next due at an indeterminate conju nction of the pla nets in Janu ary.

Last time I wrote the ed ito ria l befo re the rest of

the issue came together , and that, plus Ramsey's Dicee (probably the besHcccivcd featu re wc've run) provided a ki nd of ideological springboard (or some thing) which he lped the rest of the issue ta ke shape . This time I've left the editorial until last, mainly due to the fact that as the weeks have rolled past numerous points have raised themse lves, but nothing that has thrown me into the paroxisms o( fear a nd loa thing like the clection a nd the Obscene Publicat ions Amcndment did last time. So what we have he re is basically a grab-bag of plat itudes and pontifications (what'S new ... ?) togethe r with some ideas you might want to respond to.

* * * On August 1st, we presented the fi rst 'Shock Around the Clock' ho rro r and Xploitation fi lm festiva l in conju nction with London's Cily Limits magazine. The Scala cinem a, well-known warhorse for trash marathons, found itse lf brimming with dedicated gore fanti cs, sleaze balls and curious mutants for a pe riod of ove r 18 hours.

The majority o f the SX team emerged as well as numero us visiting celebrities - directors Clive Barker a nd John Ho ugh , special effects man Bob Keen a nd most of the Hellraiser crew, Hellraiser's producer C hris Figg, and ho rror author Shaun Hutson. Ten films were screened , nine of which were previews for the London area, the o the r being the classic 1958 st inke r She Demo"s shown at 7.00 a m Sunday , it fin ished e ven the most hardcore schlock fans o ff better than a mammoth dose o f va lium ... The ot her films to receive screenings we re (in order): A Relflrn to Salem's Lot, Salvatio,,!, American Gothic, HelIraiser, The Stepfather, Street Trash, A Nigilimare 0 " Elm Streer 3, Witchboard and The Lamp.

Audience response was at times fairly overwhelming - Nigh tmare 3 sounded like a Superbowl game, and the three rounds of riotous appla use a nd bellowi ng following the uncut Street Trash threatened to bring the roof down.

Hellraisers recept io n was a little less raucous, as befits o ne of the few ge nuine ly inspired, serio us ho rror film s in recent yea rs. Barker himse lf was a lmost mo bbed after taking part in a panel

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discussio n ... A ltoge ther a wild ly successful event (Wirchboard notwithstanding I' m so rry to say), which left even me sat isfied ...

A couple of days later I finally succeeded in giving myse lf terminal brain disease with a pilgrimage to observe the Butthole Surfers at the Clarendon. Arte r the thoroughly abysmal rOt cranked out by the massive ly over-hyped AR Kane and deeply repellent toads The Shamen, the Buttholes we re like a o ne- hour breath of stale ai r, 60 minutes of having some terrible drug shot straight into the ce ntral nervous syste m. Pure bliss. I was deaf for approxi mate ly 36 hours aftc r By the time I'd calmed down from the ecstasy of the BUllS, it was the weekend of Conspiracy '87, the World Science Fiction Conventio n held in &righton. Probably the biggest ga the ring of freaks I've e ve r witnessed (a nd that i"c/fldes a fl eeting visit to Stone henge festival many yea rs ago ... ), Conspiracy was at tim es nearer to Hell than I'd ca re to get. Spent much time wande ring a ro und with Carl Fo rd , including about 40 minutes of a n interminable Hawkwind co ncert; a fi ne - and hilariously tasteless - panel discussion between Ramsey and Clive Barker, where the latter entertained with some well repulsive dead baby jokes a nd the former somehow ma naged to bring up his two (0 vasectomies; ma ny parties, and a trip down the pie r to eat do nu ts made fro m molte n lead.

If tha t wasn' t e no ugh , the following weekend saw myse lf and Steve Jones organising the British Fantasy Society Conventio n in Birmingham , a ve ry pleasant a nd la id back a ffai r, with 2~300 a tte ndees as o pposed to the 7000 o r so at Conspiracy. While orie nted more towa rds ho rro r/fa ntasy literature, we st ill managed to provide video scree nings of the uncut Zombie 3 and Andy Milliga n's Torture Du"geon ...

All this 'pleasure' brings me about o ne- third of the way into September, when I suddenly rea lise that ha rdly a ny of the contributio ns for the next issue (th at's th is one ... ) of Shock have arrived yet. What do we have? No advert ising, no competitions, no editorial ... Ye gods . Strange people keep turning up at the house. demanding to stay for days on e nd ; the baby develops interesti ng diseases a nd daily appears more and more li ke the e lderl y Aliste r C rowley ... But enough of this! Wha t we want is e ntertai nment A nd now, a fe w mumblings about the state of the magazine . I've been musing o n whether reade rs might e njoy to read a few choice excerpts from H .G. Lewis's novelisation of Moollshille

Moulltai", bu t fearing accusat ions of space wasting have not done so. What do you think?

Various sections of the magazine arc in the process of mutating at the moment . We now have a TV page - Ernie having bee n more than happy to turn ' Video Obscura' into his obse rvations on the more (a nd less) interesti ng aspects of the idiot box. His column reta ins its title just fo r the sake of confusion . I'm goi ng to experiment wit h a lternat ing the fa nzin e page with books a nd odd ities in pri nt. Had space a llowed I'd ha ve liked to devote some atte ntion to the weird and ofte n wonde rful publicat ions issued by Robert M. Price and his C ryptic o rga n (sorry?), as well as concentrat ing on good new fiction. Maybe even the odd movie book ... Who knows. I've ,received a surprising amount of mai l o n the subject of music ('rock' for wa nt of a better te rm), and I'm sorry to disappoint the sile ntish minority but I ca n't ho nestl y just ify taking up space wit h noise reports , no matter how psychotro nic or doom- laden they may be. A few incohere nt rambli ngs in the ed itoria l are a lii ca n envisage at the moment - though I'll interject a brief rant righ t now and state that anyone thinking of parting with money. for a poorly copied bootleg of a naff go re film dubbed into Turkish and lette rboxed to the size of a postcard should throw their cash in the di rection of Michael G ira a nd invest in the Swans' Children of God double. But fo r good music cove rage you can' t do better than A way From the Pulsebeat o r Forced Exposure (Wild BUllholcs interview in the last one) ...

That's about it for now. Billson finally got arou nd to doing a few reviews (it's only taken her 18 months ... ), Slimetimeedito r Steve Puchalski steps on board this issuc with some serious schlock and Phil 'O ne Troma Too Many' Nut man returns with a short but inte resting piece on the travails of Tobe Hoope r.

Lastly, a few book plugs. I derived much pleasure fro m the following; Dennis Etchison Red Dreams ( Berkley) ; Ramsey Campbell Dark Feasts (Robinson) and Scared Sriff (Scream/Press); Lucius Shepard - Th e Jaguar Hwuer(Arkham House); Ka rl Edward Wagner Wh y Nor You and I? (TOR); Steve RasnicTemExcavation (Avon). Shepard's collection in pa rticu la r conta ins some of thc finest stories I've read in recent memo ry, frequently defyi ng generiC ca tego risat ion a nd moving into whole new a reas of specul ative fiction .

The new fles h awaits ..

Stefan Jaworzyn Editor

Shock Xpress

-I:

Vol, 2 No.2 Winter 1987

Editor STEFAN JA WORZYN Managing Editor STEPHEN JONES Publisher JEFFREY MYERS Executive Pflblishers STE PH EN JONES & DAVID SUTTON Production TONY K 'IGHT

*** EDITORIAL ADDRESS: 26 Stanley Road. Chingford.

London E4 7DB. UK. SUBSC RIPTI ON ADDRESS: 109 Septembe r Way. Sta nmo re.

Midd, . H A7 2SF. UK. Adverlisers & de'llers ple;lse se nd a SAE to the e dito ria l address (above).

A AIRGEDLAMH PUBLICATION © 1987 Airgedlamh/Shock Xpress (COI}yrigh( reverts (0 individual contributors upon publication).

CO\'er: URAIN DAMAGE (© Frank Henenlotter) CONTRIB UTORS Anne Billson. Ramsey Ca mpbe ll . Nigel Floyd. Barry Forshaw. E rnesl Harris. Shaun Hutson. Alan Jones. Stephen Jones. Da vid Kerekes, Brian Matth ews. Kim Newman.

Philip NU lma n. Steve Puchal ski. Ed Se nio r.

David T .. ylor.

ACKNO\ VLEDGEMENTS Ava tar. Art Black. Blue DOlphin. Brc nt Wa lker.

Eric Ca idin. C:l nno n. CBS/Fox. C IC, Colu mbia.

DDA. En le rtainmc nt Film Dislributors, Brcl!

Gartcn, GaryG ittings. G uild 1·lo me Video. Mick Harne r. Nick Hayso m. Kate Hughes . J AC. C raig Ledbe tte r, Mainlin c. Med usa , Micltinen . New World . David No ltc. Orion. Palace, Jaimc Pina.

Pol ygram, Malt Presio n. PSA. Rank, RCA. Recorded Re leasing. Richard Robson Associates. Steve Roc , Sca la Cincma. Sli rneti me. 20t h Century-Fox. T ri-St:lr. UIP . Vest ro n, Vi rgin Visio n. Warn e r Bros, Winsor· Beck and a ll who hel pcd wi lh Ihis issuc.

BAC K ISSUES Th c re Me a felV copies of Vo l I. 106 aVi. ilable at 901' (inc p&p) or $3.00 (inc p&p) . Copics of Vo l 2. No I arc ava il able for £ 1.55 (in c p&p) o r S5.00 (inc p&p).

SINGLE COPIES £1.25 (plus 30p p&p) or S2.50 (plus SI.50 p&p) .

T hree issue subscript ion (i ncludcs p&p): £4.00 UK, £7.00 Europc, SIO.OO US. £8.00 rest o f world.

Available from SUBSCRIPTIO N ADDRESS "bovc.

MAIL

Write to: 26 Stanley Road , Chingford, London, E4 7DB.

So here we are again . .. I mils, say rm more ,I!(m surprised at the volume of mail we received after the last issueaml,he SX filmfest, Olle ofthe tllings tlltll struck m e this lime is the abuse faclor ill tile in·tray - til times outweighing that of 'he replies!

MallY ofmy favourite cranks put claw to paper IIIIS time around, lind I regret there's nowhere near enough. space to prim till the bizarre slllff that's come in . Remember, please enclose a SAE if yo II 11'(11/1 a reply and try to avoid 'Whereclln l get hold of . .. ' reqflests if possible.

THE MAN WHO LOST HIS MARBLES (I) Dea r Stefan, ' Shock goes pro , e h? Very nice . I must ad mi t I had my reserva lio ns about the inclusion o f four colour cove rs , typesetlings, adve rtising and a ll those general things .. ssociated with mass- ma rket publication - bU I I need not have worried . Shock remained fu ll of the ingredients of .. fi rst-class ' weirdo' zi ne with all the o ld fav e perverts o n board. I was very impressed with the art icles devoted to the obscure movies ... It ·s nice to see thai you're cate ring for the horro r ge nre in gene ra l a nd not just printing pieces o n hard-core splatter fare.

Fina ll y a compla int - what the he ll is Slephen Jones doing reviewing horror movies for Shock?

Judging from the reviews presented by Steve in this issue I wou ld say that the man hates horror movies. To describe the plot of HOllse /I as ' ridiculo us' doesn'l really say a lot docs it ? I mean al most a li lhe fil ms in your zi ne would appear to be ridiculous on the surface , but Shock reilders love such movies. But the case resls wit h Slevc's wonderfu l review of Toxic Avenger, whe re he ca lls CI(lss of Nuke'em High "i nlolcrable" a nd goes on to desc ribe the film-makers. Who docs this guy think he's preach ing 10? Churchgoers maybe. but sure ly not Shock fan s. Next lime Steve's in the pub. wa tch his tee th carefully, I'm sure they bear more than a passing rese mblance to those dent ures worn by o ur patron sa int Mary Whiteho use . Please co nfi ne Steve Jones' ravings to the 'Obit uaries' column whcre this man most ce rlainly belo ngs.

Yours insanc ly, Ca rl T . Ford .

Yes readers, the estimable Carl T. Ford, etiilOr of Dagon , hlls gOlle berserk agaill ... Whtll lI'i/l he think lip next? Read 011 •.

TilE MAN WIIO LOST illS MARBLES (II) Dear Siefan.

Having re- read your zinc this morning. it has sudde nly dawned on me thai il may we ll have bee n you thai reviewed Toxic A vel/ger and those ot he r movies mc ntioncd in my last le tter. A ll I can say , if tha i is indced the case. is sorry Mr

Sieve Jones and f**k you Stefa n. I must ad mit I was mosl surprised thilt Ih is reviewer & cditor are o ne a nd the sa me dege ne rate. My cont inued support to SX regard less.

Carl T . Ford .

II Warwick Rd. TW26SW PS. If you decide to print my fi rst comme nl S on the mattc r, plcase include the abovc so that l o nl y appea r to be a 'L ittle prat" as o pposed to a 'f**king big o ne'. C heers .

Editing the leiters collimll now wkes m e longer 1/1('" editing the rest of the magazine, Faci.

Watching House 11 (lI/dToxic Avenger were IWO of worst cinema experiences r ve had all year. Faci. / will not say l /ik e som ething, nor will i defend it. if / think it Slicks the hind legs of dead dogs. Fact.

You, O lri, can spend the allowance they give yOIf e(fch week in l/te melltal institution watching as Ullllly lousy movies as your evil lillie heart requires, and that's y our privilege. Now, would yOIi r(l(her I illtroduced lUI across-the-board policy of recommending all genre lIfo,lies regardless of quality i" case I upset someone, or would you rather I said wh(l( I felt 10 be I'flgllely 'reasonable' and what I felt vaguely approximmetl m y 'opin ion'? ( Th e latler of course being towlly selfobsessed ami entirely dependent 011 the (Jcres of advertising (Uft! 1llllOid sums I receive in payolas from film compallies who jllst love my critiques of their movies . .. J Oh damn, off the deep end again . HOlI'tiresome. Sorry. I hated the films alfli yOIl obviously didn ·t. It's not exactly dialectics, bill i,'s a SWrt ..

THE CURSE OF CTII ULHU Dear Stefa n , I must congratulate you on an excelle nl look ing. colo ur cove red Shock. But what is all this crap about Tro ma? Come on , sto p acti ng th e asshole. Even the worst Troma cou ldn't be as bad as o ne of old Joe D'Amato's 'walk around in the junglc for ycars a nd get your prick bitten off by a c.mnibalistic lesbian zombie nun on heroin' epics.

If therc is a ny more of this kind of talk I'll break your legs.

Dave Ca rson.

Pcabody Buildings.

Londo n SWI. Troma films represent the . .. 8m w/tat's that ... ? /1 can 'I be . .. the slwmbler from sw/ . comillg here.. Yog-Sothoth save m e . .. those tentacles. la! SllIIb-Niggur(l(h!

IT'S THAT MAN AGA IN! Dea r SX. 1 was su rprised to see my le iter last issue . I had assumed. judging by thc mail in issue 6, that you had to be a weird fo reigncr or noggi ng a fan zi ne (o r both) to ge t a lettc r publ ished . The new

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Shock Xp ress

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commercial look works far be ll e r tha n the 'screw'c m for eve ry pen ny' approach in SrarburSf (videos of ZolulII at ÂŁ40 each!) Unfortunate ly some art icles arc obviolls padd ing fo r the new for mat : Wi lli am Nolan lIlay likc Don't Look Now but I fou nd it like so many Rocg film s - lethargic, incompre hensible and all too spa ring in its exploita tio n cle ments, a nd I'd be most grateful to anyonc who ca n explain the plot.

Some so rt of TV co lumn is an absolute mu st.

You would n't believe how pissed off I ge t sta ying up half the night to vicw a film without cven a dcce nt piece of nippl e in it. a nd chan ncl 4 hasn't shown a dece nt film since the red triangle affair (a not he r thing to blame Ma ry Shitehouse for) , TV itse lf is looki ng up , with butch Don Henderson ba ring all in Bu/m(/II. Well , okay, it's no t my idea of fun either. but hopefully the nubi le Siobhan Remand wi ll fo llow suit in a fu ture episode.

SX is a superlat ive zinc, one o f the few I spe nd money on, and I wish you luck with the new formal. though I would like to kllOw whal Anne Billso n docs.

Simon Co le nutl.

Mytholmroyd, West York s.

You're crackillg up, SOIL rm 1101 SlIre / should tell {/ desperado sllch as YO llrself wl/{ll Alllle Billsoll does. rl'e gOllhis odd fee/ill g that Roeg iSII't {/ctually {III exploiwlioll dir(,{,lor, which might explain lack of said scenes in his movies, . And which parriCIIlllr piece of lIipple were you looking for. by the way. .? \\'('" be rlllllling a topless DUll Hemler.WII cover jllst for YO II lIext i.Hlle .

BLAIR FA N SPEA KS OUT! Dea r Stefa n.

I appreciale yo ur effo rt s to upgrade the critici sm of horro r/sleaze fi lm s. . I've e njoyed Ihe last few issues, with the la test edil io n no exceptio n. St rangely, the intc"iews see m Ih e least interesti ng (except for Larry Cohe n). as people like Ra im i and C ronen be rg get a fa ir a mo unt of atte ntion a nyway. so met hing like the Joe D'Amato anicle, though . is a rare treat and somet hing that no o ne else ca n do wilh a ny slyle.

I don'l pa rticu larly havc any suggeslions - you see m 10 do what you want a nd that's fin e by me.

A Larry Bucha nan ret rospective wou ld sure be fu n. though. as I have always wo nde red why and how anyo ne cou ld/woul d do scene-far-scene lift s from Roge r Corman fil ms . Still , give th e ma n credit for litles like Th e Eye Cremllres , Cllrse of the Swamp Crelltllre a nd It's Alive! (predati ng Co he n's usc).

But if I had 10 put one bug in your car (I mea n rea ll y had to, y' unne rstan') , Ihat bug would be phrased thus: Linda Blair . Oh , skip all tha t Exorcistl Exorcisl II bu llshi l. I mea n Lin da Blair Chailled Hellt, Bam lllllOcefll, Hell Nig hl , Slimm er of Fear. I mea n Li nda Blair who walks onto the distributor's set of Savage Islalld a nd sta rt s narraling the lurkey. I mean Li nda Blair who sashays down Holl ywood Boul eva rd 112 tim es in S(lv(lge Streets and has a 'sister' so cll te e\'e n the most li bera l crit ics couldn't look away in the rape sce ne. Whose career has sli d into the ge nre's excesses wit h such pa nache.

Whose mastery o f broo m a nd crucifix fri ggi ng has set so m<ln y you ng heart s aglow Keep up the good work. I' m sure you will.

Da rcy Su lli van.

5209 Calle de Arboles Torrance Cali forni a.

P('rI't'rr! Bm sholl/(/I ever feel the lIeed for a IJ/air rl'lro it looks like 1'1"(' gOI the mall to do it .

IJllclwl/(lI/ 's career hWi been f airly well covered elsewhere (Subhuman 3 has a grem piece Ofl his 11IIer work. rec'omml' fI(it'd). !Jilt / wO/lI(/II't objeci if someO/Ii' were i/llere,Hed ill doillg a f ilII career articl(', . J"l'e fallen asleep so mallY times ill Ihe credit sequellce alolle of The Loch Ness Horror

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dUll I'm beginning to wonder if I'm cra::)" for persevering .

RAMSEY 'S REST RAINT. Hello Stef<ln , Just writing 10 let you know how much I e njoyed Vol 2. No I. I love you r approach to the lellers column, the Brian clough of the film press pe rhaps? R<lmsey's article was ve ry distu rbing. I worry for the future when I read about these fanatic<l l 'God Squads' and 'clea n up Ihe med ia ' mc rchants. I be lieve (as you me ntioned) it's all rela ted to Ihe Tory gove rnme nt we're having to suffer - the passing of the idea of freedom of choice. What rea lly a mazed me was Ramsey's admi rable self-contro l at the meet ing.

All good things, John Carte r , Radford.

Cove ntry.

Yeah. bur would we have ever seel! Ramseyaga;" if he hlld spukell Olll . .?

MILLER'S MISSIVE ...

Dea r Shock Xpress, I-Icy! what a nove l idea! Slag o ff the people who write in to 'Xpress Ma1r ! Docs that also mea n th at we can slag you o ff?

Anyway, I'd j ust like to say tha t Evil Dead II is the most exhil ar<lti ng, audien ce participa tio ninducing movie since Aliells (by participat io n I mea n cheeri ng lind laughing).

O h, before I go, I'd j ust li ke to say 'F**k you!'

Yours not too se riously, Ken Miller.

High Wyco mbe, Bucks.

Well, thar's blowlI our chalice of getting ililo Smith's Ihis month .

A MOMENT OF PEACE .

Stefan.

I' ve bee n quiet ly readi ng and e njoy ing Shuck Xpress, but with yo ur upgrading I wanted to ma ke it official by putti ng it down in print. Why arc you guys so reviled? Here in Amc rica the re is not hing (fanzine or newstand publica tio n) pushi ng the limi ts as SX is doi ng. Yet you' re be ing all acked fo r your comment s o n Fangoria?

Misplaced prioriti es I say. rill fearful that we (t he United States) arc slowly heading towards the disastrolls stat e of affa irs you have wit h vi deos in your country. Whe never videos sta rt bei ng butc hered for every small o ffense the n that's the time I stop re nti ng them. Who wnnts to read a review of a film that has bee n drastically alt e red by a comm ittee of o ld fa rts? Not me.

People in you r lette rs page continue to COI11 plain about SK's altitude yet thcy writ e lett e rs th<lt beg yo ur abuse . You're onl y giving them what they wa nt. I'm one who buys a magazi ne because they're doing something I e njoy. Why do people buy SX and th e n write a leller to tell you how their ideas wou ld make it bell e r?

I apprccia te your new di rect ion. mixing well know n fa re (Rai mi) w/th c obscure (t hc D'Amato piece was the hi ghlight ). Campbell's Thc Whitehouse Wa y' was th e most im portant a nd e nlightening article this ti me arou nd.

Sincerely, Craig Ledhclt e r. (a ddre ~s in 'Cold Print ') / too {IIII occasiollally m yslified by some of the correspolldellce vomite(/ fo rlll by tortI/red blockheads. bill / IreaSllre Iill' illl'l'clil'e (IS milch as Ihe praist, .

L(/.~' ,i"", flT01I/1l1 / I ....m aghast at Ihe lack of Imst evinced by relll/as cOllamillg the mOl'e 'Ilp-mllrkn': Ilult. combilled wilh the idiot milherillgs of those offel/ded by my chosell editorial Slllnce prompted fhe rorrellfs of abuse / hurled Ollt. / do find it odd Ihar people barely capable of holding a pen write ill (llId tell m e that what I'm doillg is WRONG Wid that I should change my sly/e ro suit their misapprehensiolls of how SX should fUIiClioll, . Some of these guys may well be masochists, ami/won 'I dellY that I set m yselfllp [orallgst-riddell allllcks by /HO/IOll//cillg judgemenr Oil all and slllldry, bllt I"m qllite prepared 10 justify allYlhillg I' ve said lit fediolls lellgths, , . And will doubtless ha ve to do so whell the Troma hit-men come to shove the baby ill lite oven.

A GRAND DELINQUENT WRITES Dea r Siefan , I had a shock whe n I saw the la test: I thought you'd sold Oul a nd become a glossy gore rag. I mea n, on the cove r after " Ra nt ing! Decay!" a nd before " Dissolution!" you sho uld have added "G lossy Caved Typese l!" Still, I sho uldn't have worried: as soo n as I'd ope ned it Ihe felid odour of insults li ke "blockhead" , "peabra in ", a nd "De rek Malcolm " assai led my nostrils and I relaxed . Sir. you a rc a cad, bounde r, blackguard , fi e nd , kna ve, scullery, ga rde robe (huh ?). . but I love yo u anyway . I th in k you' re ve ry huma n.

Well.fairly hum an . I was reassured by your reply to " Pa r-boiled in Parbold". at leasl II!link I was ( I'n not sure wha l "a)" refe rred to bu t I probably agree a nyway). There's too much heed-payi ng to these FX jox as it is.

Don't drop the ' Review Round- Up': I love rati ngs. It's always interesting to sec a 'digital' summati on to co nt rast with a review's 'a nalogue', even if it does invite mislcading comparison between film s. Still . thnt Ala n Jo nes characte r see ms a bi t o f a wildca rd (ace word I pick cd up fr om that ace film Top Gun : SIG isn't it?). I mean ' 112 ' fo r TF? ' **** . for FTIJPVf'! ' ***** ' for LSO H? He sounds a bit dissolute to me: if I were you I'd give him a good ta lking to .

Th e necrology secti on was usefu l though I W<l S surprised to find Andy Warhol th e re: I tho ught he di ed years ago. No doubl had some of the o thers sti ll been al ive they would have been surprised to find themselves th e re - if you ge t my .meani ng, that is. .(Okay, Hll ),som, that's enough from you. .)

Shock Xpress

Yours , Nick Haysom (Add ress in 'Cold Print ') Tllis looks like praise to me, so I agree witll yOll. Why 1I0t? Altd if you Ihink Alan is dissolute, wait umil you see his r{fVe rellielV of Back 10 the Beach ill the Ilext isslie ..

THE BLOB FANS EMERGETH Dear SX. Just to say your multiple person ' Review RoundUp' is a good idea. Especially interesting when one perso n gives a film one star a nd the nex t gives it five - that's my kind of movie.

Another point in favour of publishing different viewpoints (even if it is o nl y in the form of a ' * ') is that maybe it e ncourages people to thin k a little bit for themselves . Often reviews o f records. film s, books etc , once in print , a re seen as the G reat Truth/Great Heresy - not just an opinion that happens to get publ ished . A recent reply to a reader's letter in the NME (where some of the writers e ncou rage a rigid code of what is 'righI' to sec and hea r) made a similar point ..

Yours sincerely, Martin Reddin , Horsham West Sussex

WIUllelier you do, don 't retld my re"iew of Toxic Avenger in tile last issue . .. 1

A FEMALE FEST FAN Dear Stefan .

First o f all. I must thank you from the bottom of my ' hell bou nd heart' for the trul y wo nderful 'Shock A round the Clock' festerville! It was a real gordeast of superb se lection a nd taste and wo rth every penny both for the actual ticket and the trave l expenses down there. Please express my tha nks to all invo lved and, since it was such a success, a rc there li kely to be any mo re o f these splatterga nzas in the fore seeable futu re? I hope so! !

As a fcmal e horro r fanatic (a rare breed it seems round he re!) this was also a chance to see the turnout in terms of fema les vs males and I was pleasantly surprised. It's good to know I'm not alone in my depravity!

I couldn 't be lieve my luck - not only were Hellraiser and S"lvalio,,! o n the same bill, but A Nightmare 011 £Im Street 3 (which I didn't think I'd ever get to sec aftc r the hassles it had in he States). All three I tho ught exce llent, but Hellraiser got my vote for the treat of the day.

C hrist , what a movi e! What a love story! What performances and Special FX! .. I sec you're a Buttholes and Swans fan Stefa n .. ,have you ever tho ught of bringing a splatterco re a ngle into Silock?

