Exploitation Retrospect ‘zine | Post Modern Trashaeology

You might recall me reviewing an old issue of the horror/ sleaze/ trash/ action/ grindhouse/ etc. ‘zine Exploitation Retrospect on here awhile back. Well, editor Dan Taylor got in touch, and it seems that the ‘zine is still going! After a hiatus of 13 or so years, they came out with a new print issue last year, and plan to put another out this year. I’ll let Dan tell you about it and give a little history himself (from the editorial in the new issue):

I guess the main question people have would be, is it the same as the old ones? A LOT of things have changed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, but the ‘zine hasn’t changed all that much. It’s a lot thicker, and is back to concentrating mostly on movies (they branched out into music and politics and basically commentary on whatever suited their fancy at the time in the later issues of the old ‘zines). Dan himself doesn’t seem to write as much (and his amusing commentary was a highlight of the old issues), but it’s still a great read.

It mostly consists of movie reviews, but based on themes and done from different perspectives. For example, there is an article on Australian exploitation movies, with capsule reviews focusing on several you might have missed that the author finds relevant. There’s an article on Barbara Steele (who I met in 2009 at a convention, and who is quite timid- I actually rode on an elevator with her and she looked quite terrified of her adoring fans, haha) with some very in-depth reviews of a bunch of her films (some I’ve never seen) with a load of interesting tidbits of info to go along with each one. There’s also a long article on the ties between professional wrestling and pornography that I never knew existed- it was very informative, and focused on a few key players in both camps. There are also quite a few stand-alone movie reviews (I will post a page of them so you can see how they’re written, but since this is a new magazine that you can purchase now, I’m not going to post a bunch of it on here like I do the old, out of print ‘zines), and some current other ‘zine reviews (I never knew there were still so many, but I’m delighted to discover their existence). Take a look at the ‘table of contents’ (scanned above) to see how much other awesome stuff is crammed into this issue.

You can go to http://.ERonline.blogspot.com to find out how to get your own copy of this issue (and other info) as well as news and reviews. They also have a Twitter and Facebook. I’m glad ‘zines are making a comeback.

Exploitation Retrospect was a long running digest-sized ‘zine that was pretty small (page wise) but came out fairly frequently. The writing was very well done and witty; an enjoyable read. The name makes it sound like another underground extreme horror/ exploitation/ grindhouse type ‘zine, but that’s a little misleading because it mostly covered action and horror movies (mainstream and more offbeat ones) and alternative/ punk/ “college rock” music. Sometimes it included other commentary such as book reviews or political commentary (usually with a somewhat (but not overly) conservative bend to it).

This issue has an interview with Zoe (Ms. 45) Lund, the editor’s ‘Best (and worst) of 1992’ lists, a DANZIG show review, a Sin City comic review, movie, music, and ‘zine reviews, letters (including one from early horror ‘zine publisher Dave Szurek sharing his disgust (shared by the ER editor) for Henry Rollins and a dislike for Alan Funt and Candid Camera (which ER had an article about in a previous issue) as being an intrusive bully (one wonders how horrified he must be by the current state of reality television and privacy invasion)), and a political article (“American Me”) that makes some good points but still comes across as sounding a bit like your kind of rednecky annoying old uncle bitching about the state of the world, and seems a little out of place in an exploitation movie ‘zine that favors punk rock.

But overall ER was a very entertaining read and another fixture in the underground movie ‘zine community.