Well , I'll wind up by saying tha nx again .

Pip, 100 Stephen Road Withingto n Ma ncheste r M209XD Tll allk you . .. This is bill one of lhe m(lII)' leuers received ollihe 'Shock ArOUl/d Ihe Clock ' filmfest ((l11lOlIgSt them very nice comnlllllicarions from Japanese fan Rey ArakalVll, the irrepressible Sleaze Kid, Debbie Woods, Gary Bird, Keith Beavers alld numerous olhers) and is included for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because it came as a surprise to receive II leller from a female, but secolldly - (/fId more importantly - because said Pip IViIS recefllly burgled alld lost mOllY lIideo tapes. She 's afler various documetaries from the TV perlllining to horror, plus oddilles such as episodes of 'The Rock',, ' Roll Yellrs ' lllld 7he Media Show '. Drop her a lille to see if you Clln help.

Shock Xpress

BAC K TO REALITY Dear SX , I'm stupid . damned lazy, tired , tooth·ached. unhappy, unsatisfied and very thirsty female vampyre , coz I haven't got access to CHRIST'OPHER LEE!!!! Can you - or anyone in this f**kin world - help me????? I'll make you an oHer you can't refuse!! I want e verything 'bout him: copies or origina l videos, books, posters , zincs, you know! coz he's the greatest, sexiest , loudest, bloodiest etc. As Dracula he's the best. f**k the rest! Bloody kisses from Sca ramanga's Massproduction c/o Tumberly Ylavaa ra, Sofia nk atu 8 95600 Yutornio Finland Something IOId me m y life would become melll/ingiess unless I priflled this leuer. Now I'm worried it might elld prenwlIlrely unless som eone replies to this girlie . ..

Strangelyenough, whefl I pw yOllr accllsation to Alan he gave m e a withering look and commented something along the lines of "Pshaw, 'everyone knows abollf that old thing , .. " Such is life. 8m, as you say, a TS mOllie nonetheless. And whatever did happen to Mike Stlme ... ?

CYNIC XPRESS? Dear Stefa n and Crew, Well , what a pleasa nt surprise. I was in Sydney looki ng for the latest yawn packed issue of Fallgoria (yeah , I still fee l obliged to buy the sucke r. just hoping Bob Martin will come back! I). There on the stand was the lalest SXwith the nifty colou r cover. You guys have really o utdone yourselves, the latest issue is terrific.

The o nl y sour point o f the whole issue , Ste fan, is the fact that you've become so cynica l towards your reade rs - sure , some of the people who wrote in a rc dick heads but (I{ least they bot hered 10 write . Crimson Celluloid has been going for over two years and we still average I or 2 letters ~ per month ... I can understa nd how you've ~ become so cynica l ... I'm cynical because (") people don't write a nd that was why I set up the -....; 'zinc in the first place - to meet fellow ho rror t; fan s. ~.

That minor gripe aside, I really enjoyed SX, I "i: tOially agree with you r opinion of House /I - I 3!: went with my co·editor Brett the othe r night and ~ ·it was a real shitter ... :: Keep up Ihe good wo rk, ' (") David Nolte, ~ \..: (Address in 'Cold Print ') I\.) " As II result of the acrimony I seem 10 have engendered by my wanton cruelty in the letlers depllrtment, I have fl OW take" OIU a slIbscriptiolllO ,the 'Scourge of Ille Flagellants' society aflll beat m yselj" halj" to dell/II willi rubber m Ollsters three limes a day . .. It IIasll 't helped . ..

ALAN'S SIN OF OMISSION! Dear Stefan, Congrats on the new look Shock Xpress- glossier but not flossier.

I usually count myse lf pretty lucky if I've heard o f (let alo ne seen) a small fraction of the film s mentioned in SX. But now I've e ve n discovered an omission! O h joy. oh bliss. I refer to Alan Jones' piece on transsexua l exploitation film s. He unearths all manner of obscurities and omits to me ntio n Mym Brecke"ridge . Sure ly the most well-known dock the dick movie of all (and don 't say he left it out deliberately as it is wcll-known or ' I'll ... be very disappointed) .

Incidentally. did you know that before Mike Sarne decided to usc two dirrere nt people to play Myra (New York film critic Rex Reed Defore, Raquel Welch a rter). he did make some test footage with a ma n, Stanley Glick. playing bot h roles. Now not many people know that . o r are terribly interested when you tell them.

E ith er way, a pre tt y dreadful movie. Poor o ld Mike Same; a second rate pop Slar , then a third rate actor. then a fo urth rate di recto r. At least now he seems to found his ni che. doing nothing.

All the best to you and yours, Philip COllins, Ley ton.

Londo n

RETURN OF THE PEA BRAIN BLOCKHEAD! Okay J aworzyn the Unpronouncable , Boy, is it ensy to get you mad . I was tempted to praise Fangoria to the skies to begin With. just to warm you up, but even a ' peabrain ' like me ca n't bring himself to do that with a straight fa ce ..

If you 'cou ldn 't care less' thai I think two video columns a rc pointless , why did you ever bother asking for mo re mail ... ? I thought two video columns seemed daft. I told you. Now you know.

You say ;Piss off!' in not so many wo rds. Hey , Iha nks for your time.

As for the rest of your ' reply' .. , . I neve r actually sa id , or mea nt to imply , that I thought ' the majority of the magazine was 'a waste of sp.lce·. On the co ntra ry. Give me half a page of decent SX as compared to any othe r crap. What I was trying to say was that your special feature s are the main reason I , and I suspcclm'any o thers, buy SX . ..

Which bri ngs me to the good bits. The newish .

I was dubious about the colour a nd horrified at the dramatic price rise , but what the hell . Despite colour. you have n't lost any tack a nd by golly, have all the good 0 1' fea tures returned. I'm sorry , I really a m. The bleedi ng re view cha rt has become a cent refold (!) but I can ignore it in the safe compa ny of ' D' Amatos In ferno'. "The Whitehouse Way' and 'Pass the Angora Sweater' (oh. heavenly tit le ... ). If this amount of digest able garbage continues. I might do somethi ng rea lly silly , like stop eati ng. I won' t moan again. Honest.

You rs Karl Maskell Fe li xtowe Suffolk .

P.S. Evil Dead /I was crap. Awful. really awful . .. "Neller stly sorry, SOil, it's a sig" of weakness. " (Mario" Micha el Morrison, deceased.)

5

BRAIN DAMAGED Henenlotter Holds Forth

By Alan Jones

.I Whatever happe ned to Fra nk Hcncn lollcr? In 1981 he made his directori al debut with Basket Case. a warped horro r cartoon packed with outrageously excessive violence posing as comic relief. But since that fi lm , j ustifiably ca ll ed "E. T. as if written and directed by a psychopa th ". not a squeak has been heard from the wi ld ly inve nt ive di rector who won the hea rts o f gore- hounds

e ve rywhere. Hc ne nlo ttc r nol on ly shuns publicit y with a ve ngeance bUI he is also loa th to even d iscuss his film (s) in the way people with a 101 less talent drone on about the subtext contained in thei r lalest 2 day drive-in wo nder. The bottom line as far as Hcncnloncr is conce rned is "Did you li ke the movieT .lfyou did. then fin e, bUl so what! If you didn路t. 100 bad beca use basically he couldn't care less. II sou nds patroni sing to say this was all rather refreshing to a cynical old hack like myself. but neverthe less it's the truth as Henen lotte r consta ntl y ke pt me o n my toes the whol e time I spent with him . And it isn't condecension on my part eithe r to re port He nenlotter is no thing more than a straight A sleaze maniac. The fact tha t he made Baske/Case , a film some of us ho ld in high regard , is neither here nor th ere because quite frankl y he couldn't give a shit .

So wha t has Hene nlo tt c r bee n up to these past six years? Apart from holding down a day job. collecting every Jess Franco video he ca n lay his hands on a nd writing some ro tten scripts, not hing much. Only o ne o f those scripts now fo rms the basis of his new film Brain Damage.

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Backed by former Embassy Home Enterta inment executives, Andre Blay and Al Eiche r. to the tune o f $2 millio n, Brain Damage bega n fi lm ing on Ja nua ry 21st this year at a disused warehouse just around the corne r from New York's Madison Squ are Ga rde ns. And the personnel involved with his new project , to be re leased Janua ry in Ameri ca, shou ld have every sleazophile slavering with a nt icipa tio n. Edgar levi ns, He nenlotte r's close fr ie nd , produces just as he did fo r Basket Case. Street Trash director Jim Muro helps the Stead ica m unit. Greg Lamberson , assistant director rece ntly madc his own debut with Slime City after working on the two independe nt Gotham based ho rror film s I Was a Teenage Zombie and Plutonium Baby. The Braill Damage soundtrack is in Digital Sound - a first fo r such a film - thanks to West Coast genius Russe ll Jessum . And the Special E拢fects roste r consists of Gabe Barta los , Dave Kindlon , Al Magliochetti , Peter Kura n a nd Jim McLoughlin who collecti ve ly have a mass o f credits between the m including Toolbox Murders II , Th e Lamp , The Texas Cha;flsaw Massacre 1/ , Friday the /3lh Part VI . Day o/the Dead, A Nightmare 011 Elm Street 3, The Monster Squad , From Beyond.

Spookies and Buckaroo Ban za;.

Brain Damage, originall y titled Elmer tire Parasile, stars all unknown actors ba r one: Rick Herbst, Jennifer Lowry, Theo B.arn es a nd Lucille Saint-Petcr. The one recognisable name , and on ly if you saw Baskel Case, is Kevin Van Hententryck. But his involvement is something

r

Henenlo tte r is keen to kcep under wraps a nd has to do with a n in-joke mo rc tha n anything else.

What Brain Damage is about in many ways defies descriptio n although what producer levins says about He ncnlotte r's sensibilities bei ng at least six months a head of the rest of the indust ry could we ll bc truc. Hene nlotter himself calls it " A horror comedy on the edge . I wa nt ed to blur what was funn y and what wasn't. The best review I could ever ge t regarding this film wo uld be The director lost cont rol aftcr the fi rst fi ve minutes'.

The sense of dange r you will get by no t knowing if what you are going to sec nex t is a gag or a bloody special effect is the unease level I want the fi lm to work o n. I find it boring setting up a situa tio n to the m give a n audie nce exact ly what they cxpect.

This just may be me hypi ng the movie though.

You 'll never know unti l you'vc seen it. And then I'I! have your mo ney so too bad! " Bra;" Damage concc rns Morris a nd Martha's weird pet - a parasite named E lme r. Bored with being kept unde r contro l by the middle路aged couple, the all -Singing, all -danci ng turd-li ke creature - his song is Tommy Dorse y's 19405 "Elmer's Tunc" - escapes from his bathtub home a nd ente rs Brian's apartme nt where he strikes a ba rgain with thc good-look ing you th . In return for a fluid th at Elme r will inject him wit h cre ating instant e uphoria and wild ha ll uci nations, all Bria n has to do is pro mise fresh supplies of a certain food he ca n't do wit hout - hum an brai ns.

And so the pattern is sel. While Brian roams around junkyards and punk clubs stoned out o f his mind o n parasite juice, E lme rconsta nt ly leaps o ff his body to burrow th rough the heads of unwilling do nors on a brain-sucking spree. At firs t Brian sees thesc unfolding death scenes as psychedelic fanta sies divorced from rea li ty. but when his wasted tripped-out binges e nd he is shocked and ho rrified at E lmer's idea of a night o n th e town . Unfo rtunately hc's now addicted to Elmer's mind-expa nding li qu id . And Elmer knows that the withdrawal symptoms will force Brian to get him more brains no matte r what the cost. But as Ma rtha and Mo rris dem and the ret urn of thc ir pet. E lmer damages Bria n's brain with one largc final dose of fluid cha nging its physica l shape he rald ing the ultimat e psych-out of acid light-shows, blood and bra ins. " I haven't the fai nt est idea whe re I found the 'inspiration fo r Brain Damage", said He ne nlot路 te r, "It sounded like a good sto ry wit h pote ntial. I start ed with the image of a monste r leaping off someone's body and took it from there . Why woul d anyone want a monster on his body? The re could onl y be two reasons - you eith e r don't want it the re or you have control o f it. It was morc inte resting to writ e a story about why you would wa nt it the re. Not hing deeper than that. Sorry to disa ppoin t you"

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"Elmer the Parasite was always a gag title", he continued, " I need o ne to start writi ng otherwise I neve r would , At one stage this was called The Tingler Takes a Trip and that about says it all.

Way back when I always wanted to remake The Tingler and resented the fact the re was no market for a new type of LSD IiIm , So I combined two of my favourite ge nres and this is the result , A phony tiUe gets me going and puts me in the mood . Generic titles like Basket Case and Brain Damage can easily be swiped too, so why take the risk o f fanzine gossip. Far beller to th row the competition off the sce nt. I have a whole bunch of titles 1want to usc but I'm not telling anyone what they are especiall y so meone li ke you who would tell everyone ," "Arter B(lSket Case I turned down a lot of shiny stuff at no great loss" , he explained . "I could have made 5011 of Basket Case or Bride of Basket Case but even I did n't want to see those . Some producers wou ld say to me 'Take this script and make it with your se nse of humour but don 't change anything', Obviously 1 wasn't interested and the same went for a couple of made-for-video films. The laller 1would have done if I could have gone way ove r the top and made se mi -pornographic non-narrative blood and guts ga rbage, But 1 was told there was no market. Brain Damage was the fi rst good script' wrote in those years and that was two yea rs ago now , A good script writes itse lf quickly, it's the lousy o nc's you slave over.

That's how I knew this wou ld get made, I'm not prolific at all but Brai" Damage simply fell into place", "You say people are intrigued by what I'm going toco me upwith next ", hcsaid . ';B ut I don 't think an yone really ca res about what I'm pre· parcd to give them aft er Basket Case. Docs anyone really give a fuck apart fro m a few aest hetes - and that mea ns you and perhaps four other people! But if you insist , I thought I would tone down the humou r this time. I went out ofmy way but I just couldn 't do it. O n the first day of shooting all the planned restraint went st raight out the window . Nor did I at first gear Brain Damage around the special effects, I had met Dave Kindlon a few years ago and was so amazed he wanted to work with me, My personal brief was 1 o nly wanted a creature that couldn't possibly be a hand puppet and ' lucked out with Dave's work which ca n only be descri bed as 'G umby Goes to Hel l' . He worked in such close conjunction with Gabe that the first time we shot a scene of Elmer biting into a victim 's forehead , I laughed like crazy because it was so good with his tail flappin g like crazy. The actress was unnerved enough as it was but , kept shooting e ndless foota ge because I want to keep it forever. I intend pUlli ng my favourite music behind it so I can have the ultimate video clip. When 1 first told 'everyone abou t this idiot script a while back I was amazed they stupidly all dropped other higher paid jobs to work o n it. So they have a piece o f it and if it makes any money at all the n SO do they".

According to Hene nlotter. the higher budget is deceptive . He sa id , "All it's doing is lelling us film in 35 mm with bette r quality came ras and high speed lenses. It won't look slick alt hough the

Shock Xpress

backers arc hoping it wi ll be. Thcy have been telling me ove r and over again , 'We must be sure it doesn't look like the last o ne'. 'did n't like the look o f Basket Case either but I know they don't believe me , I had nothing to play with there just one 16mm ca mera and a zoom lens. Basket Case completely surprised me if you want to know the truth . It made mo re money than it ever had a right to deserve . I made it to dump o n 42nd.

Street for a couple of days. I never thought anyone would take any notice of it. nor did I make it to be not iced, 1 thought it was good because I left a lot of stuff in the film that amused me as I primarily made it for myself not a bunch o f film critics. If' had been mo re se lf·co nscious I wou ld have toned it down" .

"Sleazy movies arc my world ". he continued.

"Give me $23 millio n and I'll give you 23 low budget sex and horro r film s. Just call me an America n Jess Franco! I wou ld love to play mo re dangerously - give me an X ra ting and a mix o f horror. porn and comedy because ultimately these arc the film s 1 want to make. 1 love those sort of movies because in ho nesty the)' excite me.

I love be ing caught off guard . That's why I like quote bad movies unquote because whether it was intended o r not is of no concc rn . The onl y conce rn is the film it self and if a film can take you by surprise and take you somewhere you've neve r been taken be fore then great, I'm willing to follow. I don't care if it s accide nt al. Just let's all have a good time, Whether it s either Re· A"imator or Mamie Va n Doren we arc gell ing the same ride. My favourite gag w~ ul d be a man ge lling a pic in the face, hi s head splitting ope n with brains spurting eve rywhere and a naked woman jimping o nto the go re , hu mping the brains. to see that sort of sequ cnce would make me very happy.

"Nobody think s I'm this wonderfu l director you're one o f three people whose eve r said that but thanks for the compliment" sa id Henenlotte r when 1 tried to ca ll his bluff and make him admit that his se lr·eHacing stance did n't foo l me one bit.

But it seems I was wrong . "Comm ents like that really do embarrass me . Perhaps my art isn't accidental but it 's not hing to bui ld a cult arou nd . I don't wa nt that. We' re ta lking because ' want to promote the film and interviews are unfortunate · Iya necessa ry part of the whole boring business.

Of course I want people to know about the film, when to expect it and what the sto ry is to whet the appetite . But that 's all . I ba n any photos of me posing around the se t because I don't want people knowing who ' <1m. I don't li ke it. Fo r the book Incredibly Slrallg~ Fil"lS, I was told I was going to be an introd ucto ry pa ragraph on one page. I was fra nkly humiliated at the ten page spread. Not because o f the company I was in but the fact is I' ve only made o ne film and I didn't deserve the coverage . , rea lly didn'l, I was so upset" . " I don't know what an (Ame rican) R rating is" , com mented Henenlotler o n the need to securc one for broader acccptance in the market place.

"There arc no standards, no guidelin es. How th e MPAA rate a film secms to depend on how they fee l in the mo rning. I have no idea if anything gory we arc shooting will be in thc finell film . II see ms an unde rlyi ng se nse of humo ur is not tak en into account. Stallone ge ts an R wi th all the knives, guns etc. in Rambo, but Braill Damage is .1fantasy , Screen violence docs not c,lu se anyone to copy it. That is one of the dumbest arguments ('ve ever hea rd . But if you were to accept it. 1 wou ld worry mo rc about rape scenes, shootings and muggi ngs than a George Romero zombie biting off someonc's arm . No o ne is going to do that when they leave the cinema. Gore is so often confused with violence and it isn't the sa me at all.

Gore isa gross·out which is often funny but it isn't violent o r real life - well, not as I know it. Braifl Damage features an exte nsive brain un ravelli ng which even I'll admit is disgusting. But should anyone be pro tectcd from it ? I have no idea what to do abou t it so I'm shooting eve ryt hing anyway and using blue blood as opposed to red in some cases to lesse n the criticism. I was conside ring filmi ng a 15-minute bl ood puking scene with someone stick ing razo r blades in his head just so the rat ings board wou ld cut it o ut and leave the less obvious alone!" .

All Bra;" Damage has to do as far as Frank Henenlotte r is conce rned is turn to profit. 1·le sa id , " What's a big success in rea l terms? , know ('II enjoy it. I do n't want to go back and do a day job agai n bUI then 1 don't want 10 do anothe r movie yet eit her . I'm taking e<lch day as it comes.

I'll worry later bac k in the real wo rld . There are a couple of weird halluci nat ion optical shots at the climax of Brai" Damage. It is the one place in the entire film where I've se t ou t to shock and disturb . As ye ti don 't know ifit will indeed upset people o r just crack them up instead. You will love it because you're obviously just as disturbed as I am . But for each one of you. you know l.there will be 400 peoplc who won't and tell ot hers to stay away. Who ca res? There arc plent y o f film s out there and if anyone doesn't li ke th e sound of Brain Damage, please don't go and see my fil m if all you're going to do is whine about it.

Everybody's a fu cking critic these days - no o ffence. Whatever sins ' made on Basket Case, I'm probably repea ting here and will do so on the next one . Please keep this interview short in print. , don't want to bore people to death!" ,

7

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL 1, 2, 3 The FACES OF DEATH Series

By David &erekes

Mo ndo = world cinema. A documc nl ary of so rts.

Because of man' s natural preoccupatio n with biza rre sex a nd b izarre death . the mondo fi lm ex ists - a n educitli o nal film offering no fac ts.

Faces of Demli is such a n educalion, il ~ subject matte r being rather morc co nse rvative tha n most in t hat it breaks do wn the aesthe tic group of ~c x and violence eve n furth e r Pl agued by the recurring dream o f a fu neral.

Dr Franci s B. G ross ( n a rr alO f a nd pa tho logist cxtraordin airc. i.e . how can he sec o ut of those glasses?) is driven by "a co mpu lsio n 10 under· stand" - to make a jo urney that tilkcs him around the world : a drC<lffi thai de te rmines the beginning o f a three fi lm rni !<.sion to search o ut new deat h!.: to accumulClt e foo tage of autopsies, of !. Iaught e rho use!., o f a!.!.a!.!.in ation!. and acci · d ent!.. " Prepa re yo u r~el ffor a journey," Gros~ tell s u ~ at Fa ce:!i of Death'!) openi ng , "a journe y into a wo rld where each new ~ I e p ma y give you better unde!.tanding of yo ur own reality ." An unde r~ta ndin g born o f ~ I aught c rh o u ~e~. perhap ~'! A journe y to a ro ,ld ~ id e accide nt. maybe? Be pre piHed (II right - Face!:> of Dealh doe~ touch ne rve!>. It ~ fu ll · frontal app rmtch i ~ in part ~ ge nuinel y ~ h oc kin g a nd rc pubi vc. ( Full -frontal violellce. of cou r ~e - at any ~ i g n o f ge nitalia a kind of ink ~ tain plo p.. ove r t he offe nding hit !o. an up ~ i de down logic at wor k if eve r Ih e re wa!..)

For th e mm t repubive !>ee: the culinary oeli ght o f monkey-ha !>hi ng and hrain cho mping in it re!.· lauran\: the K o ~ h e r ahaltoir me thoo of catt le purificati o n; fo r ..ca l hun tin g: po~ t mo rtem

,I

pr oce dur e~ .

Pc nnea ted wit h Gr o~!>' h y poth e~ i !>, h i~ ' in ~ i g hl ' and th eology , th i ~ may come ac ro ..!> a!> ~o lll e th in g !> Iightl y more than what it it , hut it i.\ a mo noo movie - a !>hoc kurn e nt .t ry - ano a .. !>uch CiUlIlot he taken fo r illl ylhing ot hc r than ' fa ce' va lue: pe rver~e, ni hi li ~ t i c e nte rtainment. For unlik e it ~ two imagin ative ly tit leo ~cl.ju e b "-aces of Dcmh ~ t ano !> co mfo rta bl y a long.. ioe the be,t of t he re!>t in t he ge nrc , ha ving the right ble /lo of ' re al' anu ' rn ,mufacl urcu' foot age, .mu it e vcn ge t ~ horin g Iw()· thinh o f th e way through ' It ma y be of i nter e~ t 10 no lc Ih,lI thc U K pri nt of FaCl!.\ of Dealh i ~ rn i ~~ in g a numbe r of ~e4 u e IH;e~, notably an exc/,;ution hy c lectric chair ; fi lm of a hi zarre San Fr a n c i ~co cannihal cul t: ( vil ri ou~) footagc of burn ing fi g urc ~ - rcl i g i ou~ fanilt i c~ a no t Hh e r ~ - to li ~ t but it few, A~ th e ' mi~~ in g' ~cq u c n ce~ arc more po tent t han tl\O~c left in , it see m ~ li kely t hat the UK ui~tr ib u t or~ t h e m ~e lv e~ deeidel..! to hri ng FlICl'.\· of {) clIlh 's ru nni ng time uown from the origi nal Am e rican rct ea~e tlr 105 m i nu t e~ ttl a mo re r e a~o na b l e/ acce p ta hle 70 minut e~.

A n if you thou ght t hat FlI('e.~ of {)etllh warranted a fo llow-up - and it dion ' t - t he n you

8

sho uldn't be su rpri sed to hear that it spawned no t one, but two seque ls. Furt he r t rail s o f bodies for bucks (I he seq ue ls never made il to British sho res). The very idea o f a fo llow-up mocks the fal se se nse of since ri ty which the o rigi nal fil m tried to convey ; Faces of Delllh II a nd Faces of Dealll III are me re ly excuse s to warm ove r t he morbid excesses o f thei r predecessor. a nd alt ho ugh t he sa me grou nd is cove red, parts II a nd III stand as two very diffe re nt movies, Faces of Demh II is t he poo rer.

Whe re Faces of Delllh had the redee ming qua lit y of unde rslanoing ils o wn limi tation s: the lucidit y of exhibit ng 't he end' as an ente rt'l inm e nt a nI..! at t he same lime p rese nting it so who le· hea rted ly, Faces of Death II comes ac ro ss as a cheap con: it's tiring a nd it's smug. T he first fi lm fo und an aud ie nce, pa rt 11 mi lks iI, treati ng us to furth e r ai r di ~ asters a no trai n det rail llle nts, b ut th is li me ({rouno it's on lon g newsree l - whil e a ' li keness to an orginai' ca n o ft e n constit ute low·arl, it is by far a bette r co mmo d ity th an attempting to pass lIo·arl off as some th ing which it i ~ not. Take for in!.ta nce Faces of Dealh Ir s i n ctu ~ ion of fami li ilr a rchi ve fi lm of th e Vi e tn Clm war a no napa lm -scarred victims, a ll the more ~ h oc kin g becau ~e of the co ntex t in which it is heing utili ~e o ; no lo nge r is this a journey th rough th e va ll ey of dea th but a long ogli ng look al it what matte rs thi ~ time is the gr;t phic footage avai lable , No reconst ruct ions. No " what-you a re-aho ul -to-!.ee-is-all· rea l" -type no nse nse.

Thu ~ Paces of Dealh /I hre ak s t he unwrittc n law of th e mo ndo: Tho u Shalt Not Appea r Stupio .

A~ il non et heless proved fru itfu l (do people go to the ei ne ma with the ir gi rlfric no a nd/o r hoyfrie nd lO~ee mo noo fil ms? Do t hey grope eve n at the lurio biIS?) , it wa ~ n ' t long before the se rie:, wa!. bl e~!>e d wit h a not he r . This ti me though , it '~ a "F.O. D . Prol..!uctions Pre!>e nt s" Ano with Face.\· of Dealh /II comes again the good Doctor : " I wou ld like to invile you o n ye t anot her journey ," Doesn' t so und wo promising docs it ?

Anot her uetour .lIltJ furt he r air oi~a ster!> and .lU to ac c id c nt ~ ge ts the t hird {)etl1h undc r wa y: " Fo r as lon g a ~ people drive people wi ll also die" (ir6~~, back with a ve ngea nce . Doesn' l sou nd til all promi!>ing, right? Ri ght. But after t hi ~ inpireo opening , Pace.~ uf Death III sutJoe nl y changes gea r. Ju ~ t when it loo ked as though we we re goin g to get a no the r helping o f part II , III dro ps thc new!> reel foot age. . to the exte nt that it is a lmml a paroo y of t he previous fi lm : Face.\· of /)l'(lIh /I co n ~i~ t s almost elllirely of ' rcco nstruct i on~' , rcgaru less of the post-credit legc no "Ce rtain ... cenes ha ve heen recrea leo 10 oerict . " Policc c ha ~e'l ho micida l mani ac - fak e! See an undcrwate r p hotography te am al1aeked hy ~ hark ~ - fa ke ! Ra ttl ers att ac k a plumbe r . A man j Ulll p~ . A Tar1{el.\' gu nman gets done. Fake. Fake,

Glorio us Fake! Witness rive r police give chase to a gang of drug smugglers (lengt hy chase, you understand , t his is part III ) - a face of deat h?

No, but one o f t he smuggle rs is shot dead Cll route. Gel the picture ? Parts I and II alrc.ld y cx hausted the pa nora mic appro ac h to Ihe even l. so III takes t he logica l next logical step of personal ising the eve nt , III is a se ries o f iso la ted incidents : true-li fe dra ma stories, wit h G ross as Crypt - Kee pe r (he neve r was a rea l patho logist anyway but a ce rtain Michael Ca rr) . And at this rale t he se ries could ru n forever ( Faces o f Near Deat h?)

T ypica l of Ih e mo ndo ge nre in ge nera l. the Faces of Delllil se rie s has provco it se lf to be <I rat he r fi ckle com mod ity . That il has di ve rsified in such a ~ h ort span of fi lm s from World O f Death through to Uniled SWles vf America Deat h is more al1ributahlc to careless padding tha n to m Olldo planning, If ever the re was a "co mpul sio n to unoe rstano " it has lo ng since bee n ove rshau owco hy the desirc fo r fu rthe r pro duct. W he re Faces of Dell/h was a genui nc atte mp t at a rolli cking ad ve nture, pari III is li ttle more t ha n a rcco m pcn ~e for thc wort hl ess part II. A fi nal retrihution '! Mo ndo trasho .

CRwrrs FAn~~

OF I)EAT H (1981)

director: Conan I.e Cil aire producer : H:osilyn T. Scott writer : Alan Hlack creative consultant and na rrator: Dr

F ralll~es

S,

GrOs.~

FACES OF !JEH II II (1984) director : Co nan Lt Cilairc produ cer : Rosilyn T . Scott wdter : Alan Ulack crtatil'c consulta nt and narrator: I)r Frances 8 .

GrOss

FACES OF !JEATII III (1986) director : Cona n Le Cilaire producer : Rosilyn T. Scott writer: Alan Uhlck and Veronica Lakewood creati ve consulta nt and narrator: I)r Frances S .

Gross

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COLD PRINT

By Stefan Jaworzyn

A WA Y FROM THE P ULSE BEAT Issue: Experienced? Further exce lle nce fro m Art Black and Monica Dec . AFT? appea rs eve n mo re sporadica ll y than SX (thi s one is several months old, with a new one promised 'soon' . . ), b ut is more than worth the wait. A brulal 98 pages lo ng. it comprises a fai rly definitive guide to what's worth listening to in the world of wild music . H anyt hing Art is too kind to some of the

garbage he innicts on himsel f. but with the wonderfu l Forced Exposure. AFTP is the last word in new sounds. Where else could you find a interview/feature on Killdozcr ... Plus coverage

of the belle r comics. sleaze publica tio ns and a millio n re vi ews. But si lly o ld Art hasn't pUI a

price on the cover

Write 10: P.O. Box

M 1842. Hoboken. NJ 07030. USA .

DAR" WOLF 'Mo re comics. . This o ne comes fro m Ma li bu Graphics of California. a nd is mo re o r less compre he nsible . Story conce rns the eponymo us cha racter's quest for vengeance after some ce nturies spent in lim bo. It tu rns o ut he and his lover were burned to death by slimeballs and he hasn ' t quite gOlle n over it .. . Issue I had a ca meo appea rance by the lovely Ke ll y Nicho ls (ex-porno star; nail-gu n victim in Tile Toolbox Murders), issue 2 by the slightly less lovely Ha rl an Ellison .. In b&w . Ma li bu also do something called StelllIII Force, the tag-li ne for the first being 'Mee t the membe rs o f Stea lth Force ... And watch them die!' SI.95 pe r issue. tho ugh you ca n proba bly pick them up in UK comics shops easily e no ugh. from : P.O . Box 3185. Thousand Oaks. CA 91359. USA.

C RIMSON CELLULOID The guys responsible wrote a nd sa id the issue I'd previously enjoyed wasn't a particularly good o ne - so much for my j udgeme nt ... After see ing No . 17 I ca n still give a high recommendation.

Packed full of reviews (t hey loved Combat Shock too . . ). st range bit s of trash clipped out of newspape rs . interviews with people you'd never im agine and sundry craziness. CC has shaped up impressively as the Australian equivalent of a good US sleazezine. They promise to head up-market soon. with help from Phil Edwards.

Info from : 312 Great th Rd. Five Dock 2046.

New South Wa les. Australia .

GRANDELINQUENCE Easily the most interest ing publication to e me rge from the U K in recent times. Small fo rmat . 64 pages packed full of reviews. co mment <tnd articles - all we ll above average . Th e in vestigation of obscure TV ge nre fo dder is peerless. a nd the re's a fine sense o f insanity running riot throughout. Wo rth the price of admission fo r the me rciless lampoons of Star/og a lo ne . .. There 's nothing wildly perverse or gory cove red. but editor/publisher Nick Haysom is ai ming for a different market and succeeds perfectly . Recommended . £1.15 inc p&p from : 45 Springval e Road. Kings Wo rth y. Wincheste r . I-Ia nl s. S023 7ND.

DAGON Originally conceived largely fo r players of the 'Ca ll of Ct hulhu ' game. Ca rl Ford's Dagon has expanded most admirably ove r the last few issues. the current (ISlI9. a double issue devoted to the wo rk of T.E .D . Kle in) be ing a superb prese nt ation. 78 pages long. it feature s a n excellent selectio n of essays. a rticles. inte rviews a nd artwo rk focussi ng o n Kl ei n's ca ree r, plus a sho rt , deleted cha pte r from The Ceremollies and a revised versio n of ' H agendo rn's House'. an obscure talc from Cowury /1I1IS. Cont ributo rs include Klein. Ramsey Ca mpbell. Ga han Wilson. S.T. Joshi. Robe rt M . Price plus some inspired work from Dave Carson. Costs£I .75. o r £6.00 UK/S20.00 USA (cash o nl y) fo r a year's subscription . Dagon Press also ha ve a 450-copy limited . signed ed itio n of Dave Carson's Hau1I ters 0/ the Dark portfolio. cont ain ing six of Carson's most impressive illust ratio n o f Lovecraftian a nd Lovecraft- inspired horrors. A fine package. including a n amusi ng foreword by Ramsey. £4 .50 inc p&p . Both avai lable from : II Warwick Road. Twicke nham . Middx, lW2 6SW. England.

HI.TECH TERROR Impressivel y warped but slim publicatio n from Craig Ledbetter. dealing with (on the who le) objectionab le sleaze videos ava ilable in the US. Contin enta l and O rie nt al rubbish seem to be Cra ig's stomping ground . and o ne can' t fault him for that. O nl y 4 pages but tho roughly enjoyable.

S6.00 fo r 12 issues fro m: Bo x 5367, Kingwood, TX 77325. USA.

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HOLLYWOOD BOOK AND POSTER NEWS I actually met p roprieto r Eric Ca idin at Conspiracy in Brighton. a nd the fi rst thing he did was pull o ut a sheaf qf photos of porno stars a nd wrestling jocks, not mention The Mighty Sphincter. which he assures me a re " rock's answer 10 Cha rles Manson" Eric had material like the script (t he re is o ne'!) fo r Plan 9 a nd H .G. Lewis posters Ask for lists. ullest H BA PN for sa le continues to improve. featu ring int e rviews with H .G . Lewis. David Friedman a nd Bruce C lmpbe ll . p ho tos of musclebound blockheads and a not he r we ird ca rtoon strip by The Alcalde . A couple of dollars for postage 10: 1706 N. Las Palmas. Hollywood. CA 90028. USA.

MAGICK THEATRE It ·s a lmost a n insult to call this i produced magazine a ·fanzine·. The standards writing/info rmatio n supplyllayout arc the best I' ve seen in an 'a mateur' magazine . Issue 8 feat ures materi al to make any sel f-respect ing fa n o f sleazefoddities drool heavil y: Bruno VeSota interview , Susa n Cabot tribute . the making of Demeflfio, the film s of AlP. Fo rry int erviewed a nd a cove r pic of Jo hn Ca rradi ne in Th e Cosmic M fm . .. Not to me ntion reviews (movies. hooks, fanzinc s) and a Drew Fri edma n strip . Publisher/ ed ito r/designer Raymond F. Young should ge t a sai nthood for this. Esse ntial. S5.95 in USA or S9.95 abroad (includes p&p) from : PO Box 0446.

Ba ldwin . NY 115 1().....{)129. USA. PR ElTY POISON An occasional publication by Ga ry Gitt ings. PP has come and gone as Ga ry's whims have taken him - he's been known to suspend it when he received too much fan ma il! Rece ntl y resurrected, it now runs to two pages of reviews a nd ra nting. usually accompanied by a mu rky cover .

Generally possessed of good taste in sleaze. mutilati o n and mainstream mo\'ies. Gary's style is amusi ng and informative. ve ry much mo delled o n Rick Sullivan's Gore CaZt!rre. while his failings a rc a marked disinterest in spe lling and reliance o n a typewriter which gives the impression o f be ing a reli c of a dim and dista nt epoch ..

Wo rth a look. No price. write for subscriptio n de tails: 307 Blo xwich road , Leamore. Walsall .

W . Mids. WS2 70D .

SLiMETlME New Yo rk 's best trashzine continues unabated. issue II being the last rece ived . Included there in a rc reviews of such classics as SOIall's Sadists.

Killg KOllg Lives. Steck ler's Th e Thrill Killers and Rat Fink lIrld Boo Boo. Th e Flesh EMers and some tota l obscurities. Editor Steve Pucha lski's taste is always spot o n a nd there's lillie to fau lt in the whol e endeavo r. Recomme nded. Subscriptions: S3 .00 for 6 issues (50 each back issues.) UK add a couple of dollars for postage . Fro m: 1108 East Genesee S1. 103. Syracuse, NY 13210.

USA.

9

WITCHMASTER Forty Years In Another Townl

By Ed Senior

"A midst Freda 's crazy world of giants. spectres. vampires and assoricd mythica l beasties.

one might by turns become both bored and excited but o ne is ne ve r allo wed to forge I thaI a highly sophisti cated visua l an isl is al wo rk :'

(David Badder. Film Dope # 17).

"Ci nema is aClio n. e mo li o n , te nsio n . speed. I

was o ft en accused o f shooting too fa st. For exa mple. I wou ld do a sce ne a nd the reverse shot a t the sam e lime. cha nging the a ngle. b ut nOlthc

lighting -

and sa ving an ho ur and a half of

tec hnica l SC I- UpS. I used three o r fo ur cameras

. elcelera. But there's a rcason. which isn't just 10 save cosls. It 's because the fa sler you shoot. t he fa sle r you r inspira tio n nows with the sto ry. Cine ma is actio n a lso for t he directo r .. ' (Frcda. from a n int ervi ew in Divoralori di Celfuloide. edited by G. Fofi and P. Pistagncsci.

Edizio ni De l Mystfest. 198 1 (c)) ' The visual mo tif t hat ca rries the narnll ive . . is e nha nced by Fred a's ins pi red o rchestration o f light ... " ( Aurum Film Encyclopedia o f Ho rror.

Ed. : Phi l Hardy 1985 (c) From review o f

L"Orribile Segrelo del Dr Hidlcock ( 1962) ' This picture is spoiled by bad cUlling. wo rsc special e ffects and a lud icro us setting. this cheapic appears to have bee n made wi th so littl c thought that it borde rs o n d isho nesty. ... (ib .)

From review of Mllcisle AIl'lIl/e m o (1962) R icca rdo Freda . Italia n fi lm d irecto r . jou rneyman o r ge nius o r . mo re li kely. something in betwee n . stands about fi ve feet fi ve: he has th e a ir o f a ret ired imp . a young a nd bea uti ful daughtcr. and a big black dog ca ll ed Wit ch. His co nversatio n is opinio na ted a nd fasc inat ing. his good humou r disa rming the more poisono us barbs aimed at Ame rica n directors. nco- realism. a nd inte llectu al cri tics. He loves movies.

He was born in Al exa ndria. Egypt. February 24.

1909. In 19 18. the family moved to Mi lan. His early educa tio n was at A lex andria's Italia n School and t he ci ty's man y movie ho uses. His mo the r was an inve terate cinemagoe r . frequently dragging her unp ro testing son fro m o nc thea tre to a no the r seve ral times a day.

Freda disliked the sta tic dramas. but re lished the b ravura adventures of Fai rban ks a nd Va le ntino: to this day he ca n re me mber and describe e ntire seque nces fro m his favouri te film s. which he saw ove r a nd over aga in .

He recalls be ing a t first fr ightc ned a nd th en delight ed by t he gesticu lating. vociferous reaction s to the acti o n o n scree n of the poorc r Arabs in the cheapest cinc ma sea ts. T he re was a rigid segregation o f audicnce: the loca l wea lt hy a nd aristoc ratic pe rsonages occupicd the best positi o ns. the n 路there we re the E uropeans. t he n th e rest.

Later. in Mila n . the young impressio nable Freda

10

succumbed to the ee rie delights o f Murnau a nd Dreyer. Nos[erolU, Golem. Faus t. left ha unting echoes of a ra ntastic alte r-world , which would sound again thro ugh the Oam boya nce of eve n hi s most pedest ri an movies .

When aske d by a French journalist whether he c<t rl y wishcd 10 become a film director . Freda responded by clai ming that he would have liked to fo llow the exa mple of a Murnau , o r a Lubitsch. bei ng in complete co ntro l of his film s. but rea lised wh ile still young that the di rector of the sort o f ge nre which he e njoyed most. the Fairbanks fi lms fo r exa mple. was ve ry much a serva nt of t he ico nography of star a nd subj ect. wit h lillie scope fo r pe rso na l contro l o r usc o f imagin ation. The re fore he had no great desire to foll o w such a ca reer . In his twe nties. new ly ma rried. Lubitsch and La ng were his cine mat ic gods. his studies were La tin. Greek, Design. and after a b ri ef spell a t universit y he dccided to p ursue a caree r as a sculpt o r.

He ente red th e studio o f a Mi la nese call ed Pre ndoni. a now-fo rgon e n practitio ner o f the sho rt-live d Lombardy School o f sculpture. Freda'S acti vit ies we rc unre marka ble . except in that he made last ing and ultimately innue nti al fr ie nds a mong the cou ntry's artistic community.

Hi s training a nd ability was late r'put to use in the film s SPllrtllCO. I Gigllflli Della Tessaglia. a nd Ma cisle Alia Corte Del Gra" Khall. for cach o f which he pe rsonally did so me of the statua ry.

At age 24. a fr iend who was working o n the statues and o rna me nt at io n o f the recentlyfo unded Ce ntro Ci nema tografico Ita liano in

Ro me. se nt fo r Freda to be his coll aborator. This institution later developed inlo th e Ce ntro Spe rime nt ale a nd bcca me a n arm o f the Fascist gove rnm ent. prOd ucing a nd fi nancing many notorio us fi lms of the t hirties. Today. it is linked with the Cinetecha Nazionale. th e prim e film a rchi ve in Ita ly.

Freda d issociates himse lf completely from all his biogs which state t hat he work ed at t he Centro Spe rimen ta le. having bee n asked to become a film -ma ke r there.

T he slap-hazardy approach to fi lm-mak ing had characterised ea rl y Ho ll ywood slill pertained to the Ita ly or t he thirti es: Freda was soon involved in all aspects of produ ctio n at the Ce nt ro: tinkc ri ng a nd collaborat ing on scripts. se t decoration . ed iti ng. etc. Be twee n 1937 and '43. he co-wrote 14 movies. t hc fi rst of which was

Lllsciale Ogni Speranza (Aballdoll All Hope). with Edoa rdo Anton . a close fri e nd.

His first taste of directi o n ca me in 1938. wit h Piccoli Nall/ragh;. on which he assisted t he und istin guished Flavio Ca lzavara. Freda also cu t the film. which is o nly now wo rthy o f note because the music was composed by Renzo Rosselli ni . altho ugh it sho ul d be mentioned that Freda. unde r the pseudo nym Ricca rdo Sa nte lmi . played the lead ing rol e.

During this perio d. up to t he coll apse of Fascism and the temporary destruction of th e Itali an film industry in 1943. Frcda wo rk ed with ma ny people who subseq uently would become key figu res in the boom yea rs o f the fi fli es a nd sixties.

Shock Xpress

Raffaello M:ll:l ra1.zo . later responsibl e fo r a hugely success ful se ries of film s ( To rmemo.

Cm elle etc .) starring Ita ly's fiflie s a nswe r to Burto n a nd Taylor. Amadco Naz1.ari a nd Yvonne Sa nsom . and for the sublimely sadistic c xcesses of La Naw! V elie V Olllle Maladelle (Ship Of Condmllled \Yo m en . 195"'). was the coscenarist and di recto r o f NOlli Vi Fo rtllne and L'AI'I'elltllriera V el Piano Oi Sopra. both 1941.

Luigi Zampa . d irector o f the awa rd-winning post-war Vil'Nt' l" Pace ( To Lil'e III Peace. 1946). co-w rote wi th Freda a nd. a mo ngst o the rs. E nnio F1a iano - most famo us fo r his lo ng collabo ration with Fellini - L'A bilo Nero Va Sposa ( 1943).

Mario Mo nicc lli (/ Soliti Iglloli , eArmaw Brt", caleone. many o the rs) wo rked o n La Gralldllcllessa Si V iI'erUl (19"'0). befo re starting his fruitful appre nticeship wit h Ste no a nd Toto. The directo r o f t his film was the prolific Giaco mo G e ntil o mo. who made ma ny of t hc peplu m movies of the six ti es. a nd in particula r Madsfe COl/fro /I V(lmp iro (1961) .

Edua rdo de Fil ippo . Vitt o rio De Sica. Cesa re Zavatt ini . names normall v associill ed wilh the uppcr strala o f Ita li an fi lnlTna king. all were acti vc around the Ce ntro Spe rime nt ale whi lst Frcda le arned a nd contributed .

In 19",3. Mussolini WaS ove rthrown and the re WilS chaos in Ita ly. Freda and some frie nds ned to aples . He was b ri eOy invo lved with A merican huelligence. and retu rned to Ro me with the a llied troops . He fo und hi s apartme nt in the Piazza Trinita dei Mo nti o vc rnowi ng with Yu goslavian pilrti),ims. t he chief of whom was a lso enjoyin g the ho spita lit y of his wife . Freda we nt back 10 work.

Th rough 'ti l '",5. he wo rk ed on what he desc ribed as t he fi rst Italian musica l: Tww L a Ciu(I C(IIIUJ . a che;J pl y made se ri es of numbe rs interspe rsed with minimal plo t. Int erest ingly . a n u ncredi ted Fe de rico Felli ni cont ri bu ted to the script: no t vc ry much. but so me thing. fo r o ne week!

With th e exce ption o f the classic I Miserabili. relea sed in two pa rt s in 1947. a reaso nably fail hflli. sli ghtl y stodg)' ve rsion o f Hugo's Les Miserables . which featured the sc ree n debul of Marcello Mastro ianni . Freda's carecr from 19",6 o n . sla rt ing with Aqui la Ne ra ( Blac k Eaglc). was il head lo ng ga llo p thro ugh ge nre cine ma . Historica l advc nture. spy thrille rs. murde r mysteries. ho rror . peplum : hi s fim s e nco mpassed the lavish traged y o f Be(urice Cenci ( Frcda 's version was lush a nd viole nt . but achicved a dignity utlerly ;Ibsc nt fro m Fulci 's \;It e r crass and ug ly rcm ake) and t he first It alia n va mpire fi lm . I Vampiri - a 1956 fai lure. he avil y but un successfu ll y inOu· e nced by the Ha mm er goth ics .

One area of It alia n cine ma whi ch Freda ada mant ly refused to get involved with . and about which he remain)' unrepe nta ntl y scat hin g. was neo-rca li sm .

"Aquila Nera ex pl oded like a bo mb 10 scallcr thc foe tid miasma o f ncorea lism . . M y film was at last the first 'A me rica n' type of it s kind (in Italy). with th e triumphant pa rade o f t hc eoss,lcks at t he e nd t rampling down t he last resistance of a Ci.ne ma.. perpctua ll y anchored in sord id huma n Illise ry.

Freda doesn 't disgu ise his feelin gs. nor politely mask wit h lati n o rna teness. hi s o pi nio ns about OIher directors. aClOrs. critics. Like Villo rio Cotlaf<lvi. Scrgio Corbucci. he is securc in thc knowlcdgc of hi s own compe tcncc. unashamed o f the na ture o f much of his wo rk . and ve ry very pl cased at thc surging inte res t in the mainstream It alian ci ne ma of t he past. to the glo ries of whi ch he a nd his co-a rti sa ns contributed so much.

O n Al essa nd ro Blasclli. who di rected o ne o f t he mo st successful 'soft' neo· rca li st film s. Qllat· Iro Passi Tra Lt' Ntll'o/el Follr Sleps /" Til e Clouds. 19",2'. ill advallce of neo- realism pro pe r!

- and Fabio/a . 19",9. wi th its j uicy depi ctio ns of

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to rtu re a nd crucifixions e mbc ll ishing a routine C hristia n/ Romans p lo t " Bl aselli a lways had no ne- too·cl car ide as: he kncw whe re to put t he camera . fo r the poin t o f view of the spectators. but always made mess o f the exposit io n of thc slo ry . which is esse n tial in ci nema . In Sa/I'(lfo r Rostl (he) is incapable o f te lling the sto ry clcllrly. eve n tho ugh it was his best film . . (Sa/l'lllo r Rosa) is a confusing film. and a t o ne point no o ne could understand who was the ba ndi t and who was ( the hero) Ftlbiola is not a tOlall y compre hensive film .

On Cinema as ·a rt'. accordi ng to critics: " For me cinc ma is Ame rica n cine m ... the re is no othe r cine ma bc t,\'een Rao ul Wa lsh and Ingmar Bergma n. t he re is no co mmo n grou nd : o ne spea ks cine ma . the ot he r is a mos t intclligent ma n. pe rhaps fr ig hte ningly intelli ge nt. bu t he d oesn 't m ake cin em a ."

O n acto rs a nd di rectors: "O ur (Ita lian) acto rs a rc Ihe laziest of a ll. " " I must say I was vc ry sati sfied wi th Edmu nd Purdo m . a ve ry d isciplined acto r."

,I

", GOLDEN TIGER ,,,TREE,, MYSTERY m CHARIOTOf OEATH 1K( ROCK Of FREEOOM ",LIVING DEAD 1M[ BELL of TRUTH THE

MAN MADE EARTHQUAKE

" The Fre nch a lwa ys gave me g reat sa ti sfaction . all Micheline Presle in Beatrice Cellci." " One o f the actresses with whom I worked with grea t pleasu re was Yo ko Ta n i: we nevcr had mo re th an o ne o r two re tak es. and I have ra rely see n suc h d iscipline a nd professionalism in an actress. " . bu t it's II fact that in a sce ne wit h seve ral people. if th e re is o ne of t he m who doesn' t give you what you wa nt (as a direc tor). it's no t ve ry grave ... ' 'J' ve always ado red bea ut y. a nd in my life I a m a lways surrounded by beautifu l womc n. Evc n my secre tary must be bcautiful I have neve r worked (in my fi lms) wit h u na tt ractive women . like (Mariange la) Melat o o r Stre isand. irrespec· tive of thei r tale nt." "(A madeo) Na1.za ri asked me. <I S e xecutive producer (of C(lrQl·aggio). why C Jril\'aggio nevcr kissed a woman . saying: ' And with Ill)' face and fi gure!' .. " To mak e his fi lms. Fellini shools fo r mo nths and mont hs. eati ng up mil cs a nd mil es o f nega ti ve .

Experimenting over iIItd ovc r . shooti ng and re·shoot ing. afte r hiw ing viewed t he ma teria l in Ihc projccti o n roo m . he then ha nds ove r this a valanche of cc llu loid to an experie nced edito r . who sa lvagcs some seq ue nccs: bu t at what a price of borcdom .ll1d presumption !"

Freda has lilli c time fo r man y A me rican d irectors. several of whom. d uring t he ' Ho ll ywood-on-Ih e-Tibe r' pe ri od o f th e six ties wo uld ~I bove

a rrive in Ro me to make major studio backed ·e pics·. fo llowing t he worldwide success of Pictro Fra ncisci's Hercules mo vies. Accord ing to Freda. a ltho ugh he W,IS o nl y no mina ll y responsible fo r the ex terio rs of I M Ot/801i ( Th e M Ot/80/S. 1960). with full directo rial credi t goin g to Andre de Toth . he virtually did the wholc film : simila rly he quo les hi s fri end Mario Bav;t 's experience on Ltl Bauaglia Oi MartilolU' (Gi(llll Of Marath oll.

19"'9): Bava was second un it d irector . and pho tog raphe r. t he MG M finan ced production being credited to Jacq ues To urne ur. Appa re ntly Tourne ur disappea red back to Ame rica a ft e r a coup lc o f weeks a nd " phoned in his direction" thereafte r. Bava fi ni shing t he film .

Whe n Freda was making I Mongoli. he had tro ubl e wi th Jack Pa lance. who. much to the It alia n speed-me rcha nt's chagrin. insistcd o n 'prepa ring himself' prior to e ach sce ne. howeve r simp le. wi th dee p b rcat hing exe rcises. psychi ng up etc . Eve ntua ll y Freda left Pala nce off t he ca ll sheet. havi ng discovered a dead ringe r for t he Ame rica n star (! ?) a lllo ng th e Ge rma n cx tras. and wen t off wi th the cast and crew to fini sh the film witho ut actua ll y using th c sta r. Fre da gleefu ll y ad mit s to even having a close-up of this sta nd-in and no o ne notici ng the diHe re nce .

Despite the che apness o f ma ny o f hi s histo rica l film s. Freda is ve ry serious about their intentio ns.

He docs no t rega rd escapism as a ny less worthy o f criti cal atte ntion in movies than o th e r mo re ide ntifiabl y 'se rio us' co nce rns. He is ve ry articulate o n what he sees as a major proble m in these fi lms: th at o f appropria te and com'inci ng d ialogue . .. It is most difficult to make a film in cos tume which is no t a modern fi lm - most difficult and most interesti ng ."

It is a problem a ll ied to t he diffi cult y o f lI sing images which a rc esse nti ally mode rn . in the shape of actors . a nd few d irectors ove rcomc il. ("Eve n A nto nio ni. who a few yea rs ago coll abora ted o n Nt'l Se1-UIO /)i Ro ma . ") Whe n he want ed to make Dr. Hichcock. he too k great care 10 find the right actors . E nglish bc ing csse nti al. he fe lt. fo r thi s Victo ri a n melod rama reeking of repressio n a nd supp ressed sexual viole nce . He chose Robe rt Fle myng a ft e r see ing t he aclor in an E nglish tc\evisio n p lay. Ba rbara Steele wa), (in rClros pect) a ll obvio us and ideal choice fo r the torme nt ed heroine .

Pe rhaps o ul o f va nit y. and irked a t the lack of critica l estee m accorded in Europe to mainstrea m It alian d irecto rs. with the possiblc exce ption ( this was just a post-Ltl M(lsch"rtI V el /)emonio) o f Ba va. Freda used En glish pseudonyms o n thc credits o f the film : severa l month ~ later he was deligh ted 10 O\'e rhear a not ed Fre nch critic e xpoundi ng o n Dr Hichcock to the effect t hat t he film coul d o nly have bee n made by a n E nglishman . because of the great d ark lit e rary t rad itio ns which made th e English - and p resu mably Irish - master of got hic represe nt at io ns of ho rror . u nderpinned by seet h· in g restra ined se xua lit y.

Alt ho ugh the c" ree r o f Ricca rdo Freda grou nd to a halt in 1971. fo llowi ng t hc fa ilure o f the made ·in- Israe l Ltl Stl/tmllllldro Del Desen o . he was still in derlllUld as advisor and consult a nt o n actio n seque nces. and so me le n yea rs late r directed his last feature : Mu rder Obsessio1l. not wideh' distributed. bu t wel l-rega rded in these davs o f excess . \Vhen Bruce Be resfo rd WilS making Kill g David. Freda was cillled in to direct e xt e rior actio n seq ue nces. Accordi ng to Freda. when he arrived. hc was treated dismissively by Ihe Australia n. who to ld the press tha t this Ita li an was of no use to the production. as hi s e xpe rie nce was not suitable . Ex it Freda. smarting. Th e bailie sce nes in Kit/g Vm'id. wh ich d id not hing for b iblical hislO ry and even less for Ri cha rd Gere's caree r . look as t hough a littl e touch o f Freda would have bee n a n e no rmous bonus.

11

RICCARDO FREDA: FILMOGRAPHY 1937: LASCIATE OGNI SPERA NZA. Co-SCR ( Uncredit ed).

LA VO CE SENZA VOLTa. CoSC R (U ncredited) .

FUCCHI DAR TIFICIO. Co-SC R (U nc re dite d).

IL CAVA LIERE DI SA N MA RCO. Co-SC R (un credit ed).

PI CCOLI NA UFRAG HI . Co/DIRI Co-SCRIEdit/Pla yed lead unde r pse udon ym R iccardo Sa nt clmi .

1939: I LBA RONED I CORBO .Co-SCR. I N CAMPA GNA E CA D UTA UNA STELLA . Co-SC R. 1940: LA G RAND UCH ESSA SI DI VERTE. Co-SCR. CENTO LETTERE DAMO RE .

Co-SC RICo-Story. ··CARAVAGGIO. IL PITTO RE MALADETTO . Co-SCR. 194 1: NOTTE DE FO RTUNA . Co-SCR. " LAVVENTURI ERA DE L PIANO DI SO PRA . Co-SC R/ Ed it.

1942 : " BUONGIORNO MADR ID ! " DO N CESARE DI BA ZA N .

195 1: I L TR ADIM ENTO. DI RiCo-SCR (A .K.A .: PASSATO CH E UCCl DE) LA VEN D ETTA D I AQ UI LA NERA . DIRICo-SC R. VEDI NA POLI E POI M UO RI .

DIR. A. K.A. : PERFIDO RI CATTO (SEE NA PL ES A N D D I E) DIR

(Freda is also credit ed wit h the song ' Vcdi Napoli e poi M uori' - one of fi ve so ngs fea tured in film ).

1952 : LA LEGGEND A DEL PIA VE. DIRICo-SC RISTO RY. SPA RTA CO (SPA RTA CU5 TH E GLADI A TOR/SINS OF ROM E) .

DIRICO-SC R. 1953: TEODO RA , I M PERATRICE DI BISA N ZIO. (TH EODO RA. SLAVE EM PRESS) D I RICo-SCRI Co-STO RY. 1955: DA QUI A L L'ERED I TA . DIRlCoSC R. (N . B. Title is a pun on DA Q UI ALL'ETERNITA - FROM

H ERE TO ETERNI TY) .

1956 : BEA TR I CE CENCI. DIR/Co-SCRI (O riginal tit le: I Co-EDIT M A L A D ETTI) (Music is credited to Franco M annino. but Freda W,IS responsible for choice of cl assical

pieces).

I VAMPIRI (L USTOF TH E VAMPIR E). DIRICo-SCR. This film . made in twelve days. mark e d the fi rst use by Freda of Mario Ba va as photographer. Freda also playe d a sm all parI. as a docto r . in th e film .

1956/7 : AGG UA TO A TANG ERI ( TRAPPED IN TANG I ERS).

DIRICo-SCR. 1958 : A GI M URAD I L DI AVOLO BIANCO ( TH E WHITE WARRIOR) DIR NE L SEGNO D I ROil (SI GN OF TH E GLA DI ATOII ) . Freda is credited on the film wi th hav ing directed the ba il ie sequences. although he

DIR/Co-SCR. This was Freda's first solo directo ri al credit . and the firsl of his hislOrical/adventurcs.

··These film s were made fo r Freda's own production compa ny: ELI CA Fil ms.

1943: L A BI TO NERO DA SPOSA . CoSC R. NON CANTO PIU . DIRICo-SCRI Co-STO RY. 1943-45 : TUTTA L A ClTTA CANTA .

D I RlCo-SCR/Co-ST O R Y/Edit . ( R e-edited ve rsion under title :

5 £1 PI:.R o T r O. QUA RANT O H O).

1946: 07. .. TASSI ! Co- DIR (U ncredited) AQI L A NERAI TH E BLA CK EAGLE . DIRICo-SC R. 1947: I M ISERABI LlILES M ISERA BL ES . DIRICo-SC R. Released in two parts:

Part I : CA CCIA AL L ' UO MO Part 2: TEMPESTA SU PA RI GI 1948 : IL CAVA LIERE M ISTERI OSO. DIR/Co-SCR. (O ri gina l titl e: L E CENTO DONNE DI CASA NOVA) GUA RAN Y. (Made in Brazil ). DIRI SC R L ASTUTO BA IW N E (o r: L'EREDITA CONTESSA ) and TENORI PER FORZA. Both one- reel co medies. DIR (Und er pse udonym Renato De ry)1 Co-SC RIEd it (Credit ed to O lcHo wit h acto rs involved). FTCda also did voi ce over co mm entary

for BARON E. 1949: CA CO UL HA DO BA RUL H O .

a

~ ::; ...

~

.§

DIRISC RIED IT. ( Film mad e in Brazil ) I L CONTE UG OLINO . DIR/CoSC R I L FlGLlO DI DARTAGNA N .

DIRISC R (U nder pse udonym Dick Jordan) .

12

Shock Xp ress

ADVENTURER) A.K.A .

LE AVVENTURE DI BENVENUTI CELLINI. D1R .

1964: GIULIETTA E ROMEO (ROMEO AND JULIET) . DIRISC R. GENOVEFFA DI BRABANTE. DI RlSCRISTO RY . Made in Spain , th e film credi ts JOSE LUIS MO TER as director .

1966: LE DUE ORFANELLE. DIRlCoSCR. CO PLAN FX I 8 )COPLAN, SECRET AGENT FXI 8). D1 R1Co-SC R. A .K.A .: AGENTE 777 M ISSION SUMM ERGA M EIFERMA TI, COPLAN!/THE EXTERMINA TORS. 1967: ROGER LA H ONTE/TRAPPOLA PER L"ASSASSINO. DIRIED IT. CO PLAN OUVRE LE FEU A U MEXICO/MORESQUE : DIR (As Robe rt Hampt on) OBLETTI VO ALLUCINANTE. The screenplay was by Bertrand T averni er. was responsible for virtua ll y all ex路 teriors. The interiors were directed

(uncredi ted) by Miche lange lo Antonioni . The directo r on the cred its was Guido Brignone who was to have bee n in charge but was taken ill before shooting co mm enced. .B.: Among the four crd ited writers was Sergio Leo ne.

1959: CAL TIKI , I L MOSTRO IMMORTALE (CAL TIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER) . DIR (U nd er

pse udonym: Robe rt Hampton ).

1960: I MONGOLI ( THE MONGOLS).

Freda is credited on the film with direction of the battle sequence only , but was re sponsible for several oth er ( mainl y exterior) sequences.

I GI GANTI DELLA TESSAGLIA (TH E GIANT OF THESSALYI JA SON AND THE GO LDEN FLEECE). DIRICo-SC R. (Origi nal ti tle GLI A RGONAUTI) . (Some additional sequences were shot after

Freda 'fin ished' the film) .

196 1: CA CCI A ALL"UOMO. (A. K.A.: L E AVVENTURE DI DOXIDOX, CACCIA ALL 'UO MO). D1R ( Fre-

WITCH E'S CURSE) . D1R (this film was made in the remarkable, even

for Freda, pe ri od of eight days).

L 'ORRIBIL E SEG RETO DEL DOTTOR H I CH COCK (RAPTUS/ THE SECRET OF DOCTOR HI CH COCK/THE TERR OR OF DR HICH COCK/TH E HORR IBLE DR HI CH COCK . DIR (Under pse udonym: Robe rt Hampton) SOLO CONTRA ROMA ( THE FALL OF ROMEIVENGEANCE OF THE GLADI ATORS/ALONE AGAINST ROME) . Freda directed the arena sequ ences.

LESETTE SPADE DEL VENDICATORE (TH E SEVENTH SWORD). DIRICo-SC R. This was a remake of DON CESA RE DI BA ZAN ORO PER I CESA RI (GOLD FOR TH E CAESA RS) .

Freda directed the exteriors.

196213: LO SPETTRO ( THE SPECTRE/ THE GH OST). DIR (U nde r Pse udonym: Robe rt Hampton) Co-SCR (as Hampton).

1963: I L MA GNI FI CO A VVENTURI ERO (TH E MA GNI FI CENT

LA MORTE NON CONTA I DOL LARI. DIR (U nd er pseudonym Geo rge Lincoln) Co-SCR (As lincoln) 1969: A DOPPIA FA CCIA. DIR (as Robert H ampt on) . Th e story was provided by. amongst others , Lucio

Fulci . Co-SCR (As Hampton).

1970: L" /GUANA DELLA LINGUA D I FUOCO. DIR (Unde r pse udonym Willy Pareto)/ Co-SCR (As Pareto)!

Co-EDIT (As Pare to).

197 1: LA SALAMANDRA DEL DESERTO/TAMAR , WIFE OF ER DIR .

T hi s film was only released in 7Sn6.

It was made in I srael.

1972: LIZ & H ELEN. T his title is listed in th e Catalogo Bolaffi directors' index . but no further details/informati on is as ye t traceable.

ESTRA TTO DEGLI A RCHIVI DE POLIZ IA DI UNA CA PI TALE EUROPEA . D1R .

1980: L"OSSESSIONE CH E UCCID EI MURDER OBSESSION/FOL LIA OM I CIDA /SATANS ALTARIUNCONSCIO US/THE WAILING .

DIRlSC RIED IT.

da was not respon sibl e for th e pre路 credit sequence)

MACISTE ALLA CO RTE DEL GRAN KHAN (SAMSON A ND THE SEVEN MIRA CLES). DIR (Following Freda's completion of the film , produce r E rm an no D onatti and brought路in dirctor Piero Pierotti re路 shot several seq uences).

MAR CO POLO . Freda was onl y responsibl e for the battle sequences. which he shot on the same se ts when

he was mak ing MA CISTE/GRA N KHAN. (Some footage appears in both films. ) SI R FRA NCIS DRAKE, IL RE DEI SETTE MARl (SEVEN SEAS TO CALA IS) . Freda choreographed and ed ited the naval battle climax of

this MG M, Rudolph Mate-di rctd epic

1962: MACISTE (MACISTE

Shock Xpres~

IN

ALL"INFERNO H EL L/TH E

13

14

Shock Xpress

VIDEO OBSCURA

By Ernest Harris

Pulli ng on the Agony Style is somet hing th at most people have difficult)' aClua ll y describi ng . It is that ofte n i ndefinable (I"a lil ), that a creato r brings to a work of an that li fls il above the shou lders o f its contcmporat ics - t ha t makes it stand oul. I lISC the wo rd "cn:ator" beca use .Hy/e is not always. despite what die-hard il li lcu rist s migh t t hi nk. t he product of the di rector. If we ca ll ' , always desc ri be style. wto: a ll t hink we know wha l it is whe n we sec it.

Th e re is most ddini tely it Hitchcock style ; we ca n rccognbc it instan tl y a nd we ca n c"e n poi nt 10 the work o f o the r film -ma kers as bei ng " in t he style of" Hitchcock. so idcnlifiablc has it become. e"e ll to peopl e wit h littl e rea l interest in the movies. Now. just hcca use a fi lm has "sty le", just !>cca ust.' it st ands o ut. does n't necessa ril y mea n t hat it has any rea l value ( re membe r , th e ClIrry 011 se ri('S had a ve ry ind ivid ua l style). I still t hink t he most va lu able style tha t ca n be imposed o n a fi lm is that o f a good d irec tor (at hea rt I am a die- ha rd au tc urist!) - for it is then that we con fro nt the artist. fiu t. the re a rc o thc r sources of st),1e th a t a rc as inte resti ng if not a lways clluall y va luable . This was highlighled ea rl ie r in Ihe yea r whe n Ihe HBC ran ils lo ng-t hrea tened season of Ham nH: r fil ms.

di recto r. He was, as has bee n pointed out many times. a wo rkma n - a compele nt storyte ller when the sto ry was worth te lling. Prior to The Curse of FrlmkellSleill the re is nOl hing in Ihe Fishe r ca non to suggest more than a routine talen t and as soon as he was depri ved of Jimmy Sa ngster's scripts the talent fa lte red, and whe n divorced fro lll Ha mme r compte te ly t he resu lts we re such de pressin g ite ms as The Earlh Dies Scr('amillg and Th e Horror of It All. Why the n a rc his Ha mlll e r got hics so hi ghl y regarded by some?

The y do have their st yle ( th e ir initial popul arity was th e result of the ir go re quo ta - mild by todays standards b ut e nough to ca use apo plex y among th e crilica l eSlablishme nt back in Ihe late fifties), bUI il ca n hardly be amibliled to Fishe r it is more corporate Ih'lIl indi vidual. Th e visual look o f the I-la m me r gothi cs was more a prodllCi of th e geog raph y of Bray st udios and. perhaps more impo rt a ntl y. Ihe prod ucti o n design of Ihe b rillia nt Be rna rd Robi nson. M )' Shock Xpress colleague, Ba rry Fo rshaw, has argued that the Fishe r Frankensleinn a nd Dram/a fil ms arc Corporate Punishment Hammer fi lms still have a large and lo)'a l supe rior to those of H a mme r hacks lik e Freddie Francis a nd Peter Sasd y. th e a nswe r see ms foll owing and those among Ihe m who a rc sti ll obvio us to me: It isn't tha t Fishe r was that goodtalk ing to me we re ge ll ing prc ll y exci tcd abo ut iI's mo re th ai Francis, Sasdy e t al a re n 't. Fisher's the prospect o f a se ason devoted 10 the film s o f bes t Dracula and FrllllkellstC'in e nt ries al so had Messrs Ca rre ras. Fi she r and Co . As il happe ns, the be nefit of Sangste r scripts. It is useful to the y got mo re than they ba rga ined fo r. Ol he rTV chan nels rai dcd t hei r vau lt s 10 dig up ilS much com pare Fishe r wil h hi s A merican conte mpora ry, Roge r Corman . Corm an's Edgar Allan Poe I-Ia mm e r material as possiblc - thus trea ting (?) se ries was anothe r exa mple o f co rpo rale style in us to Te rence Fisher's Dracula trilogy wil h Ihe tha t they were made by a more of less regul ar films shown ou t of order o n Ihree di ffe re nl tea m o f collabo rato rs. Yet, when the product io n channels (a nd sh ame o n lTV fo r hi di ng the 1958 Dracliia away in t he 2.00 a. m . slol a nd eve n Illore - of the se ries switched from America to E ngland th e re sulting fi lms - Masque of III(' Red Dl'mh sha me fo r tra nsmitti ng what I am assured hy those who know ahou t these things WilSa seve re ly a nd The Tomb of Ligeritl we re, if a nythin g. eve n more inte rest ing tha t the previo us fi lm s. Eve n tru nca ted print) .

Co rma n's less ca ptivating movies bell r his d istinct The re can be few who would de ny that the ea rl y Hammer productions (a nd I'm talk in g signa ture: his perso nal visio n (w hale"e r Ihe aboul t he t uppe nny co loured go thi cs ral he r Ihan ge nre), so mel hing thai ca n ha rd ly he sa id o f no n-Ha mme r Fishe r efforts like Islalld of Terror the pe nn y plain s.L fi lms) have a style all of th eir and Nigltl of Ihe Big Heal. ow n. But just how good were Ihese fi lms a nd who \ \ ;:lS rea lly responsib le for Ihe eleme nt thai has made the m so popu la r with the fans (besides t he Out of the (last obvious element of gore Ihal Ihey introduced to the classics)? Most Ham me r e nt hu siasts wi ll te ll Of much mo rc inte rest and in finitel y more yo u that what rea ll y di stingu ished the ea rlier value t ha n the HB C Hamrner se ri es was th e same Ha mm e r gOl hics is Ihe prese nce in Ihe director's channe l's lo ng season devoted to the best film s o f chai r of T ere nce Fisher. Much as I wo uld have t he RKO Rad io sludios. He re were t reasures lik ed Hamme r 10 have had a rea l stylist al Ihe indeed - the superbly atmosphe ri c film noi r . helm , I'm afraid il jusl isn 't the casco Dav id Pirie cl assic thrille rs like Tlt e Spiral Staircase a nd Killg no twithstanding, Fisher just wasn 'l that good a Kong, superb B-Ill ovies a nd . of course, the

Shock Xpress

wo nde rful Va l Lew ton ho rrors (decidcly lacking in loday's req uisite gore).

Somebody once suggested to me thai Val Lewto n's ad mi rble reputa tio n was merel y the result of his good fortune in havi ng tale nted di recto rs working fo r him . Now, Jaques Tourniur . Robert Wise a nd Ma rk Robson arc ce rt ai nly film -make rs of tal e nt but in t he case o f Wise and Robso n Ihese fil ms we re tyro effort s.

Tourne ur was al ready a direc tor o f so me yea rs expe rie nce il is true, but al l. in inte rviews, gave fu ll credit to Lewton's gui di ng hand , taste and imaginalion. a ltho ugh I t hink this is self-ev ide nt in the co nsistenl high q uali ty and inte lli ge nce o f the film S. Lewton's films, Hammer. eve n Ihe Art hur Freed musica l team ove r a t MG M , arc prime exa mpl es o f corpora te style developed slud io systems - hig hlighti ng the coll abora tive na tu re of fi lm -making, maybe a t the expe nse of the more luna tic clai ms of the Po litique des Au teurs!

Did You See Dept.

As this colu mn has been devoled 10 the question o f style and th e responsibility for il. it is nice to be able to me ntio n a movie, shown o n Chan nel 4 in August, that spotl ig hts the work of a man who was o ne of the undi sputed visua l stylisls uf Ihe ci ne ma - although , oddly , the ro le he fu lfilled waS nOI thai o f a director . I refe r to Ihe 1947 fi lm fI -y. A ltho ugh di rected by Sam Wood. the fil m was co- prod uced (a nd I am sure desig ned) by the rema rkable Willi a m Ca me ro n Me nzies - his ge nre film s as a di reclor include OUII/dll lite Magiciall ( 1932), Thillgs 10 Come ( 1936) Th e Wh ip I-/all d ( 195 1), The Maze ( 1953) a nd the classic o rgin a l ve rsio n of II/ vaders from Mars (1953). It is so me thing of th e di stinctive visual slyle Iha t Menzies' se l design (for il is as an a rt directo r thai he is besl kno wn o utside the fa nt asy genre) brought to Illvaders f rom Mars Ihill d istinguished Ivy, a Victo ri an murder talc featuri ng an exce ll e nt pe rfo rma nce by Joan Fo ntain e in the ti tle role . From the starkl y st ylised Sl reel set of th e ope ning sce ne as Ivy makes he r way to co nsult a siniste r fo rtune- te lle r (played by Bride's of Frenkenstein's Una O'Connor) to t he fr enet ic climax when she takes a dive down a lift -shaft in a swirl o f o rga ndie , sa tin , lace a nd ostric h fethe rs, this was a p ro duction to re lish. Maybe no t a ge nre piece but a fa scinat ing example of the work of o ne o f the fanta sy ci ne ma's mOSI fasci na ting stylists.

15

Reviews TH E OPENING OF MISTY IlEETHOV EN. USA 1976 . Dir: Hcnr)' Paris (aka Rl.tdh.')' Metzger ), With : Consta nn' Mone)'. J a mie Gillis. Jaqueline Be'lUdant. Gloria Leona rd . T erT)' Hall . Ma r)' Stuart.

The ha rd-core film indust ry in A merica h a~ fn:q uc ll tly had pre te nsio ns regarding the aesthetic qua lit y o f its 1110" ic5- :-c"cra l of which. il has hee n cl ai med. a rc the equa l of a nyt hing that mainstream cine ma cil n offer. Perhaps the best example of Ihe fi nest in ha rdeorc ill The Openi"8 uf Mist), Bl't'tho l'i'" , and the rC;lson fo r il s much-he ra lded success is simple - I h:nry Pa ri s. real name Radle y Me tzger. Paris fi r~ 1 ca me to nu t ice in 11)66 whe n he achieved co nsiderable sucees as Ihe: US tli ~ lribulOr o f the brea kth ro ugh I , A \Voma" . di rected by Mac Ah lbe rg - now promine nt as a cinemalOgraphcr o n the likes of Rt>·AII ;malor. House. Trtlll cers a nd ma ny OIher Empi re and low-budgc t productions . Paris late r made headway wit h nudies such as Therese (Iml /s{lf)ellt> (1968) , Camille 2{)()() ( 1969) and Thl' Lickn;sh QuurtCI (1970).

Wi th the a rrivOII of hardco rc: and 'porno·chic' care of O ('~p ThrOlll and Till' Ol'v;/ in Miss J OIlt'S he was able to flex his cinematic muscles that bit mo re. be ing unrestricted by ce nsorship . By the m id·70s he was app roac hin g his peak. havi ng established himse lf as o ne o f the fin est X-rated film -make rs with such classic!> CIS Th e Afternoons of Pamela Mmlll and Nakeci C{lme Ihe Slr(lIIger ( 1975) with the lewd a nd lusty Darby Lloyd Rains. But Misty Beelho l·en remains his fi nest t c ~ ta m e nt .

Very much a pornographic Pygmalion. it takes place in Paris, Metzgc r's favouri te city. G ill is. ha rdcorc·s finest malc perfo rmee r. plays Seymour Love. " re knowned sex write r who stumbles across stree t-wise hooker Bee thoven (Mo ney) plying her trade in a sleazy porno palace. She int rigues Seymo ur . so much so that he wages a be t with his love r (Bea udant) that he can tra nsfor m this wretched slip o f a girl into the "The Golde n Rod Gi rl o f the Year' - a ti tle bestowed on o nly the ho ttest of sex ua l at hletes.

T hings go bad ly at fi rst - he has what amounts to an unwi ll ing patient o n his ha nd s - and she ce rt ai nl y lacks the finesse ;lI1d charm of a pot e nt ial ·Go lden Rod· girl. But hefo re long he succeeds in ad mi n isteri ng a crash-course in sexual re-cd uc.lIion : first comes the sed uctio n of a pi lafs wife, ai rhorne in a 747. fo ll owed by a 'q uickie ' a t the Opera. and the u ltimate cha lle nge of sed uci ng a g;IY a rtiste at a n a rt e xhibitio n.

Though in it ia ll y hesit ant. Misty confo unds he r crit ics and sta rts to show rea l p romisc. Her real test awai ts - pa rty soc ia li te G loria Leona rd .

Take her and th e ti tle beckons ..

T he fil m's critica l a nd comme rci al Sllccess has ge nera ll y bee n a tt ribute d to the enthusiastic playing of newcome r Mo ne),. Certai nl y her naive t)' and appa re nt innoce nce ha s lent much cred ibi lity to the sto ry - througho u t the movie o ne gets the fecli ng that she is havi ng the time o f he r life. Iro nica lly. she wasn·t o rigina llyslatcd for the tit le ro le - Pa ris had opted fo r Fre nch porno starlet Beat rice Harnois, but the latter withd rew late in the day and in ste pped young Consta nce.

Sadly, her career in adult film s lOok so me thi ng of it nosed ive a fte r Misty. Despite being the highest paid blue -movi e: star o f the time she o nly appe ared in routing pi c1Utcs like Mary, Mary, AIIIIll Obsessed ;tnd he r comeback/farewell movie A Tus/t'of M Olley. a ltho ugh she did mak e it cameo appe ;tr:lIlcc in Barbra Broadea.H. a no the r Pari ~ pic.

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REVIEW ROUND-UP ASTERISK RATI NG: ••••• Except io nal •••• Above Ave rage , Good Tolerable " Disposable Unacce pt able!

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CONT RIB UTORS: AB : A nn e Billso n RC: R a m sey CH l11 pbe ll NF: Nigel Floyd S1: Stefan Jaworzy n AJ : A lan Jones S1O : Stephe n Jones KN: Kim Newm an AB AMERICA GOTH IC Bren t WalkerN irgin 1987

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BLISS Entertainment 1986

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T HE BOY WHO COULD FLY 20lh Cenlury.Fox 1986 CREEPSHOW 2 New \Vorld/Entertainmen t

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DEMONS 2 Avatar 1987

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J AWS - THE REVE 'GE Paramount/UIP 1987

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T HE LAMP H.!.T.lBraveworld 1986

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NIGHT OF THE CREEP Tri·Star 1986

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A NIGHTMA RE ON ELM STREET PA RT 3 DREAM WAR RI ORS New Li ne/Pa lace 1987

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PEE· WEE'S BIG ADVENT URE Mainline 1986 A RETURN TO SALEM 'S LOT Warners 1987

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SPAC EBALLS MGMIU IP 1987 THE STEPFATHER ITCNirgin 1986

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SUPE RMAN IV : THE THE QUEST FOR PEACE Can non 1987

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Shoc k Xpress

The mainstay of M isty is Gi ll is' portraya l of Sey mou r, witho ut do ubt his fine st pe rfo rma nce in what see ms like a li fe ti me o f adul t movies.

Gi ll b has rarely bee n requi red to do little more th an act the supcrst ud, but Pa ris co nsiste ntly wri tes good pn rts fo r his actors, and Misty gives G ill is a role he ca n rea lly get his acting teet h into.

Eve n wit h hi s fine perfo rma nce here ilnd in subsequent fil ms, he's never quite milde the best o f hi:, undoubted ta lent:, - an the on ly 'Iegit' role he ':, played was thai of Lindsay Wagner's friend in Bruce Ma lmuth's underrated Nighthawks .

Thh. picture 's 'mc:,sage' is fam il iar in most of Paris' ot her fil ms - sex is fu n. and Pari s mi xes his ph ilosophy with high-class rau nchy sex and much lOu nge-i n-cheek hu mour . But wi th Misty he goes dee per: w.,i ng Seymour's characte r he ex plores the emotional dept h of it person who grooms a :,t.'xual machine. and has the ·m'lchi ne· discove r that she may not be a better perso n fo r her experience - somet hing 1110:,t porno movies stay firm ly away from. The conccpt that sex ca n corru pt is we ll in vestiga ted here, and fo r once po rno appen red to have grown up. giving us char;lCters with dime nsions prod uci ng great empat hy - po rn with a henrI. It would he unfai r to say that after Misty eve rything Pari s did was an anti -climax. but despite the rau nchiness o f his 19R I offering Th e T(I/(- 0/ Ti//,m y Lllsi (wit h A rlenee Manh atten), he's not been able 10 recrea te the ea rthl y excitement and tension produced in A'l isty .

It s credentials notwit hstanding. plus the fact th at it's cleven yea rs old. the film still had not had a ge neral showing to ci nema audiences in Brit ai n.

A trunca ted ve rsion was submitt ed to the late G rea ter Lo ndon Counci l in the hope of a London-X rating. but eve n the G LC refused to issue a ce rt ificate . Howeve r. a 'soft' ve rsion did appea r on the Ci nema Club circuit in the ea rl y 19SOs , and HVS released an cven softer version o n video a few yea rs late r. but since the Video Recordi ngs Act it has surely bee n withdrawn . ( Bria" Matthews) THE LAMP. USA 1987 . Dir: Tom Daley, Wilh : Deborah Winters , And ra St Ivanyi. James Huston. HIT Bra\'eworld.

Scripted by a fo rmer Professo r o f Behavioural Scie nces. Th e Lamp appears to be his treatise o n totall y irrational be havio ur. St ill. if you ca n swallow a plot that pits i.l bunch of high school stude nts aga inst a wicked ge nie o f the lamp , then you will no doubt be able to to lerate the fey heroine (whose idea o f dress sc nse is to wear three blouses si multaneously ove r II pair of py jama bOHoms) , an o pera singing securit y guard (who . to my mind . Co uld Not Be Kill ed Too Soon) and the prese nce of executi ve producer Deborah Winters (who performs three different roles in the movie and is tiresome in all o f them).

Ce nsorship appears to ob lit erate any justification fo r the who le endeavour. ( David Taylor)

EV IL COME. EVIL GO . USA 1973. Dir/Ser: Walt Davis. P: Robert C. Chin n. With: Cleao O' Hara. Sandra Henderson. Jane Louise, Riek Cassidy. ' No man is sa fe fro m the " Preacherwo man" !

She's a Man-Hating. Hymn-H umming Hellcat!' reads the ad line for this grindhouse cheapie . It's so obscure th at not even Don Will is ( Norrorand Science Fiction Films) or Michae l Weldon ( Psychorrollic Encyclopedia) list it. and it's so absurdl y repulsive that it dese rves the SX seal of tedium recommendatio n as a sleazo piece o f cinem 3scum that plumbs depths beyond evcn Psycho Fro m Texas o r SalalllVtlr when it comes to the combinatio n o f dullness and the di stasteful.

Sister Sarah Jane (O 'Hara), the man-hating, hymn-humming hellcat, is a sho rt , plump , nea rlymiddle-aged woman with an annoying mid western twa ng. She wanders around singing. pl aying her guitar, hassling people in the stree ts. and seducing disgusting men who m she then kill s.

'Will you strike with your bladef' til they've all fina ll y paid/there's another victim eve ry sin gle day,' runs the poignant c& w theme before segueing into its singalong chorus ·Sara h Jane.

Sarah Jalle/Si ste r Sarah, you're insa ne: Whil e hanging about on a street co rner pl aying the accordion . Sarah mee ts a taller, evcr-so-slightly thinner woman with funn y teeth (Henderson). and recruits her into ·the Sec ret O rde r o f Co mpl cte Subjugation', whose purpose is to 'rid the world o f pleasurable sex and evil men'. No sooner has the disciple signed up than she find s herse lf being tied to a bed by the preacherwoman (' this is symbolic. I must bind you to th e bed as you are bound to mc and the Lo rd ') and the fi lm prese nts us with the least erotic lesbolbo nd age sce ne in the cinema as this pair o f uglies grope each other fo r ages and ages, The p;'lir go out and sing hymns to a wickcd coupl e they fin d making

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out in public (' how dare you bege t in fro nt of me!'), and start killing mo re men. 'Think o f all the swee t. innocent girls we've saved fro m this stinking, sweat y body.' remarks Sarah aft er a particularly ine pt bit of Lewisia n slaughter. This is o ne of those video/dri ve- in disposables that lasts a little ove r an hour but see ms longe r than Th ~ Sacri/iu. Cleao O' Hara comes o n like a younge r Edy Massey and ranks as o ne of the le ast likeable scree n psychopaths of all time. and director/scree nwrit er Walt Davis probably decided to make this a slasher/go re movie because even he knew the girls werc too bloatcd 10 bring it up to scratch as a softcore tim e-waster. The surprise ending features nothin g in particular happe ning as Sister Sarah wanders off while her theme song re prises. ( Kim Newm an) THt: UNTOUCHABLES . USA 19t17. Oir: Brian De I)alma . With: Ke\'in Costner. Sea n Connery, Charles Marlin Sm ith, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro. l'aramou ntlU lP. Ove r the ve ars the cinema of Brian De Palm a has proved [lothing if not compul sive. One o f the fcw directors whose wo rk succecds in producing violen t ambiva lence in viewers and critics alike it 's possible to love his film s and hate yourself fo r doing so. as well as resenting his abilit y to manipulate th rough blatent re-use o f Hitcheock's nnd his own set- pieces while marveling at his tcchn ical se nsibilities and fl orid directio n - he is still ca pab lc o f transce nding his influences and produci ng wo rk which is stunnin g in its own right .

For all its indulge nces. Scarface was an o hject lesson in escalating obsessio n and megalo mania - in terms o f both Pacino's pcrfo rnHHlce and the nature of incident. Th e Umo llchables contains no ne of his waywa rd wanderings o r tac ky fl amboya nce, but is probably as nea r to a pe rfect ly judged . 'straight' product as he is likel y to ge l.

Esse nti ally a cl assic crime ya rn . with mo re than a few li berties ta ken with the ac tual eve nts. The Utl/o llc!lC/blt·s cvinccs a maturit y generall y abse nt fr om hi s fi lms. Here at last the set-pieces are we ll int eg rated - the 'station ste ps' scquence be ing o ut standing in it s o rchestratio n and executio n and pe rform ances arc treated as e nse mble acting rat her a se ries of hazy sketches with o ne or two ce nt ra l roles. Connery is Sli ghtl y large r than li fe as Malone. ess's mento r. Costner is qu ietly persuasive as eS5, de term ined to do 'right' . and De Niro's AI Capo ne is an exe rcise in dete ri oration fm rn smil ing villain y to pathologica l ranting.

Elln io Mo rricone contri but e:, a tho ughtful. broodi ng score, emph asising atmosphe re and avoid ing the bombastic counterpoint o f sound and action o ft en prese nt in De Palm a'scoll aborations wi th compose rs. particul arl y Pi no Donaggio . And the vio lence is sim ply st unning Essenti al viewi ng. (Sle/all Jawor:YII )

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THE MONSTE R SQUAD. USA 1987. Director: Fred Dekker ; Scrttnp l a~' : Dekker and Shane lJIack. With: Andre Gower . Duncan Regehr, J ack Gwi llim . Tom Noonan. Tri-Slar.

TIl(' Monster Squad is a nawed movie with o ne big prob le m: iI's fi ftee n years too late fo r its pote ntia l audie nce .

A respectful ho mmage to the U nive rsal crea · tu re·featu res of the th irt ies a nd fo rti es. it's a mo nste r movic fo r kids. a nd lik e Miho n Sub· ut:.ky·!> ' horror' movie fo r the younge r mind-sc I. Th e Monster Club . it comes close to pat ro ni zing it s vicwers .

The li tle sq uad <Ire a bunch of brats who read Fangoria. Ste phen King novc ls. and wa tch videos. Led by newcomer Gowe r . Ihe kids d iscovcr D rac ul a (pl ayed as a psycho tic by Rege hr of V in fa my) is in to wn to causc trouble .

Assisted by the Wo lfma n. Mumm y. Gillman . and Ihe Franke nste in mo nste r. the count is searching fo r a n a ncie nt a mul et th ai will plunge the wo rld illl o evil chaos . Of course th e ki ds arc the o nly ones who rea lise what's going o n and se t o ut 10 stop him. whic h inevitably they do wit h the help of the Franke nste in mo nste r. who defects to the ir side whe n he de velo ps a soft spot fo r little Ashley Bank . the ga ng's to ke n girl.

Fo rtun ately. the kids are o n the to le rable side of Spiel be rg·cute ness, but they're still too sq uea kl )' clea n. Eve n if yo u adopt the me nta l age of a n c leve n-year-old whilst wa tching. you' rc still going to have proble ms liking this bunch.

Th ai aside, the fil m also suffe rs from lack of inve nt io n. Fro m a n im pressive FX- Iade n opening. supe rbly shut by Bradfo rd May. with Va n !-lei sing (Gwillim ) a nd Ihe village rs of T ra nsylvanian burg sto rming the co un t's castlc a hund red years previo usly. the movie soon runs Ou l o f stea rn . Noo nan . the se ri al m urde re r in Michae l Man n's MllIl /lflllla. gives the best perfo rma nce as the Fra nke nste in mo nste r. but eve n he is a uisa ppoin tme nt. not bei ng used to a ny gre at effect. Ne ilhe r th e Mumm y a nd G ill ma n d o an ythin g o f any rea l conseq ue nce. whi le the pred ictable plo l is we ighed down by som(' st,lle jo kcs.

Allhough hi s compc tencc as a d irec tor is dea rly impro\' ing. Frcu Dekke r's mai n fa ili ng is still his inahil ity 10 sustai n narrati ve wh ile both .writing a nd di recting. tho ugh in this case cowrite r Sha ne Black (Ll'llllIl Weapon ) must share the bla me. f iftee n yea rs ago this coul d have bee n a success. but toda y's younge r a udie nce hilve grown up with J ason . Freddy. and Ro me ro's zombies. no t Ka rloff. Lugosi. a nd Ca rrad ine. which goes a lo ng way 10 explai n Monsta Sqwltts bo.'(-offi ce fai lure in A me rica . (Philip Nil/mall) RETURN TO HO RROR HICH . 1987. Directed

by Bill Froelich. Wjl h Lori Lelhin . Alex Rocco .

Vincc Edwards. Brendan HUJfhes, Seo.. Jacob)'.

New World.

O ne wo nde rs wha t ew Wo rld think they' re playing al whe n they re lease House /I a nd Creepsho lV 2 theatrica ll y, but o nl y put this sma ll but dece nt ite m (I/ot a seq uel to the 1974 Horror High, a.k.a . Twisled Brain ) o ut o n video. Like Fr(lnkensteill 1970 and /-louse of lite Sevt'fl Corpses. it's aboul the blight ed pro duction of a ho rror film based o n actua l eve nt s. but in its playing wi lh the illusio n-and -re ali ty the me and parodic su bversio n o f the high sc hool spl attcr ge nre. it comes over as a lOW-budget cross bet wee n Th e Sf/lilt Mall lill d Wacko.'. De tectives pore ove r the bloody site o f the la test mass'lcre :-Ind a de me nte d scree nwri te r nashes back to the se ries of mu rders which has pl agued the prod uclio n of Horror High. a n e xplo ita li ve film abom a real scries of murde rs. a nd within the nashbacks we get clcve rl y mislead ing sce nes which a rc e ithe r furthe r nash backs 10 the o ri gin al killings, ext racts rro m the film in progress o r the co nfused

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ni ghtma res of the leading lad y. Typica l is a n in te nse tee nage rape sce ne . which is int e rrupt ed firstly by a sle azy prod uce r tryi ng 10 make slife a n actress' breasts a rc in sho t and the n by the leading lad y. who pro tesls a llhe mi streatme nt o f wo me n in schlock film s like this. Some se rio us gore. and lOIS o f jo kes a t the expe nse o f crass Ho llywoodi ans who ma ke cla ims to be into psycho logical thrill e rs with a n import a nt message. a nd the n line up the next explodi ng tit sho t. ( K. N .)

BLISS. 1985. Direcled by Ray Lawrence. Wilh Barry 0110, Lynelle Curran. Helen Jones, Miles lIuchanan , Gia Cardes. En lerlai nmenl.

Ad exec l-htrry Joy (0110) drops de ad d uring a part y but wa kes up again . unsure whe the r he has ret urned to live o r bee n reborn in a twisted a fl e rl ife o f hi s own imagin ing. o rma lit y has bee n fractured : the supporting cast come down with C'Ulce r , a n e le ph ant sits o n !-Ia rry'sca r. and a Th atche rite nurse in a me nt al ho me turns boy scouts into ginge r snaps. A we ird Auslra li an movie. fro m a nove l by Pe ler Cme), (who also wro te. in a diffe re nt fra me of min d. Dead End DriI1e-ln ). It goes o n too lo ng a nd has a n awkwa rd hippie idy ll ne1l r Ih e en d, bu t while Ha rry is tryin g to cope with an urba n wo rld that's cracking up as fas t as he is. it's ve ry funny a nd pre ll y po inted. ( K N.)

ultima te ly mesh into a n exceedingly pleasurable thriller wilh a neat sense o f iro ny, No go re , but th ere's a socke roo nightma re seque nce and a spectacula rl y nasty dea th . (A . B.) A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 3, DREAM WARRIORS. USA 1987 . D;" Chuck Russell . With: Robert Englund . Healher Langenkamp , John Saxon, Palricia Arquelle, Craig Wasson, Palace .

While a imed ra ther mo rc tha n o ne wo uld wish a l the mainstre am teen audience. this is ne ve flh eless sc vera l cuts a bove the d readrul Freddy's Revenge. and deve lo ps the nightmare Iheme nicely by having it s tce n pro tagonists e xplo re the ir own drea m powe rs to fi ght back against the razo r-fin ge red cree p, who by no w has e me rged as a n a ll -purpose cult anti -he ro with a sna ppy o ne-line r fo r e ve ry occasio n. Wes C raven has a hand in the sto ry. which has Na ncy ( La nge nk a mp) reappearing as a docto r (no t vcry COlwi ncingly) il nd Craig Wasson re prising his beingburied ali ve act fro m Body Double. The cha rac· lers. eve n minor o nes . are mo re tha n me re ca nno n fod de r and th ei r fa tes are an ama lga m of bot h the ir own worst fea rs and some blood y good special effects (sinews ext racted fo r use as puppe t strings and so o n). And the re's no t a suicide pact in sight. (A . B.)

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IIIDE AND S HRI EK (aka AME RICAN GOTHI C ). GU 1987. Dir: John Hough. With : Rod Steiger. ¥\'onne DeCarlo. Michael J. Pollard. Virgin.

Wha t sta'f1 s o ff as a ro utine revolting-youngpeo ple-in·perill e r develops into an e njoyable romp th rough the backwa rd/backwoods looni es genre. with Ste iger and DeCa rlo presiding o ve r a fa mily of ad ult reta rds who dispatch the ir vict ims by way o f swings ,IOd Skipping ropes. Stcige r ma nages 10 be re markably restra ined until the e nd . whe n he fin ally ge ts his Big Ha mmy Speech . but the film 's most no table coup lics in its espousal of what Clive Ba rke r wo uld ca ll 'U ni ve rsa l Degrada tio n Time '. the message being that you' lI have 10 be eve ry bit as bonkers as the bad guys if you wa nt to get o ut of this se t-up with your limbs in tact. (A. B.) PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS . USA 1987 . D;" Nigel Dick. With: Clayton Rohner, Talia Balsam.

Ray Sharkc)" Vernon Wells. Paul LeMar. Blue Dolphin, Th is is the debut fe ature of Dick. vetera n of pro mo videos fo r the likes of Madness an d Bi g Co untry. But. unl ike o th er vid -kids turned fi lm d irecto rs (sta nd u p Ste ve Ba rro n a nd Julie n Temple) he's equipped himse lf with a solid script a nd lurns o ut a ripping Y.lrn about 1I yuppi e a rchitect who finds a corpse in his ba throom and a n e nigma tiC message o n his a nswe ring machine .

Afte r a crea ky sta rt, the plot ge ts into gear whe n he goes o n the run thro ugh the sle azie r side of Los Angeles. pursued by be nt cops and ;r magni fi ce ntly coca ine-crazed Ray Sharkey . A load o f a pparc ntly incide nt al deta ils alo ng the way

COMBAT SHOC K. USA 1985. Dk, S<r & p, Buddy G io\·inazzo. With: Ricky G io\·ina1.lO, Veronica Siork , Mitch Maglio , Asaph Liv ni.

Troma .

What's this? A Tro ma pick-up actu ally wo rth picking up a nd watChing? Incredi ble - but t ru e~ Mo re to the point. Com bm Shock sho uld bc required viewing. Fo rget Platoon . Ham burger Hill a nd Full Metal Ja cket, Budd y G iovin azzo's cellulo id prima l scre am is Ihe o nl y movie this year that rea lly ge ts to grips with the angst of the Vietnam wa r. And altho ugh the Tro ma tag leads o ne to e xpect a ba rga in-baseme nt L(lSt /-IImter. no thing could be furth e r from the trulh . The mood and style of this inte nse little fi lm lift s it head and sho ulde rs above the a verage 'Nam bo j unk movie to re main impri nted o n the me mory as a n ex trao rdi nary a nd rather tra uma tic vie wing e xpe rie nce. Yes, it 's bloody . And yes . it's shocking. BUl a n so ma ny diffe re nt purposely sick levels. Combat SllOek is unco mpro mising in inte ntio n a nd defi a ntl y do wn-bea t - it is a wo rk o f purc bri lli a nce.

Di rect ed in a sub cine' llerite style recalling Toys Are No t For Children . Com bat Shock begins with a gory nightmare as ex- Vie tn am ve teran Franki e re lives his Sa igon days . Wa king up in a grim New Yo rk suburb. the harsh realities of his li fe become appare nt. He li ves in a dilapidated apartme nt wit h his nagging wife Kathy and the ir de fo rmed baby son. !-Ie can ' t ge t a jo b a nd wo n' t call his fath e r fo r mo ney who presumes he died in action anyway . His mindless ex iste nce re vo lves aro und hustling in the street. standing in un employme nt lines and coping with his drug addict fri e nd . Life has chea ted fra nki e

Shock Xpress

all the wa y do wn thc line and un fo rtuna te ly thc wo rst is yc t to come . As the truth be hind thc unfo ldin g fl ashbacks bccomes clear . we fin ally rClil ise the futilit y of Fra nkie's grip o n the p'ISt and come to undc rstand his despc ratio n. And with his life sho t to hell. the re is o nly o ne escape ro ute ope n to him. But will the ba by fi t in the ove n?

Full of reso nances neve r eve n att e mptcd by Co ppo la. Sto ne. Ku brick e tc. Com bm Shock has an impact o ne rarel y fin ds in (III)' film . le t a lo ne a sleazy T roma movie. As kitche n sin k cl iche turns co nsta ntl y inlo gri m a nd grill Y no n·cli che . the ste reotypica l cyphe rs usua ll y fo und in such Tax; Dr;\leresquc mate ria l - child prostitu tes . loa n sha rks . ju nki es and muggers - actua ll y co me to represe nt a warped view of the Mea ning o f Life bl,lIlk gc ne rat io n style . The urba n decay surro undi ng Fran kic's bruta lised unive rse act ua ll y mirro rs his me nial stab ili ty a nd this fractured tableau is ha rd no t to cmpat hi se with o r feel eve ry ste p of the way. A nd it fea tures o ne of the Illost aweSOme he ro in fix ing sce nes (with a coa t· h a n ge r ~) in sc ree n history.

Com bal Shock is best descri be d as Platooll mee ts ET(lserlu'ad. As a rel entl ess assault o n the se nses . it is q uit e unlike any film I' vc see n as it defie s the co nventio ns o f gc nre imi tators. And it's e no ugh to resto re your fa ith in the in de pe nde nt e xplo itat io n ind ustry who have neve r bee n afra id to show it li ke it is eve n tho ugh they fai l 99% o f the time . O nly Combm Shock isn't a fa ilure but probably the best visio n of post· Apoca lypti c spa rseness eve r co mmillcd to film .

Shoot a gook to sec it!

(Nole: Bef ort' bt'ing picked III' by Troma. this {tIm was kno wn as America n Night ma re) Alall Jo" es THE STEPFAT HER . USA 1986. ))ir: Joseph Ruben . With: Terr)' O 'Quinn , Jill Schoclen, Shelley Hack. ITClVirgin.

A low·key. unse ttling a nd (u ltimatel y) frighte ning view of a maggo t-ridde n A merican Drea m.

Hack a nd Schoele n pl ay a yo un g d ivo rcee and he r da ught e r who gradu a lly co me to rea lise tha t th e cha rm ing. a ffab le ma n o f the ho use is actua ll y a multiple murderer obsesse d wilh esta blishin g the pe rfect ho me a nd family. The ir inab ilit y to mat ch his pure (fo r tha t read ' puerile ' ) visio n of d o mestic bliss ea rma rk s the m as addi tio ns to his eve r.growing list of victims. Bo th fe male leads a rc exceptio nal. but it is O 'Quinn as thc titula r pa tria rch who de li ve rs a ri vetting portra it of psycho pa thy: ge nial de mea no ur explo ding in to uncontrollable rage. the n abruptly shi ftin g into to rre nts o f inco mpre he nsible se lf· justi ficatio n.

Directo r Ru be n mai nt ai ns pe rfect contro l over his mate ria l. gradu all y tightc ning the screws o n the a udi e ncc minut e by pai nful minut e. Not thc most comfo rt ab le v;i e " ,in",xr.oc ri e r,ee o f 'he ei th er ",e n", lI v

EXTREf\.·IE PR EJ UDICE. USA 1987. Dir: Wal· ter Hill. With: Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe , Michael ironside, Maria Conchita Alonso , Rip Torn , Clancy Brown. Gu ild .

A great cast hlow the mse lves to pieces in slow· motion in I·,ill's ho mm age to Tilt' Wild fi lil/ cIi. T he basic script (th e sto ry is eo-wrin e ll by Joh n Mili us. who is presum abl y responsible fo r ~c n ti m e ll t s a lo ng the lines o f ' l lo ve drin kin g with lTIa h buddi es. Ilo vc A me rica' . ) pits o ne· time frie lu.ls Nolte . now a T exas Ra nger. a nd Boo lh e . a co ke·crazed d rug ba ron o pe ra ting from Mex· ico. aga inst each ot he r. In to the fe ud step Iro nside a nd his ga ng of ex·N alli ve ts . armed to the teet h and ready fo r a massacre . This is d ul y supplied. a lo ng with shotgun hlasts . machin egunni ngs . explosio ns . C IA ('(we rt o pe ra tio ns. a m bushes . a bona fid e showdown . a nd gal lo ns of blood . G lossy. fast-movi ng. wil d ly vio le nt an d pre ll y d um b. Extrem e Prejudice is o ne of the most who ll y ente rt ai nin g actio n pictu res to a ppea r fo r some ti me. Wa tch fo r Iro nside in No where 10 N ide. an acce pt able conspiracy! actioner sta rring A my Madi ga n. (SU'/ 1II1 JUlI'orzyn) HAMB URGER HILL. USA 1987. OJ,, John Inin. With: T im Quill, Court ney B. Vance.

Steven Weber, Anthony Barrile. Michael Patrick Boatman. RKO!Palace.

HOI o ff th e hc ll · twin from Na m co mes this turkey. Fa lling fla t un its face betwee n the catha rtic PIli/DOn a nd Ku brick's bizarre Full Mewl Jacket - successful in spit e o f its chaot ic structure - Namburger Hill. like the G ra nd O ld Duke of Yo rk . goes nowhere fa st. A platoon o f unsympat he tic rednecks stagge r th rough a '69 Narn until they mee t the ir nemesis in the eponymo us slo pe (pun inte nded? Bea ts me . ). A crass script with a ppa llingly ste reo typed cha racte rs (po' black mo' fos; me an·faced goo ks: e arnest bee r·swilling blockheads who love Ame rica) Ihrows in as ma ny cliche s as possible - so me tedious seq ue nces a rc cven given a seco nd run -through - until the lo nge urs re nder the climaClie assault devoid of te nsio n or dra ma . If Apocalypst' NOli" too k the Naill myt hos and turned it into .1 psychede li c. pse udo- li te rary night ma re . and PI(llOon provided a deco nstruc· tio n o f the mythos of stripping awa y the layc rs o f bu llshi t. the n Hamburgn 1Iill re prese nts it re tu rn to the misco nce ived idea ls o f WW2 .l o hn Wayne ve hicl es like Tir e Sands of 1 11'0 Jima. Made a t the sa mc ti me as Platoon (bu t with far more resource s used to no effect . .). H(llll bllrgn ! f ill ca nn o t eve n be se e n to h(l ve succee ded on a hum,misti c levc l. the cha racte rs be ing d ull il nd lack ing in de pth of pe rso na lit y. A gnl\'f.' disappo in tmen t. (Slef(ln Jawor:y" ) THE I1IG EASY . 1986.l)irecled b}' Jim McBride.

With Dennis Quaid , Ellen Barkin. Ned BeaU}'.

John Goodman. Man.' I.awrence. Recorded Re· leasing.

Unde r the credits . the camenl swoops low OVl' r the swa mps whi le foot ·ta pping caj ull Illu sic pl a y~.

It loo ms through bui lt -up New O rle a ns at dead of night 10 corn e to re st o n"a dead bo d y fl oati ng in a pool in fro nt of a mafi a· front bui ldi ng. Sli ghtly be nt but who ll y charming co p Qu aid d raws the

Shock Xpress

case. and soo n intu its a gang wa r shaping up be tween o ld guard mafiosos a nd voodoo·wo r· shipping black drugs deale rs . Mea nwhile. Assis· ta nt Di strict Allou rney Ell e n Barkin is o ut to na il Qu aid o n a co rruptio n charge. a nd also is falli ng in love wi th him. T he fi rst who lly sat isfying movie fro m Mc Bri de . who made Glen (llI d Randa and the re ma ke o f Breatlrless. and a dazzling c ross· hreed of sc rewba ll roma nce and co p thrille r. It fa lters a li tt le in the fin a le. owing 10 a n ove rly obvious surprise villa in. bu t is o the rwise square o n the na il. A rlHlCh be ller usc o f New O rl e an ~ a nd its a ttributes - nice b uil di n ~s . disti ncti w music. te rri fic food - tha n e ithc r A ngel H eMI o r No Mercy. ( K.N. ) A RETURN TO SALEM'S LOT. USA 1987, Di" Larr)' Cohen. With : Michael Moriart)', Sam Fuiler. Andrew Duggan. June Havoc. E\'elyn Keyes. Warners.

Co he n ciln always be rel ied o n fo r q ui rky re in te rprc tatio ns o f the ho rro r myths . il nd hc re he pi tches his lOne a lo ng way fro m thc Ste phe n King book . Mo ri art y pl ays a n a mhro po log ist who a rrives with his bra t in Je ru sa lem 's Lot. Ma in e. to fin d the pl acc popul ated by vampires who proceed to stea mro llc r him in to se tting down the ir lo ng a nd ho no urable history fo r poste ri ty .

Thi s is o ne of those rare films which actuall y dc lvcs into the practica li ties of be ing o nc o f th e unde ad : ho w to adj ust your lip·gloss afte r parta kin g of you r dail y pinta . fo r exa mpl e . o r how to hreed a race of dayli ght -to le rant unde r· li ngs. Cohe n's typica ll y slipshod techni q uc and dodgy prod ucti()Il values do n' l de tract fro m the fac t th at the re 's an inciso r o f a mind at work . whittling away a l aspects of thc A me rican Drcam a nd offe ring e no ugh sat irc . allegory a nd llI o ra l di lemm a to sha rpen a doze n se ts of de ntu res.

IA .B .)

RIVER 'S EDGE. USA 1987. Dir: Tim Hunter.

With: Crispin G IOl'cr. Keanu Ree\'cs. lone Sk)'(' Leitch . Roxana Zal. Daniel Roebuck. Joshua Miller. Dennis Ilopper. HemdalelPalal'c, Whe n Sa mso n (Roe buck). a psychotic mi sfit. stra ngles hi s gi rl fri e nd. he tak es his schoo l frie nds to view the ho dy. pro mptin g a crisis of lo ya lties within th e group . Sho uld they help him o r info rm the '1UIho rilie s. . '! La yne (a re ga ll y de me nted Glo ve r) bel ieves the forme r a nd e nlists the help of Feck (Ho p per. croll}' aga in). a n e x- hike r! nutcase minus a leg who li ves with a ru bbe r do ll a nd supplies the kids with ·Feckweed·. Matt ( Rceves ) and Cla rissa ( Le itch) feci o the rwise . but Lay ne's ove rbeari ng pe rso nali ty leads the m 10 keep a low profi le . But Feck. fa r mo re twisted than a nyone had harga ined fo r. so lves th e ir prob le ms fo r the m A n exce ptio nal debut from Hunler - ha rsh . gritt)' and rea listic - wit h supe rb perfo rma nces . the c,rlcula led ly o ve r-th e· to p ravi ngs of Hoppe r a nd G love r IlUlwit hstandi ng. . The kids he re loo k rClIl - speech. habi ts (do pe. booze . sex. vio le nce) a nd ma nne risms arc tho roughly convinci ng. as arc the tra umas thc )'expc rie nce in the courSe of the fil m. Te nsio n bui lds re lenl lessly througho ut. pro d ucing a n inte nse fee li ng of une ase . Inspired. unco mpromising and ofte n distu rbing. R;I'er s Edge is o ne of the yea r's best.

H ighl y recom me nded . (Stefl/n Jaworzyn)

21

THE NIGHT OF THE SO RCE RORSILA NOCHE DE LOS BRUJA S. Spain 1973. Dk: Amando de Ossorio. With: Simon Andreu. Kali Il ansa. Jack Tay lor. Maria Kosli . Lorena Tower.

Picture this. if you ca n . . A tedious "oodoo o rgy is lak ing place in ' Bu mbasa'. 1910. A gi rl is tied up. whipped unlil all her clothes fa ll off. raped and fina ll y dccapilalcd by a native chief.

The other merry路make rs drink her blood. I n the midst of the orgy soldie rs lu rn up and shoot evcryone in !>ighl. Damn! The ca mera loo ms in on the girl's seve red head. which spro uls fa ngs. turns 10 face us a nd screa ms A ma ndo de Ossorio. one of Spa in 's ma ny hack horro r directo rs. is at il aga in . ' Burn basa', the prese nt. A grou p o f foolish human bei ngs in jee ps a ppea r in o rder to wa nde r thro ugh the ju ngle un ti l they chance across the voodoo ~ i te. By a qui rk of fate the execut ed nat ives risc that very n ight as lomb ies. j ust in time to grab the sexy p hotographe r who is d rawn to the o rgy area by forcc~ bcyon morta l comp rehe nsio n . A pp re he nded, she is tied up. whipped a nd bitten by the once-decapitated gi rl. now zombie supre mo . T hc photogra pher a lso loses he r head. is du ly e;,tlen (in neg'Hive). a nd her head tu rns arou nd ;:tnd screa ms.

is inca rn ated with th e I ,IS a leopa rd . and IOge th c r they attack the expedi tio n ca mpsi te. All is chaos as the duo push a p rofessor's fa cc int o photographic develo per and muss him up real good , ahduct anothe r gi rli e a nd bite he r . and a shrunke n he ad a ppea rs in a te nt. The re ma ining fe ma le p rotagonist kni fes o ne o f the two re maining males who fe lt obliged to ra pe he r. He re O ssari a kindl y provides a n e xte nded ' running thro ugh the junglc' seque nce, culmin ating in the surviving girl ie be ing ca ptured by tbe leopa rd wo men/zombics who tea r he r nesh with the ir cl aws. From the depths of the seripwrite r's coma eme rges the ' he ro'. who throws a handful o f b ull e t ~ o n a voodoo ri re, all o f which shoot off in the right d irec tio ns to ki ll zombies. Aflc r rescuing the heroi ne. the couple escape in a jeep , spl atte ring the odd zomb, o ur man having fa iled to no tice that his compa nion has bee n smille n with th at o ld black magic .

Not o ne of Ossorio's bette r rilms. La Noehe bea rs passing rese m bla nce to the turgid j ungle epics o f Jesus Franco (specirica ll y the d isast ro us mess of The Devil HWllerl M{mdillgo Mtmillmterl II Cacciatore di Vam illi ). wi th its gratuito us nudity, sadism and e ndless mea nde ring thro ugh the da rkness. Lackin g the visual q ualities and ge ne rally sllccessfu l at mosphe rics o f the ' Blind Dead' se ries. th is o ne grinds p redictabl y alo ng with o nly the ca nnib.llism-in-negati ve scene and occasio nal lISC o f slow-mot io n (.1150 a staple of

22

Shock Xpress

Fra nco's cinema) to add minimal lust re. Francis路 co Sa nchez' photogra phy is glossy but aimed squarely at th e 'travelogue with gore' end of the market. while Fe rn ando Morci llo's score reli es too heavil y on wonk y orga n tones and the inevit able voodoo d rums to prod uce anything other than cliches, Ossorio's exploitation ca ree r stretched back almost as far as Franco's, commenci ng with westerns in the mid路60s and moving rapidly on to horror by the late 60s. Possessed of spo radic nai r, Ossorio - like so ma ny of his compat riots - had bee n far too happy to lurch o n to conve nient ba ndwagons (exorcism, zombies) and draw his own. initi all y inspired. ' Bl ind Dead' saga out well past its welco me, though even La Noelle de los Cavio/as had its moment s with a go ry hea rt ext raction and an impressive image of crabs scuttling across dismembe red body pa rts. Wh ile the majority of his ge nre product appears to have reached either the UK or USA, there is doubtless a large body of work (sexploit at ion pa rticul arly) which is ye t unsee n ou tside th e continent.

Shock Xpress

Selected Filmography 1965 I Tre del Colorado.

1968 Malenka La Nipote del Vampi rol Malcnka the Vampirc/Fa ngs o f the Living Dead.

1971 La Noche de l Terror Ciegorfombs of the Blind Dead.

1972 Las Ga rras de Lorelei/When the Screaming StopslThe Lorel ei's G rasp.

1973 El Ataque de los Muertos Sin OjoS/Return of the Evil Dead/Return of the Blind Dead.

La Noche de los BrujosfThe Night o f the Sorcerors.

1974 EI Buque Maldito/Ho rro of the Zombi es, La Endemoni adalDemon Wi tch Chil d.

1975 La Noche de los Ga viotaslN ight o f the Seagulls.

No te: Wh ile Michae l Weldo n assigns Planeta Ciego (1975) 10 Ossorio, Don Willis cred its it to Leon Kl imovsky. It was released in the US in 1980 as The People Who Own the Dark.

Stefa" l aworzyn

23

THE NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CAT~A NOC HE DE LOS MIL GATOS Mexico 1972. Ok: Rene Cardona , Jr. With: Hugo Stiglitz , Anjanete Comer, Gerardo Cepada, Christa Linder.

Whe n I' m asked "what's the worst fi lm ever made about killer felin es?" (a questio n that pops up all the time , needless to say). the first answe r used to be Ted V. Mikels' "The Corpse Grinders". But not any longer . . No t afler viewing this Mexican mess. because this south-of·theboredom snooze-fest wins boltom-of- the-barrel ho nors. Even the title is idio tic-sounding.

Hugo Stiglitz stars as a suave playboy-type who woos the ladies and always e nds up tak ing his latest conquest back to his secluded cast le, complete with a mute. T o r l ohnson·lookali kc serva nt (kudos to Ge rardo Ccpada fo r being the o nl y one in the cast who looks like he 's having fun) . When we first mee t him , he's showing off his dank mansion lO an expendable blo nd bimbo , and you know the re's going to be trouble when Hugo gets a maniacal glimme r in his eyes and begins spouting o ff about his unique "collection" .

Of cou rse , she doesn't suspect a thing (obvio usly , she hasn't re ad the title of the film she's trapped in), bu t soon the secret is out! Hugo has a huge indoor cage crammed wilh no isy ca ls, which are fed with the freshly ground-up hunks of his love ly ladies . Just to make matters sillie r, Hugo a lso keeps his victims' pick led (a nd very rubbe ryloo king) heads in glass cases.

When Hugo isn't at ho me with his huma nhungry pelS, he likes to hove r above sun-bathing beauties in his helicopter and a nnoy them wit h his cocky peeping tom-routine. Alo ng the way he meets up with A nja nette Come r (popping up after a few American duds in orde r to collect some quick rent money), a nd the who le productio n limps along at a snail's pace --- taking it self all 10 seriously , eve n during the climactic 'cat attack', where some o ff- screen ca t-wrangle r heaves the bewildered pussies thro ugh the air and into the camera.

A lo t of Cats is pretty ludicro us (or couldn ' t you guess), but the inhere nt silliness of the situa tio n is quickly negated by the som nambulistic to ne of the who le production --- it 's Io wan vio le nce , go re, excite me nt , a nd basic ente rlainment value. What it does have in abu ndance is le thargic perfo rmances , bikini-clad non-actresses , and hideous early-70s fashions , such as be ll -bottom stretch-pants and leat her hip boots ... Su re, some o f the fi lm's continuity proble ms could be from the faci it was hacked by 20 minutes when it was snuck thro ugh Custo ms, but even at seventy minutes long . it's still padded to the sprockets with travelogue footage and e ndless shots of Hugo flyi ng hi s chopper .

The o nl y positive thing I can say about Night of a Th ousand Cats is that it's mi les ahead of Ca rdo na Jr.'s later cash-in exposes, such as Survive , Tintorera and Guyana. Cult of Ihe Damned (aU featuring Mr. One-Nate-Pe rfo rmance himself, Hugo Stiglitz). Yo u ca n give me o ne of his dad's flick s instead a nytime. such as the immo rtal Wresrling Women Vs. The Aztec Mum my . Now the re 's real film-makin g!

(Sieve Puchalski) NEAR DARK , USA 1987, dir: Kathryn Bigelow.

With : Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright , Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein. Joshua Miller. Bill Paxton, Tim Thomerson. FfMlEntertainment Film Distributors , Refe rred to in the press no tcs as 'a ro ma ntic thrille r', Near Dark is a fine exa mple of a classy, low-budget ho rro r movie . Containing man y simila r plot ele ments to Th e LOSI Boys but e mploying them far mo re successfu ll y, Near Dark is an intelligent , beautifully crafted , atmosphe ric va mpire sto ry (alt ho ugh the word is never mentioned and there's nary a fang o n view) which simult aneously amuses and thrills . Like The Lost Boys, this postu lates the hypothesis tha t it's possible to enjoy sucking blood while also

point ing o ul the painful ' rea lit ies' o f the situatio n. Bigelow, co-director of Th e Loveless and co-write r o f The Hitcher, acq uits he rself ad mirably with an arty, scary and in cred ibly slea zy portrait o f a nomad ic vampire clan (headed by He nriksen), producing a co upl c of the year's most impressi ve horror set-pieces along the way .

O minous, brood ing pho tography and a n un obtrusive but effective score work togethe r wit h fin e pe rfo rmances- ranging fro m Paxto n's manic intensity to Wright's seductive unde rplaying - to produce an inspired and inspiri ng movie. Recommended .

(5.1. )

THE LOST BOYS. USA 1987. Dir: Joel Schumacher, With: Jason Palric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland. Jamie Gerlz. Corey Feldman , Dianne Wiesl. Warners.

So . Another 'va mpire' fi lm ... He re we have a ll the pitfalls of the teen ne rd movie a nd feeble fo relock-tugging ge neric re fere nce defect film combined in o ne dread ful product. Imagine eve ry va mpiric concept you've seen o r read in rece nt years, hurl it into iI ble nde r wi th The Gooflies. a couple of Jo hn Hughes film s, vapid pop vids , and add a peculi ar but unde niable underto ne of homo-erot ici sm and what do you The Lost Boys! Think of the idea first , have . the n think of the dizzying but supe rfluous came ra pyrotechnics, the n re me mbe r the script ... A bunch of photogenic boys a nd girls pose and pout inte rminably, a ra ndo m na rra ti ve is spo radica lly int erjected, rock songs burst fort h regu larly. the film goes nowhere pro nto. Entire ly lackin g in sympat he tic (he ll. even interesting) cha racte rs, Th e Lost Boys epito mises the mark et fo r watered -down kiddie fare conce ived by middleaged crackpots whose hea rts are inde li bly im printed with a dolla r sig n. The Lost Boys . . . ?

Mo re li ke Th e Mild BUflch .

(5 J )

1 _ Nt.WImE COMUI _IOI, lACt\AIIy IMII$ _~

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24

Shock Xp ress

SPIDER BABY , OR THE MADDEST STORY EVER TOLDrrHE LIVER EATERS/CANNIB· AL ORGY USA 1964. Dir: Jack Hill . With: Lon Chaney Jr .• Carol Ohmart, Jill Banner. Sid Haig, Mantan Moreland.

A ny fil m tha t has Lo n C hancy Jr. singi"g the title song has m y vOle fo r we irdest o pe nin g o f a horro r fi lm . and the rest o f this low-b udget excu rsion in to depravity doesn' t disa ppoint e ithe r. Director Jack '-lilL who kepi America n drive-ins in business wi lh such exploita tion cl assics as The Big Doll House a nd Swilchblad(' Sis/ers. sta rted o ff his caree r wi lh thi s disturbing lill ie ho rror-comedy. A nd if you ca n imagin e a cross be lween the 1960 Lillie Shop of Horrors a nd £raserhead. you've got the basic idea fo r the

lone of this obscu re cl assic.

Welcome 10 the Merryc Ho use, whe re the enti re family is a ffl ic tcd with thc ra rc and myste rio us Me rryc's Sy nd ro me. It see ms that at the age o f 10. each me mbc r o f thc cla n contracts thc " Fa mily Curse". a nd whil e the ir bodies co ntinue to grow no rma ll y. the ir brains begin regressin g until they become babbling. bloodthirsty geeks. Eventually. th ey even go beyond a pre- nat al state and turn into inhuma n savages . O f cou rse. no o ne beside the trusted family chau ffe ur. Bruno (Lo n Jr. ). knows the full truth a bo ut The Mc rrycs' secret (he rcfe rs to thcir cond itio n as "rotting o f the b rai n"). and he has his ha nds fu ll covering up th e spora tic bloodshed and kccping things u nder contro l. You see. the rc's Ralph . a d rOO ling. ba ld- headed man-baby who li kes to hide in th c dum b-wa it er : U nclc Ned a nd the o ldste rs. who arc fo reve r-unscc n in the eobwebbcd baseme nt; a nd prc lty little Virginia. who runs a bou t with twin b ut che r kni ves. playi ng "spide r". In fact. Vi rgin ia is the first to spill blood whc n shc hacks up a Stcpi n- Fe tchi t clo ne a nd saves his sevc rcd ca r as a souve nir (I wonde r if David Lynch saw this fi lm beforc writi ng Bille Vi'lvet?).

To complicate affa irs, a pair of sche ming. d ista nt re lati ves suddcn ly show lip to lay cla im to the ma nsio n --- sticki ng the ir noscs in to famil y b usi ness a nd dist urbing the rel ative peace and q uiet. Aftc r a d in ner of b ugs. u ndressed rabb it a nd fungi sournc. these money-grubbe rs decide to stay thc night. wh ic h turns o ut to be a BA D decision. Though the graphic vio lence is si m ply inti mated. the consta nt cree piness of th e proceed ings go fa r beyo nd the bounda rics o f good taste (especiall y fo r the '60s) --- especially when Virginia coyly sed uces her norma l Uncle in to a game of Spide r . tyi ng hi m to a chai r a nd setti ng IiV(' spide rs at his lcgs. Add a bit of ca nn ibalism . a hinl of dismem be rme nt. and lo ts of grim humor. and Spider Baby beco mes a n ove rlooked cu lt classic fo r shock j un kies.

Cha ncy. who was stuck in some of the wo rSI

Shock Xpress

so-ca lled " ho rror"-fodde r du ring thc late-'60s ( Dracula Vs. Fran kens tein. Hillbillies ill (l Haunted House), gives a fine. sympa lhc lic pe rfo rma nce as the fai thful servant who promised to ca re fo r the fa mily unt il th c lineage dies o ut ; and a ll the Mc rrye me mbe rs a rc appropri ate ly child- li ke a nd maniaca l. with ve te ra n B-movie actor Sid Ha ig stealing every scenc as Ihe thumb-sucking Ra lph . in fact. the ensem ble wo rks so well toget her th at the gro up bea rs stri king sim ila rities to the Texas Omit/saw Massacre crazies and thei r pe rve rse antics.

T ho ugh the low-budge t is e vidc nt throughou t.

Spider Baby succeeds in large part bccause of it s sta rk black and white p ho togra phy by Alfred T ay to r . twisled pe rfo rma nces a nd to nguethro ugh-check humo r. Most of a ll . Jack Hill sho uld be comm ended fo r creating a true visio n of madness. Alte rna te ly hila rio us. to uching and very nasty. it's easil y his most o rigi nal mo vie ; a nd tho ugh thc film was o rigi nally hampe red by poo r distri b utio n a nd co nstant titl e changes. I'm ho ping it will soon find ils d e me ntcd niche. it's o ne o f my favo rites.

(Steve PIlclw lski)

C REEPS HOW 2. USA 1987. Dir: Michael Gornick. With: Lois Chiles, George Kennedy ,

Dorothy Lamour, Page Hannah, Tom Savini.

New WoridlEnlertainment.

Could this be the worst film eve r fro m New Wo rld ? It ce rta inly ma kes thei r o ther stink c r of th e yea r , House II . look lik e a towering maste rpiece of ho rro r cine ma It's hard to know ex actl y who to bla me fo r this mess - Ste phe n (t he Godzi ll a o f ho rro r fi cti o n) King fo r writing the sto ries, George Ro me ro fo r scriptin g. or Mi chael Go rnic k for d irec ti ng While Gornick's pho tography contri buted much to the fi ne appea rance o f Day oltlle De(l{l. he see ms to have lea rne d not hin g fro m hi s mc nlo r. Each of the three sorry cpi sodes is tho ro ughl y atrocio us. lacking pace. at mosphere. a nd co nvincing pe rfo rmances ( Lo is C hil es except ed ). Linking animatio n is be low the standa rd of eve n the wo rst T V fo dde r . effects a re abysma l (imagin e the menacc created by a b unch of fl o atin g ga rbage bags o r the shee r te rro r produced by a wooden indi a n wo bbling cre aki ly a ro und ) a nd thc punch-lines a rc be reft o f the impact found in eve n the worst Amicus movies. Barring a n a musin g o rgasm jo ke and some gratuito us hitche r squ ashing in the C hiles e pisode, the rc's abso lu tely no th ing he re to reco mme nd eve n o n a turkey level. Rock bo tt o m.

(5.1.)

25

THE VIDE VAULT of Barry Forshaw

(who is not, o ne fervent ly hopes, rcJated to Del Te nney of The /-Iorror of Party 8 e(/cll ). What struck me most about this o lle (about a yo ung \\,oman - the improbably named Tawn )' Kitae n - menaced by the spiri t of a dead child via an ouija board conjuration) is the ca re taken to establish a relatio nship betwee n the two male le ads (Todd Allen and Stephen Nichols) - we' re e"en e ncouraged to change our mintls about them - when did you last sec a ge nre fi lm thaI tack led some thing like that "?

Grisly occult ca rnage is briefly glimpsed at strategic poi nts - it med iu m, after havin g he r throat cut. is propel led t hro ugh a window 10 be impa led on a sun·dial. But if Omell ·style slayings arc your meat , spend you r shekel!> elsewhere and - oh yes - do n' t think I'm putting all my weight be hin d this o ne - it 's just that it struck me as a liltle mo re ambitious than a 10 1 of the stuff that comes my w:'Y (1 sho uld warn you, however. that thi!> o ne didn' t go dow n well at the recent SX/City Limit s exploitation fe stival at the Scala ).

Palace Plums Tired of fun-or-the-mill video farc ? Tired o f video companies that supply rcJiabl c (rat her than hit-or-miss) star ve hi cles? Well the PVG group can a lways be gua ra nt eed 10 mix the sublime with the ridiculous - and any company that was prepared 10 bring Sam Raimi over 10 defend his £I·if Dead in a protrClc lnl court action has 10 win the heart:. of readers of th is magazine. right ?

(Incidenta ll y. Palacc's Andre w Kirkham informll me that £, ,;1 Dead /I on video may undergo seve re BBFe pruning - Ihey were obviously lying in wail for thi s one.)

Anywa y_ th e curren I balch from PVG sports a definit e first. Yo u've sec n films that run o ut takclI behind t he end cre dit s (Jackie Cha n"s POJiCl' SlOry be ing a f!.!cc nt example) bu t lJiolUl:ard (from the evcr under-achieving Fred Olen Ra y) has to be: the: fir!>t film with a sclf-con!>cious o ut -take as its actual final :,hmi.e . the he ro's inabilit y to take the fi lm's Aliell don I.' mo n!>te r seriously (a nd who can b lame him ?). Ange1ique Pettyjo hn forsakes the ca rnal pl e;,sures of he r mo re customa ry roles to pl ay the world 's most unlikcJy nudear physicist. and Ray makes sure thatthi!> Ill o n !> tcr -o n -t h e -l oo~e farrgo i!l every bit as in ept as his earlie r dforts .

Also from PVG . Hypt'rSp(lCl' aka Grt'lllloiC/s is Todd Durham 's low-budge t Swr Warl' parod y wit h one reallycJever joke ( the rocket sled fo rest sce ne in Ell/pin' re played with n ying shopping troll eys in a supe rm arket), while Alan Smithee's Glwl'/ Ft' I'l'r lacks eve n o nc smile-provoker in its wit\css tal c of Illulti·racia l cops vs . spooks from th e Deep South (unless YOll count two spectres appearing behind a group of Southern Belles in a Ca nvas o n the wa ll ) . Trick Or Trefll is the nagship feat ure, a nd C harles Martin Smith 's first movie as di rector will be loved or loathcd bv head bangers everywhe re in equa l proportio ns-, but Toxic A I'rllgrr will provo ke irritatio n by its drastic censo rship excisio ns.

displayed in The Termill(/for and Aliells, made yo u, li ke me, want to take another look at his debut fea ture , Pinllllw 1/: Flying Killers - RCA have agai n provided us with the opportunity .

Well. were we wrong? After Joe Dante 's live ly Piralllw, the sequel initially sec med to be bitte n (sorry!) by Ihe usual follow-up disease (viz Jaws II & III) i.e, a pale reworking o f th e origi nal with less int eresting characters. And il second look regrettably confirms this - bu t there \ ce rtain evidence o f Ca meron's nascent editing skills, a nd anybo dy who love s his other film s had gOI to catc h thi s prentice effort. correct? (O h yes look out for Lance He nrik se n, later to be ripped in IWO by Ca me ron's Ali e n Oueen) .

And while we ' re wi th seq ue ls, a qu ick mention fo r Cl Cs re- issue of Honda's Killg Kong Vs. Godzilla, fam o us fo rth e line " ~'l ajor - YOll ca n't shoot Kin g Kong for he's holding my sislcr in his hand !" You 'vc seen it all before - but why do these end less Toho products keep us watchi ng? Is it for the hilario us natives o f Kon g Isla nd (Chinese in black face)? Or the eq uall y hil arious no tio n that a man in a baggy ape suit could ever ma tch Willis H . O'Brien '~ wonderful stopIllotio n? Slili. afte r ten ye~'rs o r !la, I did want to sec it aga in . r ill a ll right no w ,

Melting Moments I'd just like to add my vote fo r Jim Muro's off-the-wall Sm'el Trash (A Villa r) with it s marve llo us melting winos a nd wc ll -obse rved ce ntra l characte rs (even if mO!lt of the m arc sq uea ky clean actors under all the grime) . LivcJy Raimislyle camera wo rk , and nOI too many ce nsor cuts for video (t he explo ding breast!> have gone, tho ugh) ,

New 8 100d A new video compa ny has appeared on the !lce ne ca lled "S hec r Entertainme nt " - and their fir st ho rror product is somethi ng called Geek! In the cl assic T yro ne Power movie Nigh/mare Alley, Po wer e nded up as the unseen depraved thing ke pt in 11 cage to entertain Ca rnival audiences.

Here, the Geek of the title is a tooth less backwoodsman with evil design s o n the customary disposable teenage rs. The most diverting thin g o n vicw he re is the demise of the eponymo us maniac - offed by a comhi lwl ion of fi sh-hooks and magnesiulll fla rc .

Irwin Allen fans of the world. unite!

Now somewhe re out there, legions of Irwin A llen fan s arc poring over their video collections o f co mplel e ru ns of The Voyage To Tile BOflom Of TIl(' Sell - after a ll. look at the clamour for re·runs o f L OSI III Space. Well , just fo r these p:lnting hordes, Warn ers ha ve isslled CiIY U"der"emil The Sea (aka Olle /-I Ollr /0 Doomsday) - a pilo t fo r a n unsold 'TV se ri es, in which Stuart Whitm:m commands a futu ristic sub ma ri ne cit y menaced by a n advancing meteor. Richa rd Base ha rt pl ays th e Presid ent - and didn't he notice that the " n ying sau cer" sco ut ship used by hi s o ld ve!'sel. the Seavie w, is still doing service here (or i~ Allen re-using fami li ar footage?) .

O uij a Boards - their care and ma intenance Fro m Guild, \vi/chboarc/ is an above -average !tupernatural outing directe d by Kevin S , Tcnney

Dario Delighl.'; The re:tI plum in the Warne rs' pic , ho weve r, is Da ria Argento's b rilliant Th l' O 'Nine Tails,

,I

Second !lite One of the great as!>e ts o f the video industry i:, the " retro:,pecti ve" o ppo rtuniti es it gra nl s we co mpl et i ~b . Miss 8i1va 's P/(IIU'I of IlIl' Vampin's ur COllafavi'!l lIercules COllql/ers At/antis'! Do n' t worry - they'\I probahly turn up . And if the breathtaking lechnica l skills of Jame!> Cameron,

26

Allit erati\'e Awfulness With Mowuaifllop MOlel MaSS(lCrl' ( New World) we' re in very f;nniliar territo ry scythe-wielding psycho picks o ff hapless viclims.

In thi s case, it"s a middl e-aged woman (don 't worry, I"m not givi ng anyth ing away) whose slaughtered daught e r docs a littl e post hu mous promptin g, Zilch characterisatio n go e!> a long way to insti ll ing a glazing o f the viewe r's eyes in thi!> one, and director/writ e r Jim McCulloch's shock tactics have bee n j udiciously trimmcd (one victim whosc chec ks arc pierced by the dOllY matriarch is gli mpsed so briefly as to be almost suhliminal) ,

Mind The Doors Mo:,t peo ple who 've seen Argento's O('el' Red re member th e \'iJ1ain's grisly d e misc via a part of the body caught in a moving lift. A si mil ar fa te fairl y well staged - befa ll s a character in Chuck Vince nt 's If L ooks COIlId Kill ( PVG) - and the vicl im is actor Jamie Gillis (he re called J . Gillis, presumably to distingu ish this from his wo rk in a ge nre that o nl y utili ses o nc part of his body) , Vincent 's film explicit ly invo kes a comparison with Hitchcock - a grea t mistake , because Rear \vim/olV this ain't. A youn g pho tographe r (appallingly played by Tim Gai l) is hired to spy o n a young woman via her apartme nt window bloody murder ensues. Vincent shows a late nt skill for editing his confrontations, but o ne ha s to say that so far Hitchcock's rotund ghost ca n remain undisturbed.

em

Shock Xpress

rccciving its vidco prcmi c rc . All thc Argento fingc rprints are full y evidc nt in this grisly tal c of a blind report c r ( Karl Malden) and a younge r co llcague (Jamcs Franciscus) tracki ng down a deadl y mu rdc re r - a nd hcrc Dario's somc times wayward plo tting is diamo nd ha rd in its chilling dcvc lo pme nt. Not to be misscd - a nd most reade rs of this jo urnal wi ll be renting ano ther Warne rs title in the sa me batch (anothe r video pre mie re) - G eorge Ro me ro's KfI;ghlriders . previo usly unsee n in this country. This is the o ne in which G eorge put his familiar zombics in cold storage for a visio n of A rthuria n knights as modern -day bike rs. wit h th e no w we ll-known Ed Harris as the Arthur of the picce, Sir Willi am . All Ro me ro comple tists will want to see it - but as in Jack's Wife/Season Of Th e Witch, it 's clea r that the d irecto r's more at ho me with hi s living dead.

Also fro m Warne rs, the bette r路 tha n-average Exorcist d o ne . Th e Possessed. with Ja mes Farc ntina as a n ex-mi nistcr confro nt ing a male fi c prese nce a t a girls' school. The fi na l confro nt atio n has a ge nuin e charge. givcn a TV movic's restrictio ns. And to comple te a bumper Warne rs bu ndle, Crave n's d isappointin g Deadly Friend is now o n video - has to bc see n by all C ra ve nites. c vc n tho ugh some thin g we nt seriously awry .

More Fury Fro m Po lygram. D o uglas G rossman 's Raging Fury is familiar st uff. but de mo nstrates that therc's life in ma ny a n old for mul a. When a young girl is (accide nt ally) responsible for a do ubl e impalation (a mazi ng how ma ny d isuscd.

45 degree railing spik es the re a re a rou nd) she g rows up who wo uldn ' t? - thoroughl y scrcwcd up . And at the first provocatio n. she's slicing and dici ng in grand style. The cata lyst?

Shc's a teache r (Mauree n Mooney). coming up against slightl y- more-reca lcitrant than usua l pupils . who c nd up shish-kebabcd a nd othe rw ise disasscmbled. The stude nt ringleade r is called Dicke ns - clearly evide nce tha t America n explo itation movics know thcir E nglish Litc rature. This mayhem is of the quick cut varie ty (in both se nscs o f the te rm ), so has been Icftl argely untouched by the SSFe. C REDITS Biohazard USA 1986 D. Frcd O le n Ra y. With A Ida Ray. A ngcliq uc PCll yjo hn .

Hyperspace USA 1986 D . T odd Durh am . With A lan Marx . Paula Po undston e. Chris Ell iot.

Pifllllhall - Flying Killers USA 1984 D . Jamcs Ca me ron . W . Trici a O路Nc ill. Stevc Marachuk .

La nce H e nri kse n.

King Kong Vs. Godzilla J apan 1963 D . Inoshiro '路Io nda. W . H arry Ho lcomb. Ja mes Yogi.

Street Trash USA 1986. D . Jim Mu ro . W . Mike Lackey, Vi c No to. Bil1 Chepil.

Mowllaimop Motel Massacre USA 1986 D . Jim McCulloch. W . Bi ll Thurman , A nna Chappe ll.

Will Mitche ll.

Ghost Fever USA 1985. D . A lan Sm ithee. W .

Luis Avolos. She rm an He msley. Je nnife r Rhodes.

Geek! USA 1986 D. Dcan C ro w. W . Christine Noonan. Jack O' H ara, Di ck Kreussc r.

Witchboard USA 1986 D . Kevin . S. T enney. W .

Tawny Kitae n. Todd Alle n, Stephen Nicho ls.

If Looks Couid Kill USA 1986 D . C hllck Vince nt. W. Tim Gae l. Kim Lambcrt. A la n Fisher.

City Undem eath The Sea USA 197 1 D. Irwin A lle n. W. St uart Whit man. Rose mary Fo rsyth.

Robe rt Colbert .

The Cat O'Nine Ta ils Ital y/Francc/W . Gcrmay 197 1 D . Dario A rge nto. W . Ka rl Ma lde n. J ames Franciscus. Cathe rin e Spaa k.

K"igillriders USA 198 1. O . George Ro me ro. W .

Ed H arris. Gary La hti . To m Savini .

Raging Fur), USA 1986 D . D o uglas Grossman.

W. Christo phe r Stryk e r, Maureen Mooney.

Ch ristophe r Cousins.

Shock Xpress

VIDEO COMPETITIONS Courtesy of WARNER HOME VIDEO, we have SIX copies of the fabulous all-star musical version of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, directed by Frank Oz. Released on video on November 23rd and worth around 拢80 (retail), all you have to do to win one is answer the following three questions correctly. The first six correct replies the editor can actually focus on will receive a copy of this classy song and dance number ...

1) What happened in the original ending of this version?

2) Name three movies starring Steve Martin.

3) Name the monster plant in the new Little Shop of Horrors.

Closing date for entries is January 1st, 1988. Winners to be announced next issue. Please indicate whether you require VHS or Betamax. The competition is open to UK residents only - such is life

Courtesy of BRA VEWORLD and WINSOR-BECK, we have SIX copies of Tom Daley's debut feature THE LAMP to give away. Released on video on November 5th for rental only, THE LAMP tells of the eponymous magic object and the fate befalling anyone foolish enough to rub it .. . The first six correct answers to the following questions will receive a copy ...

1) Name two other feature films with genies.

2) Who stars in the TV series I Dream of Jeannie?

3) Which actor/body-builder was the torso of the monster based on?

Closing date for entries is January 1st, 1988. Winners will be announced next issue. Please indicate whether you require VHS or Betamax. The competition is only open to UK residents - there's no justice ...

V ID EO CO MPETITI ON W INNE RS It was harder than expected to persuade Fang to judge the competitions, but after

we 'd prised his jaws open the lucky winners emerged as follows: EVIL DEAD WINNERS Keith Beavers, Mark Harrison, Gerald Houghton , john Hunt, Robert jones, C. Watmore.

DEADLV FRIEND WINNERS, Mark Baker, R. Chapman, Ca rl T. Ford , Adam Hoopel' , james Morton, Keitl\ Sargent.

27

OF CHAINSAWS, CUTS AND CANNON

By Philip Nutman

The in te rview took place at Tobe Hoo pe r's house in Beve rly Hills in A ugust. Hoopcrst ill defies the 'Hollywood mou ld: quietly spoken, shy and reti ri ng conside ring a ll he's bee n through in recent yea rs. . Here he d isclisses the fo nunes and mi sfo rt unes o f his Chaills(l w films.

SX: Eve n tho ugh it was made in 1974. The Texas C/Wi IlS lIW

Massacre was st ill fai rl y m ild fo r its

time. eve n when com pared with . say. Willia m Girdler 's Th ree 011 (l Meat/lOo k . So why the mi nma l go re?

TH: II was vc ry delibera te beca use of the ra tings.

TeM was

il

reactio n to my previous film .

Eggshells . an art istically we ll in tc nl io ncd p ictu re about the end o f the peace move ment. After that I rea lized I d id n 't rca ll y know how to make a

comme rcial feat ure. Prior to Eggshells , I'd made a MOllferay Pop type o f thing about Pe te r, Pa ul. a nd Ma ry, which ended up as a PB S specia l.

A nyway I was aware of the proble ms of ha nging the girl o n the mea t ho o k , so I developed a relati o nship wi th the MPAA hefore I sta rted shoot ing. Origina ll y, TeM was going to be a I'G movie . We ll. I explained to the guy a t the MPAA that we we re goi ng to hang this girl on a mca thook a nd ho w coul d we do it li nd get that rat ing? ' Im possible' he said. What. eve n if I do n' t show the spi ke e nte ring he r body , if iI's implied ra th er tha n shown'! 'Ou t of the question' was his response, A nyway, I got what I tho ught we re ce rta in com rn itme ntsso the film would have a PG rat ing, which of co urse turned o ut to not be the case. I' m still a mazed it go t a n R because eve ryti me we d id so me thi ng I ca lled the MPAA to check things o u!. But rega rd less of a ll Ih at. I did n' t fee l it was necessa ry to have a n ext reme a mou nt of blood- Iell ing upfront on sc reen because I did n' t wa nt to echo 2000 M (lfI ia(.f o r a ny of those bloody movi es that look li ke they ' re sho t on Kodachrome . So tha t's why in tha t sce ne a ll yo u sec is dried blood on the wa ll be hind he r , lert ove r fro m a previous e ngage me nt with th e meathook. In '{eM2 I fclt the audie nce wa nte d more tha n we had givcn the m in 1974, and a ltho ugh it wasn' t bucke ts a nd bucke ts, it sti ll d id n' t get it rat ing. I guess it was down to the L.G . cha racte r hav ing his brai ns bea ten o ut with the ha mme r a nd whe n he was skinn ed. Of course , I did n' t show him havi ng his fa ce re moved, just put hack o n (la ughs), hu t Tom Savini 's makeup job was kind of go ry so I shot the sce ne with an :trnhe ri sh glow to lIi min ish the nastin ess.

Neve rthl ess , I still thi nk it should have got a n R rati ng.

SX : Appare nt ly YOll had nume rous proble ms with Canno n o n tha t pictu re ; wha t's th e full slOry? 'I'll : What happe ned was this. O n the da y before we were due to sta rt , Can no n new down to Texas to info rm me they were cut ting a week from the

Shock Xpress

Tobe Hooper Interviewed schedu le a nd that I'd have to dea l with it by rewriting. Fo rtun ate ly, Ki t Ca rso n was o n location with us so we were able to sit down to do some fi dd ling with the script which d id n't seem to te rri bly hurt the slO ry a t the time. T he n I a llocated so me sce nes to the second uni t that just d idn' t wo rk ou l.

It was the lo usiest second uni t d irectio n I' ve eve r see n. Thc guy we nt off on his own tangenl.

In my mind it had bee n very we ll ta lked o ut a nd he knew exactly " 'ha t to do. Fo r in sta nce . the re's a sce ne where Yuppies a rc massacred in a n unde rground parking lo t. The scene was shot but was te rri ble , a nd it was somet hing any good seco nd un it di recto r co uld do . l3 ut this guy tried to add his o wn inte rpre tatio n to so met hing that was al ready la id down in hi sto ry. The re was this scene of Lea the rfa ce brea king o ut of th e back of the cate ring va n. We ll. I we nt wild whe n I sâ&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘w the footage . The doors sla rn open a nd the re's this blind ing light li ke Lea the rface is stand ing in the Po/Jergeisl close t. T he n a ll the Yuppies have a sheepdog expression come ove r the ir faces and he j ust steps ou t a nd hacks th em to bi ts. The second uni t d irector be lieved the Yuppies should be unde r his spe ll ; we ll. I inve nted Leat herface a nd I d id n' t rea lize he had those powe rs (la ughs).

It was tota ll y in conflict with my conce pt. a nd 1 d id n't have ti me to go and reshoot those sce nes.

So tha t was the fi rst thing I to re out of th e movie.

T hen Ca nno n to re o ut De nn is Hopper's back sto ry th at told you abo ut his cha racte r.

T he sto ry was th at Stre tch . the rall io dj. knew who th is guy was beca use he used to go with he r mot he r yea rs ago . She grew up hea ring about lhi s Tex as Range r. You know , the re's only twelve or twe nt y of them o r so me th ing li ke thaI. a nd they're kind o f lege ndary characte rs with the ir malta 'O ne rio t. O ne Ra nge r' . So she g rew up wi th these stories about this wi ld guy. Once she re ads about hi m in the pape r, making a foo l of hi mself, a cowboy chasing chainsaws. look ing fo r these kille rs for fi fteen yea rs beca use th ey slaughtered so me of his brot he r's kids in the fi rst movie, so she kno ws who he is, and the re is a relatio nship th ere tha t has no t bee n developed .

A lso, E nright had used her mot he r as ba it to e ntra p Stretch's uncl e in a drugs bust, so whe n he sets he r up as ba it fo r the maniacs the who le situ atio n has co me fu ll ci rcle , a nd the re was a te rri fi c symme try to the sto ry.

In addit io n to this, it beco mes clear that

Enright is no t right in the head: he's d rin ki ng lo ts of mesca l. hall ucina ting after eating the wo rm you know, chai nsaws coming ou t of wa lls and surro und ing him - stuff li ke that. Again , J shot eve rything up 10 the poin t whe re he has the ha llucinat io n , the n handed it ove r to the second uni t. Seemed simple . Especiall y wi th storyboards. Bu l. surprise, that stu ff didn 't wo rk out e it he r.

T he story could. in fact. live witho ut tha t seq ue nce a nyway, but Dennis's tran sit ion into mad ness was much more sa tisfying if you had the informatio n about his relat io nship to St retc h, a nd all th at stuff about his gu n, " My gun is God's gun ". and shooti ng off his magnum . But that mate ri al made the film ne<lrly a reel lo nge r than Ca nno n wa nted, a nd we are at a time whe n 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 reels ca n comfo rtably suppo rt the co ncessio n stand. or that is some peo ple's li ne of thought at least. I don' t know whe ther it was Ihe type of theatre they had the fil m booked into, or what. but the shorte r the movie became, the happier e ve ryone else was .

I don't have a prob le m with that as I thi nk it's a good movie, despite the mate rial that was delet ed. A nd because we were o n such a tight schedule to gel the movie into thea tres, Ca nno n d id n' t havc e nou gh ti me 10 truly fuck it up like they had don e with Lifefo rce and Ifl v(lders From Mars.

Is this true ? I hear they've ba nned the mov ie in Bri tain'!

S X: Yes , but the re a rc various boot leg copies go ing around .

T H: Thnnk God fort ha!. So lo ngas people get to see il. I j ust hope they' re good copies.

SX : What's the new fil m yo u're pl a nning?

TH : It's ca lled Whose Woods The:.'e Are, a nd it's writt e n by Richard C hristia n Ma theson. It's a great script, o ne of the best I've read in years, a nd has a spiritua l q ualit y th at's ak in to Poltergeist, hut it's de finitely goi ng to be a white-knuekler.

And I hope to start shooting by the e nd of the yea r.

Note : T he above pro ject has now been tc mporarily suspe nded, alt hough he in te nds to relll rn to it in the fu ture . Hi s next film wi ll be DO/lblt' Vi:.'ioll for Cine vesl. scripted by Mick G(lrris. It also looks ext remely likel y that he will be mak ing a fi lm for Empire Pictu res - a big- budget affai r which they ho pe wi ll be the ir move o ut of the B-pict ure are na

29

SHOCK! HORROR! IN STOKE ON TRENT AND LEICESTER It happened in Stoke on Trent about. 5 years ago and now it's happening in Leicester, it's ... the opening of a s hop. big enough to house one of the largest selectiuons of: Imported and UK Film magazines and books. including; Fangoria.

Mad Movies.

Cinefantastique.

Cinefex, Shock Express, Samhain, Starlog, Prevue, Starburst. L'ecran Fantastique. and Monsterland, hundreds of issues, including many rare items. Also a huge

selection of posters. badges. postcards and t-shirts. Plus much, much more!

The Stoke on Trent shop is caUed 'Fantasy World', and can be found at 10 Market Square Arcade, Hanley,ITel: 0782 2792941, and is open now! The Leicester shop, which opens in late October.

is called ' Another World' and is situated at 23 Silver Street.

Full details of both shops and their comprehensive mail order catalogues is available by writing or telephoning 'Fantasy World' at the above add ress.

Opposite: A satisfied customer.

HUTSON'S HORRORS Shaun Hutson Picks His Top Cinema Horrors

Ask ing a ho rro r wri te r to pick ou t his ten favo urite fri ght fil ms of all time is a bit like giv ing a (at kid a b lan k cheq ue a nd e xpect in g him to come o ut of a swccishop wit h a single Ma rs Ba r.

The cho ice. as the cl iche goes. is endless. Bu t. a ll horror films do not and shoul d not conta in ,ha lf路 wit s in icc hoc key masks and po rta ble 1001 chesls pursuin g pubcscc nI tee nage rs with lO s slightl y lower t han thir te mpe rat ures. T he re is more to the genre tha n that. And. wo rking o n ;tha t premise. ho rror reaches eve ry ki nd of fi lm a nd eve Ty ge nre of film -maki ng. Which. u nfortunately makes t he task of scicCii ng te n eve n mo rc difficul t. Howeve r . tful y grecH fi lms arc ones which leave an indelible ma rk. ei ther o n your heart. you r mind or. in t he ease of so me good horror fil ms. o n your underwear. So. descri bed below arc te n fi lms which have eac h made an impact o n me for diffe re nt reasons. A ll :Ire grea t film s and each one. in its way. ha s innuenced me in some way in my li fc.

THE EXORCI ST . USA 1973. Dir : Wi lliam Friedki n. With : E lle n Burstyn. Jason Miller .

Max Vo n Sydow. Linda Bl ai r.

Even now. 14 yea rssincc its release. it's still t he einemat ic eq uivale nt of be in g hi t ove r the head with an iro n ba r. Friedk in b uilds sllspe nse brilli antly. he lped by Willi a m Pete r BlallY's exce llent script a nd supe rb pe rformances from a ll his cast . especially E lle n Bu rstyn as the possessed child's mo the r. Me mo rab le scenes abound particula rly the first appea rance o f Linda Bla ir fu ll y possessed (complet e wit h a comple xion that wOllldn't look ou t of p laee o n a ny MacDo na ld's em ployee). the infamous crucifix mastu rbation and. of course. the fina l exo rci sm . But . as wi th a ll great horro r movies. it is so me tim es the qu ie te r m()llle nts which send ch ills down the spine . For instance. Jason Miller listenin g to the reeo rdi ng o f t he de mo n 's gibbe rish on ly to be IOld it's E nglish spoken backwa rds. or t he q ui te un ne rving sequence in which he visi ts hi s mother in t he asyl um. and. of cou rse. Lee J . Cobb's detective ca lml y telling J ason Miller th at the murdered Burke De nnings (Jack Macgowa n) was fo und with hi s head .. tu rned completel y around . Faci ng backwa rds." Th e Exorcist is a superb achievement and I. for one. sti ll ca nnot watch it without making sure a ll the doors a nd windows a re shut first. One: of t he few fi lms which has eve r kept me a\\:ake at night . Qui te a feat wh e n some can't eve n keep me awake inside th e cin ima T HE OMEGA MAN. USA 197 1. Dir: Bo ris Saga l. With : C harlto n 1lesIOn . A ntho ny Zerbe.

Ros;llind Cash. Paul Kosto. Lincoln Kilpatrick.

Sl'conll version o f Richard Ma t heson 's supe rb I Am Lege"d and . yes. I k now. not a bit like il.

Howeve r . the ope ning seq uence of C ha rlton Heston drivin g alone arou nd a dese rt ed San

Shock Xpre ss

Fra ncisco. and also hi s hunt for th e ' nest' o f zombies led by Antho ny Ze rbe arc very suspe nseful . I ca n re member see ing this as a thirteen yea r o ld a nd it made a ve ry deep impression o n me. Even now it's sti ll a good act ion p icture. despite the fact tha t Hesto n himse lf supposedly d islikes it. No sweat. Chuck . I tho ught it W;I S grea t. O ne o f the few film s of its day ( 197 1) not to 'cop o ut' inasmuch as t he ' he ro' ge ts ki lled a nd d irector Bo ris ' wa tch o ut for that p rope llor' Sagal iso't frightened to kill o ff some kids if necessary.

We ll wort h seeing.

ORING ME T HE HEAD OF ALFRE DO GARC IA. USA 1974. Dir : Sam Peckinpah . Starring Wa rre n Oates. Ise la Vega. Gig Yo un g. Robert Webbe r . E mili o Fe rnandez.

Peckinpa h's is not t he ho rror o f possession o r ge rm wa rfa re b ut t he ho rro r of a lie na tio n. This superb and appa llingly unde rrated film was o ne

It's a superbly co mpl ex movie because Be nn y's (Oates) motives fo r goi ng afte r the head a rc two-fold . Firstl y he wants the te n grand and. secondl y. Alfredo Garc ia also spe nt so me ti me wit h his girl fr ie nd (Vega) before gelling himself ki lled in a road accide nt. Ben ny is robbed o f his re ve nge bu t persuades Elita to lead him to Ga rcia's grave whe re he digs up the body a nd p repares to take the head. Needless to say . he's p reve nted by the simpl e exped ie nt of be in g whacked ove r the head with a shovel by two vill ains who also want t he valuable it e m . Benny is b uried a li ve and eve ntuall y surfa ces a lmost re-born . but also t hin king that he is A lfredo Garcia . H aving rega ined t he head he d ri ves a long wit h it in his C<l r ho lding o ne-way conve rsa ti o ns with the fly- swarming appe ndage. (Seve red heads not bei ng ge nerally ve ry ta lk ative hi s e nquiri es go unanswe red .)

T his o ne is definite ly a ' Iove it or ha te it' movie

r-~~~----------~~

of the most perso nal movies Pecki npa h ever made. Shot in his be loved Mex ico it's a mixture of modern day Western and Edga r A llen Poe. ilS Warre n Oates. a st ruggling piano playe r in a seedy Mexico Ci ty bar. goes hunting for the head of t he man who impregnated t he daughter of a rich landowne r (Fe rn andez). T he prize is SI(J.OOO doll ars. or at least that's ",11;11 Oa tes is o ffe red by G ig You ng. t he actual prize is it millio n dollars a nd . afte r wip ing ou t most of th e cast and it fai r few ext ras. Oates se ts abou t cla im ing it.

bu t. eve n so. it ce rtainly doesn't deserve to be included in that b loody awfu l to me The Golde" Turkey A wards. This o ne is p ri me beef. se rved up by a master. Nihilistic. viole nt. depressing a nd disturbing. What more cou ld a nyone ask for ?

TAXI DRIVER. USA 1976. Di r: Marti n Sco rsese. Wi th: Robert De Niro. Jo die Fosth.

Cybi l Shephe rd. Albert Brooks. Peter Boyle.

Ha rve y Ke ite l.

Anot he r film abou t the horrors of urbilll

31

Th e £ :wrcisl) tha t bring the real te rro r. As when Ripley (Weave r) says to Ash ( Holm) "That signa l Mothe r picked up . It wasn't an S.O.S. It was a wa rning." Or whe n Ripl ey. despe rate to destroy the ali e n creat ure says to Ash (who has now bee n exposed as a robot and has been decapitated for his troubl e) " How do we ki ll it?" "You can 't: · he te lls he r. calml y. Othe r me mo rable scenes in clude Dalls (Skc rrin ) crawling along the air ve nts in sea rch of the monster a nd a superbl y timed scen e of Brett (St anton) trying to find the cat but fi ndi ng some th ing bigge r.

Magni fi cent. Al so vastly superior to the ove r· rated seq uel. Argue about that amongst yourse lves.

ali enat ion . De Niro is Tra vis Bickle . a Vie tnam ve teran who. th rough his in abilit y to integrate with the rest of societ y (a nd also his ina bi li ty to tak e his girlfri e nd to dece nt film s) becomes. as he put s it "G od·s lonely man ". Destined to find fulfillm ent o nl y in a single minded obsession to save a twelve yea r old prostitu tc. Iri s (Foste r) from the clutches of he r pimp , Sport ( Keit el). ew York is de pi cted as a hell o n earth . Travi s himsel f ca lls it "A n open sewe r. full o f fi lth and scum : ' In hi s job as a taxi drive r he mee ts and sees the dregs of the cit y. kee ping a d iary o f his day-to-d ay ex iste nce . By using De Ni ro 's voice ove r the sce nes he shows us. Sco rsese pulls us dee per into Tra vis's twisted mind . "One day a real rain will cOll1e an d wash a ll the scum o ff the stree ts.·· says Tra vis a t one po int. That rain turns out to be a rain o f lead from his four pistols in a blood a nd bulle ts cl imax which leaves the viewe r breath less. bot h from the shee r horror of the violence but also from Sco rsesc·s in siste nce o n ma king it so rea list ic. Finally. after wiping o ut the three pi mps that live off Iri s' ea rnings. De NiTa sits. badly woun ded . on a so fa as the police e nte r.

The close shot of hi s blood dre nched fi nge r pressed against his temple in imit a tio n of a gun is chilling beyond description . .

A truly brilli ant film .

EXORCIST II. Just joking.

32

SUSPI RI A. IT ALY 1976. Dir: Daria Argento .

With : Jessica Harpe r. Alida Valli . Joan Be nn ett, Udo Kier.

A ve ry styli sh and. in placcs. te rri fy ing exercise in pu re ho rror. Forge t the logic, the re isn't any .

Just sit back and e njoy the brilliant ope nin g seq ue nce of Jessica Harpe r a rrivin g at a big balle t school in Ge rm any durin g a bli nder o f a thu nde rsto rm . All the stunning visual s arc perfe ctl y co mplime nted by Goblin·s haunting sound track. The sc ript is a bit rough so me times but Arge nto's directio n saves it. elevati ng it to the status o f excelle nce. It docs exactl y what a horror fi lm should. It sca res you shit less. And the re arc maggo ts in it 100. Now tha t' s real va lue for money.

ALIEN , U K/USA 1979. Oir: Rid ley Scott. With : Tom Skc rrill. Sigourney Wea ve r , Ia n Ho lm . . Harry Dean Stanton , Jo hn I-Iurt. Ve roni ca Cartwright. Ya phet Ka ll a and a sodding greal monste r the lik e of which has neve r bee n see n before.

Rea ms have bee n writt e n about thi s masterfu l suspe nsefho rro r movie. There arc those who have Iried to pick ho les in it, those who ha ve tried to fin d hidde n meanings in it. Well . to hell with all o f th em . What we have he re . quite si mpl y. is o ne o f the most te rrifying movies ever. Fo rget the 'chcstburste r' sce ne. it's the quiet e r o nes (as with

HALLOWEEN. USA 1978. Dir: Joh n Ca rpe nte r. With : Donald Please nce , Ja mi e Lee C urt is.

Nancy Loomis . P.J . Sales, Charles Cyphe rs .

C upc nt e r brings to life the cin ema of expectation . Th e movie Ihat spawn ed doze ns o f imita lars. no t o ne o f the m anywhe re ncar as good . Its strength lies in its simplicity a nd Ca rpe nt e r's abi lilY to time sequ ences to pe rfec tion . It gets to the stage whe re you're wa ntin g the killc r 10 slaught e r th e girls just so you can relax.

For C hrist's sa ke kill the m . you basta rd. ge t it oyer wit h. . Smart a rse critics have qu esti oned how a boy inca rce rat ed since he was six could have learned to drive a car (as the maniac ki lle r docs whe n he escapes) . We ll, who ca res? Ma ybe it was a ve ry libera ted nu lhouse.

Sma ll de tai ls lik e that are swa llowed up by th e unbearable suspcnse. Donald Pleasencc is great as Sam Loo mis (t he cha racte r pl ayed by Jo hn Gavin in Psycho) a nd anothe r amu sing mo me nt comes whe n. unbeknownst to the m. Jam ie Lee C urti s a nd Na ncy Loomis a re beign fo llowed down the road by th e ma ni ac whil e their ca r radio blurts o ut Blue Oyster Cult 's 'Oon't Fea r the Reaper' . Don't fear the reape r. but watch out fo r th e tall sad in the mask wi th the kit che n knife.

ULOOD SIMPLE. USA 1985 . Dir: Joel Coe n.

Wi th : John Ge tz, Fra nces McOonna nd . Dan Heda ya. M. Emmell Wal sh.

The scene whe re Jo hn Ge tz tries 10 bury the morta ll y wounded Da n Hedayel is. for me. o ne o f the most horrifying in the hi story of the cine ma.

Thi s picture is film na ir a t its best. so intricat ely pla n ed and yet also so accompli shed. There were times I wished I'd had a scoreca rd in the cin e ma with me to work out the twists a nd turn s o f the pI a l. Brilliant perfo rma nces from all conce rn ed. pa rticula rly M. Emme tt Walsh as the pri vate eye

Shock Xpress

Sholll/ Hillson is the sort of writer who illspires kindly old gran"ies to lobby their 10c(II library bmllches to remolle his books from the sltelw!s after they'lle borrowed Slugs thinking it W(lS a gardeller's manual, .. SIIlIIUl spends ma"y sOlll· searcllillg hOllrs ill deep /Juddh ist medit(Uioll dellising m ore repllisive ways to dispose of characters ill Itis /l ovels. .

Im/ee(l, Olle idly wonders if de(llh by I'ibrtltor or tl recwl infus ion of n"", ·emillg slllgs ClIlI be bettered, bllt we 'lie com e to trllSt him. /-lis /1/ ost real/l hardcOII('f is Vicli ms, while }II (111 Piqller Simo" l UIS completed (I 10weN/wlI·low budget film of Slugs, wllich Shm", (perhaps I'ery h'i.~ely) (l\'oided allY tlrtistic illl'o/l'e· l1Iel/l with , A del'otee of S('fiOllS Metal mllsic alld selFef{llcillg to a {lllllt, Shallll is possessed of (ltl evil sense of },1I/1/0Ilr, alld bears file prillilege of OllC(, h(lllillg shocked Clive Barker into silellce 110 mea" ffat ,

ChitWIOWII (second time I watched it. cvc n I had to look away) , .. The final mass:'lcre in Soldier 8/lle. , The siege of the f,mnhouse in Straw Dogs, . Jo hn Marley discove ring the seve red horse 's head in his bed in The Godfath er . . The rotted head rolling into view in Jaws. . The PSYC HO, Need I say more . gia nt computer, Colossus decla ring 'There is THE FOG . US A Di r: Jo hn Ca rpenl e r. With : a not he r system ' in Th e Forbbl Project , .. Jack Adrienne Barbeau. Jamie Lee Curtis. Janel Nicholson's loboto my in Olle Flew Over the Dustin Hoffman being tor· Leigh. Nancy Loomis. Jo hn Ho use ma n. H al Cuckoo's Nest. tured by having his teeth drillcd in Mamllloll Holbrook . . The to rture of Marilyn Burns in Ti,e Techni ca lly speak ing, this is 10 my mind still Mall .

The Russian Ca rpcnt e r"s besl film . Anothe r classic example of Texas Clwinsow Massacre. , Do minic what you do n' t sec be ign more frig hte ning Ih an roule tt e sce ne in Th e Deer/llmter. wha t you do . A s with the ghost ship's altack o n a Guard 's search for the missing girls in Picllic at Thc computer created fis hing hoat. A close shot o f o ne characte rs' widc Hanging I?ock , . The firsl eyes, the n a close sho t of a metal spike. Cut. child 's first words in Demoll Seed .

Three guesses where the spike e nde d up'! A sight of the crea ture in Cllrse of Fmllkell' Th e Tingler.

Southern Com · bcautfiull y coni rolled se re nity pervades the ste;/I .

Nosferalll ( 1922).,.

Th e War· whole film . giving it the feel o f a story lo ld by a fo rt .

Th e LOllg Riders . , . The helicopte r supe rb craftsman a t the peak a f his powers. riors . , Constil ntly chilling. it b uilds to a fri ghte ning al1ack o n the village in Apocalypst' Now . climax witho ut o ne drop of blood being spilled . Robe rt De Niro pulverizing a ha ndsome oppo· Furthe r proof that gallons of gore do nOI a ho rror nent beca use his wife had said she thought him Shelley Duva ll 's movie make . The ghostl y lepers a rc a lso visua lly allractivc in I?tlgillg Bull. discove ry o f Jack Nichol son's ' manuscript' in The unforge ttab le . Love ly sou ndtrack too .

Shinill g (" All work a nd no play makes Jack a du ll The trans· A NIG HTMA RE ON ELM STREJo:'r. USA Dir: boy" typed millions o f times). , \Ves Cm ve n. Wilh : Heather Lange nkamp. fOfllHitio n scenc in The Howlillg (no t as tech· nicall y accomplished as the one in All AmnictUl Robe rt Englund , Jo hn Saxon, Ronee Blak ley .

Werewolf ill LO/ldoll but more fri ghtening be· This film c<lused me acutc c mbarrassme nt Ihe fi rst time I saw it inasmuch as I fell o ff the se al a l cause o f the circumstances of the change ,). , o nc of the most startling shock mo me nts . Such is A kcepe r having his arlll lo rn o ff in Ihe re ·make People . . Th e Thing bursting (o rlh frolll the po wer of C rave n's b rilli ant fi lm . The second o f . A I Pacino's e xtremely bloody dcmise lime around I was preparcd. so I tho ught. but. a dog. no. Freddi e came crashing through th e mirror at the end of Scarface , , . The final battle in The WiI(l/Jllll ch . . A lmost any visua l image from and thump , 1 was do wn amou nst the spill ed Th e CompallY of Wo /lles. . James Fare ntino's popco rn agai n. Even the sho ulline o n the posler realisatio n that he too is a li ving corpse a l the end wa~ b rilianll y effectivc in ils implici ty. 'S leep . RUlger H auer describ· Kills' . Yes, and so do blokes with carving knives of Dl'ad {/ful /Ju ried. fo r fin gc r~ . Pass Ihe black coffee . RighI. Ihat's ing 10 C. Thomas 1 lowell how he di ~ m e m be red a the [e n (or cleven) but Ihcre a rc o thers, many man in The /·/itcl,t'r and Ned Bca llY's ' rape' and Ihe subseque nt ki llin g of Bill Mc Kinney in o lher~ which have left thei r mark o n me a nd 1 Delil'(' NItICe , can' t go without mentioning thc sce nes a nd the I cou ld p robably think of more but [he n th is o ther fil ms which have stayed with me a nd will would turn into a novc\ . Happy Nightmares and conti nue to, for nHIIl )' yea rs . re me mber, tomo rro w is the first day o f Ihe rest of Edwa rd Woodward's first sight of The Wicker your life . . un less you happc n to get hit by a M(IfI .

Jack Nicho lson's nose being slit in truck . Keep ~c re am in g.

hircd by I-I cd,lya 10 kill his che:lI ing wife a nd he r Io\'cr. Visually slunning a nd also o ne of Ihe few film s IOshow how really difficlIh il is to kill a man . (it is difficuh , believe me . .) .

em

Shock Xpress

33

DEAD PEOPLE

By Stephen Jones

T his co lumn is Shock Xprl'ss' link with t he pa st. a fin a l o ppo rtu nit y 10 re me mbe r those fil nHnakcrs who have made a signifi ca nt co n· Iribut ion 10 the ge nre ove r the years and h ave now - as Fo rry Ackerman wou ld put it - been ca lled to Prin ce Sirki"s da rk rcal m . After a ll. whe re else will you discove r t hat Ri ta H aywo rth acled with Bela Lugosi or Fred ASlaire turn ed up

in Baulestar Galaaim

.? My thanks to Kim

Newman for help with resea rching the fo llowing Ame rican lead ing ma n KENT TAYLOR (rea l nam e Louis We iss) di ed o n April 11th a ft er se vera l hea rt ope ra tio ns. He was RO. Hi s nume rous credits include D Ollblt· Door ( 1934). Delllll Takes A /-Ioliday. PlullllOm f rom 10.000 Leagues.

Th e Crawli"g Hand . Th e Day Mars I" vaded Earlh. Brides of 8100d e tc. He rin a ll y e nde d up as a regu lar fo r AI Adamson in rubb ish like SaWn 's Sadists, Brain of Blood and Blood of Ghastly Horror.

Co median J)l CK SHA WN ( rea l name Ri cha rd Schu lcfand ) died whi le pe rformi ng o n stage on April 17t h. He was in his lat e 50s. H is occasional film roles included Th t' Wizard of Baghdad a nd Love At First Bite .

Arge ntin e-bo rn acto r ALEJANDRO REY died on May 2 1 at the age of 57 . Besid es num erous appea rances o n such TV se ries as Thriller. Night Gallery and Spiderman. he appeared in Th e Swarm , Terrorvis ion and the TV movie Saw,,'s Triangle.

Six-foot seve n-inch tall Indi a n act o r WILL SAM I)SON died June 3rd after unde rgo ing a heart -lun g tra nsp lant. H e was 53. Best re me mbe red fo r his role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Ne.H. he also IUrned up in Th e White Bllfflllo.

Orca Killer Wha le. Poltagt'is t /I Th e Olher Side and the co nlrovcrsial TV movie Th e Mystic Warrior.

Depe ndab le Scott ish acto r FULTON MACKAY died on June 6t h after a sho rl ill ness. aged 65.

He was the o nl y huma n to appear o n TV 's Fr(lggle R ock se ri es.

DAN IEL MANDELL . O scar-wi nnin g film e di· to r. died Jun e 8th . He was 92 . Among t he ma ny film s he edi ted were Wwhering /leighls. A rsenic find Old Lace and H(lIIs Christian Andersen.

Oscar a nd Emmy Award winnin g act ress GERALDINE PAGE di ed of a hea r! attack o n June 14th . Shc was 62. He r nume ro us credit s include What Ever "{appelled to Awlf Alice? Tht' n t'glliled and T V's Nighl Gallery.

Ame ri ca's finest scree n dancer. FRED ASTAIRE . d ied of pneu lIl o ni a 0 11 June 22nd . He was aged 88 . Best rem e mbc:: rt.:d for hi s st ring of '30s musica ls. o fte n paired with Ginge r Rogers. his later !lcrcen credits include 011 Ille Beach.

I-j'l/itm's R(/in/mll'. The TOII'l'ring Illfemo. and Gllw,/ Story . Rea l name Frede ri ck Auste rlit z.

34

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~

c5l

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A staire a lso turned up o n TV in t he movie Th e Mall ill Ille Sama Claus Suil a nd the BaUle!itar GalaClic(1 e pisode. Th e Mall Willi Nine Lives.

JACKIE GLEASON . who played Minneso ta Fat s in the lInfo rgcllable Ti, e H fl!itler. died o n Ju ne 24 th of cance r. He wa s 7 1.

TV directo r WILLIAM WIARD died o n July 2nd fr o m lung ca nce r . aged 59. H is many c redits incl ude Get Smart . Th e Rockford Files. Search COlllrol. Ta rzall a nd Ihe 198 1 TV movie. This HOllst' Possessed.

Ca nadian -bo rn d irecto r ALAN GIBSON died o n Jul y 5t h after a lon g ill ness. He was 49 . H is fil m credit s incl ude three fo r Hmn mc r : Crescen· do. Dracula A . D. 1972. and Tht, Sal(lIIic Riles of Dracllia.

British character actor ALFIE BASS died of a hea rt a ttack o n July 15th . aged 66. He p layed a man who re turns from t he d ead in Tilt' Bespoke Olwcoat ( 1955). a Jewish va mpire in Dallet! of the VlImlJires. and had a sma ll ca meo in Moonraker.

KIP OHMAN . co-pro duce r o f The l-liIcher a nd The Fly. died fro m A ID S- relat ed me ningit is o n Jul y 25 th . I-Ie was 4 1.

VJ:tera n animator KENNETH M USE (Mickey A-l OllSI'. Tom and Jerry, The Flims/ones. Scooby Doo e tc.) died J u ly 26th . aged 75.

ARTHURT J. BR ESSAN, JR , make r of gay hardcore porn movies such as Coming Ow. P(using Slrangers and Fo rbidden Lettl'r!i . died of A IDS o n Jul y 29t h. aged 44 .

MARY SPINELL. Joe's mo ther and a n actress in Th e Lasl Horror sho w. Temp esl a nd Th e Godfather. died Jul y 301h . aged 83.

Po lish· bo rn silent sc reen act ress POLA NEG RI ( real name Appol o ni a Cha1upek) died o n August 1st fro m pneumonia/bra in tumour. She was 91.

The same day saw the death of Ho ll ywood produce r and founde r o f Embassy Pictures.

JOSEPH E. LEVINE at the age of S I. Embassy was origi nall y se t up to ex ploi t cheap Eu ropea n spectacles ( the ea rl y Hercflles pics) a nd Lev ine we nt on to produce Th e Carpel baggers and Magic.

Vete ran Ori e nt al actor BENSON I' ONG a lso died o n A ugust lsI. from a strok e. aged 70. Hi s ca ree r ra nged from Monogra m 's Char/ie Chall ill Ihe Secret Service to Disney's Tilt' Love Bllg. and

he was a regu lar on TV's Kling FII se ri es.

JIM HASS INGER. the se t decorator on Planet of lhe Apes. 194 1 and TV 's Lost ill Space di ed on August 5th . aged 6 1.

Gay porno actor CULV IN CUlVER(aka Casey Donova n) d ied of pulmo na ry infecti o n on August 10th . ,iged 43. His film crc dits include Th e Boys itl Ih e Satld. Th e Opetlitlg of M islY Be£'tho l'ell. Th e Back Row , HOI ShOll' a nd Sleaze.

WINIFRED 8RISON MANGER . sile nt scree n act ress and widow o f Warner Bax te r. di ed on A ugust 20t h a ft er a le ngth y illness. She was 94.

He r credit s include the 1924 ve rsio n of The Hll nchb(l ck of No tre Dam e.

A ctor/dance r TANIS M IC HA ELS. who appeared in Soyletll Green and All ThO! Jazz. d ied of AIDS o n A ugust 27t h. aged 33.

The sa me day saw the death o f co mposer and lyricist C HAR LI E SMALLS fro m ca rdiac arrest.

Aged ·n. his cred its include Th e Wi z and he was worki ng o n "musica l version of H .G . Wells' Th e Ma" Wh o Could Work Miracle!i at t he timc of his de ath .

Sc ree nwrit e r. director and actor JOHN HUSTON died o n August 28th a t the age o f 8 1. One of th e t ru e grCilt s of the Ame ri ca n ci ne ma. he starte d his film ca reer by co-scripting Mllrde rs ill Ihe R ile Morglle sta rring Bela Lugosi. As a d irector . hi s credits include Th e Maltese FlIlcon .

Th e TreilSllre of lhe Sierra Madre. Key Largo.

Bem Ihe Devil. Moby Dick. CilJino Royale. Th e Ma" Who Would Be Kitlg a nd the terrible Phobia. The son of Walt e r Huston. his acting abi lit ie s ne ve r ma tched those of his father . alt ho ugh he added a touch o f class to Th e Bible.

C(Hino Roya/e. De 5ade. Myra Breckinbridge.

Baule for Ihe Platlet of the Apt's. Tenweles and The VisilOr .

To ugh guy actor LEE MARVI di ed ofa hea rt attack o n August 29t h. aged 63 . He appeared in Gorillll (II Large in 1954 a nd won an Oscar fo r his role in Cal BaIlOIl. A nim atronics e ngi nee r T . RODGER S HAW was ki lled in a ca r crash in Fra nce on September 4th . He was39 . a nd hi s man y credit s incl ude Time B(U/ dils. Indiana }otles and the Temple of Doom.

Gn'yslOkl' . Alien. The Company of Wolves.

Nypersapierl. a nd Tile Pdncess Bride.

TV produce r Q UINN MARTIN died from an "appare nt hea rt attack ' o n Septe mbe r 5t h at the

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DEA D PEOPLE cOlllinllt!dJ

.,.: of 65. His two most famo us se ries were Th t!

Fugitive and Tht! In vaders .

The sa me day saw the death of film and ftvis ion di rector RICHARD MARQUAND in apita l. fo llowing a stroke. He was aged 49.

After win ning two Em mys for his TV work.

Marqua nd made his film debut with Th t! Legacy ill 1979. He went on to direct Eye of the Need/e.

Rtturn of the Jedi. Until September. Jagged Edge and Hearts of Fire.

Ball/estar Galactica's commander Adama has &OM to that great Po nderosa in the sky : Canadian actor LORNE GREEN died from pneumonia on September 11th. aged 72 . His fi lm credits include Th e Silver Chalice and Earthqrmk<.

Canadian-born Norwegian actor JOHN QUALE (rea l name Jo hn O leson) died on September 12th from hean failu re . He was 87. A ,--ete ran character actor, his many movie credits

include Th e Grapes of Wrath. All ThaI Money Can BIlY. The Jungle Book. Casablanca, Hans Christian Alldersen and Th e Seven Faces of Dr. LaQ. An director SAL GRASSO (aka Steve Scott) also died the sa me day from AIDS , aged 50.

Besides working on films such as Frogs and The Killing Kind , he also directed gay/straight hardcore porno fli cks li ke China and Silk , Coming West, Califomia Boys. Inches and Tra ck Meat.

British directo r JIM O'CONNOLLY died in Septembe r. aged 61. Hi s film s include Beserk , Th e Valley of ClVangi and To wer of Evil.

Se ptember 13th saw the deat h of former actor and veteran Hollywood producerfdirector MERVYN LEROY o f Alzheimer's Disease. aged 86.

His numerous credits include Lillie Caesar, Th e Wizard of Oz. Million Dol/ar Mermaid and The Bad Seed.

In September the death was annou nced of American acto r HAYDEN RORKE , a series regular o n TV's / Dream of Jeannie as the suspicious Dr. Be llows. he also turned up as a

reanimated corpse in William Castle's The Night Walker .

Comedian DAN ROWAN, who fronted the popular Laugh In TV series with Dick Martin (l968-n) died of eancer on September 22nd , aged 65. The one !jIm they made together was a horror spoof, The Mallese Bippy (1969) .

A merican choreographer and later directo r BOB FOSSE di ed o f a heart attack o n Septe mber 24t h at the age of 60. His death mirrors that of his characte r Joe G ideon in All Thai Ja zz (1979) . fosse's other credits include Damn Yankees , Cabarel, and Lenny, and he appeared in the fanta sy Th e Lilllt! Prince.

Veteran Hollywood leadi ng lady MARY ASTOR (real name Lucille Lange hanke) died o n September 25t h. She was in her early 80s. Mary Astor began her career in silent films during the ea rl y 19205 and went on to appear in Rerum of the Terror ( 1934), The Hurricane, Th e Maltese Falcon, A Kiss Before Dying and Hush Hush, Sweet Char/olle. She won an Oscar in 1941 for her bitchy pe rfo rm ance in The Great Lie.

BACK COVER POSTER BLOO D FREA K. USA 1974. Dir: Steve Hawkes, Brad F. Grinter, Ph: Ron Sill. Mus : Gil Ward.

With: Steve Hawkes, Dana Cullivan , Heather Hughes, Bob Currier , Larry Wright , Randy Grinter Jnr, Lee Morris, Sam Taker. Sampson, What if the cosmic axis suddenly shined, and Rufer Madn ess and Plan Nine From Outer Space wue combined into one rancid movie? , .. What if Herschell Gordon Lewis was a raving Dible frea k who made anti-drug film s? .. . Well , I think you'd come face-to-face with B/ood Freak , the type of stupid , badly-made, annoying film you ntver forget, no matter how hard you try. It 's an amalgram of drug propaganda, religious bullshit , monster rampages, graphic gore, and a cast that looks like they were spawned from a century's worth of backwoods in-breeding , Just 2et a load of this plot! Herschell (Ste\'e Hawkes) is a brooding bruiser on a motorbike who belps a pretty young girl wi th ca r problems. It tu.rns out that she's a gospel-spouting religious fanatic named Angel (pretty subtle, eh?), and she invites him back to her apartment , which she shares with her sister Anne. But when they arrive, they stumble head-first into one of those notorious drug-crazed hippie parties (actually, ofTered a joint, Angel o"ernows with moralistic crap like "don' t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?" Since Herschel! isn' t into the ' hard stufr , he's Immediately aUracted to Angel 's sappy sentiment, and those two goodnicks reject the rest of the pa.rtygoers and sit in a corner talking about religion.

Before you know it , Anne's j ealousy of her goody-goody sister gets the best of her. and with Evil Old Lust in her heart , she cajoles Herschell into smoking a joint that 's laced wit h a weird chemical. Within moments he's spinning into Addiction路Land. and just to make matters worse , Hersh goes to work on a poultry ranch , where he plays guinea pig for two rural scientists (they' re wea ring lab coats, so they must be scientists) by ra ting chemica lly-modified meat and seeing if there's any weird side efTects. So, between the drugs in his food and the drugs in his joint.

Herschel! is a Ih'lng wreck , complete with tremors. spastic fi ts, and the uncontrollable urge to do The Frug on the ground . ..

What does th is combination of chemicals do to our log-neck hero? Well . of course. it turns him in to a bloodsucking monster with a giant birdhead! That's right, and a prelly pathetic bird-

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head it is, too! Paper mache , pillow feathers, and ping pong balls for eyes! . .. And when he visits Anne, she's such a total airhead that all she can worry about is the efTect it 'll have on their relationship ("What would the children think of their father?")

Now, you're probably thinking that this is the point In the mm where Blood Freak turns Into comedy, right? Nope. Unfortunately , it 's deadpan seriousness all the way. So , what 's a guy to do when he has a monkey on his back, bloodlust in his heart , and a big, laughable turkey mask stuck on his head? In this case, he turns to God (and Angel) for spiritual guidance; but first he has to commit a few drippy gross-out murders, with fowl-minded Herschell hanging his victims upside-down, slitting their throats and lapping up the strea ms of blood that pour out. He slices up some drugaddled hippies, chops ofT a pusher's leg with a circular saw , scares the bejesus out of the supporting cast , and makes ridiculous bird noises.

But don 't worry, because he's saved by a load of rubbish concerning "Faith in God" (plus a pathetically unimaginative twist-ending), and the film ends with Herschel! wearing out his kneecaps while praying for his freedom from addiction.

Oh, I mustn 't forget about the narrator who pops up throughout the proceedings to comment philosophically on the action and explain the Incoherent storyline. Reading directly from the script , he drags continually on his cigarette and comes across like a bleary-eyed , 4th-rate Criswell in a cheap silk shirt .. . Maybe he's supposed to look world-weary, but I say he's been swigging down the cheap whiskey for one too many liquid breakfasts.

OK. Just one question .. . Were these guys serious? Or were they on the same drugs Herschell was smoking? Actor/Co-director Steve Hawkes is miserable on either side of the camera (as far as I can tell. he was only allowed to make one other film - a Sunn-C lassic-style family-nick called Stevie, Samson and Delilah , starring himself and his son), and he must have grad uated magna cum laude from the School of One-Take Film-making.

The acting sucks , The direction sucks. The photography is so grainy and out-of-focus th at you wonder if the cinematographer had glaucoma.

The script is so inept that nobody would take credit for it. And Blood Freak is such a wholehearted ly rotten movie that you feel like spitting at the screen half the time.

Though it's advertised as a horror film, for the first half the tone Is more on the level ofa late-60's drug-paranoia piece, and It 's the only antiChemical, Christian Splatter Film I've ever heard of. And hopefully the last! . . . It's an absolutely ridicu lous film that 's more entertaining to read about than actually sit through. I laughed all the way through it , and hated every moment of it .

Yechhh!

Steve Puchalski (Note: Brad F. Grinter is probably best forgotten for his role in hastening the demise of Veronica Lake by 'directing' her in Flesh Feast, her last film . Heather Hllghes also appeared in the laller tra vesty, executed with rhe kind of ineptitude that makes Blood Freak the only logical step forward . And you'll have 路to ask Texan turkey outfit Reel Movies IVhy the back cover poster is captioned Blood Freaks when the print rille and original advert refer to said creature as a singular entity . .. J

35

YTHE BLOOD OF DRUG ADDICTS SATISFY THE THIRST THE BLOOD FREAK MONSTER! WITH

IN VIVID EASTMAN COLOR

HAWKES· DANA CULLIVAN • HEATHER HUGHES