Asian Movie Month ‘zine #3: Oriental Cinema Vol. 3, Issue 5

Posted on August 21, 2013 by deadthyme

I couldn’t find my issues of Asian Trash Cinema, but this’ll do fine. This was a very long running magazine (I think over 20 years) that was the premiere mag for Asian cinema back then- it mainly contained reviews, more than articles, but reviews of import Asian films were hard to find back then. This issue also had an article on director Chang Cheh (Five Deadly Venoms, Crippled Masters, etc.), and a bunch of letters. But it’s mostly reviews, and since I haven’t done near as many reviews fro Asian Movie Month as I should have, you can just read his. Here’s a bunch of pages from it:

Asian Movie Month ‘Zine #1: G-Fan (special issue)

Posted on July 19, 2013 by deadthyme

With the release of Pacific Rim and a new Godzilla to be released next year, the word “kaiju” will soon be mainstream; however in the 1980s and early ’90s (before the great geek takeover), it was one of the nerdiest of nerdy words. Kaiju fans were considered waayyy nerdier than average sci-fi fans (the hierarchy of nerdom went, from coolest to nerdiest: 1) Star Wars fans; 2) horror geeks; 3) average sci fi/ fantasy fans (including Lord of the Rings hippies and comic collectors); 4) Star Trek fans; 5) Doctor Who fans; 6) Kaiju fans; and lastly 7) Otaku (who were also pretty much regarded as perverts as well as nerds, mainly because of movies like Urotsukidoji). Times have really changed). I was pretty much all of the above. I grew up watching Godzilla and Gamera (and other Japanese kaiju) movies and t.v. shows, and always loved them. Luckily, there were tons of specialty fanzines available for most any geek’s passion, and G-Fan was for kaiju fans.

The issue I’m highlighting here is actually kind of a ‘best of’ issue which came out in 1995, reprinting articles from the magazine’s earlier years (issues #1 through #7). It was 63 pages long and featured lots of Godzilla art, several ‘Monster of the Month’ reprints, a list of the top 10 best Godzilla entrances in his movies, several articles on Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah (which had recently been released, including one entitled “Implications of time travel in Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah“), two articles on Godzilla comics (Marvel and other), a list of the top 14 kaiju as voted by Japanese kaiju fans, an article on Godzilla Vs. Mothra, a bunch of fan fic, and an article on the girls of the Godzilla movies.

Evidently this magazine is still going today, and you can get more info about it here:
http://www.g-fan.com/index.php

Here’s some pages from this issue:

Exploitation Retrospect #51 (a NEW issue!)

Posted on May 21, 2013 by deadthyme

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.

European Trash Cinema Vol. 2 #1

Posted on April 11, 2013 by deadthyme

European Trash Cinema was a pretty long running ‘zine put out by my neighbor Craig Ledbetter which focused on sleazy trashy action, horror, and erotica films (as well as other independent, low budget type films- westerns and even dramas and romances) from Europe (NO American films allowed).
It started off as a few photocopied pages, but by the time this issue came out, it was digest sized and professionally printed (it would later come out as comic book sized and in color).
It differed from other underground ‘zines in that it featured a lot of different reviewers and writers (instead of one or two people doing it all- this issue even included a review by Steve Bissette), and was mostly just reviews at this point (plus they’d feature an underground European director’s discography each issue- remember that at this time, there was no internet or internet movie database- we counted on resources like this to inform us on hard to find foreign directors and movies (lots of which were released under different names and pseudonyms) ), but they started doing bigger features and interviews later.

This issue was very Joe D’Amato (who editor Ledbetter calls a “hack”) centric (including several Emanuelle reviews and a filmography).

I planned on putting this up last week for a remembrance of Jess Franco’s death (yes I know Jess wasn’t featured in this issue, but he was covered in several issues of ETC, and is the exact example of the type of filmmaker they focused on), but for varuous reasons didn’t, so here it is now:

Exploitation Retrospect #37

Posted on March 28, 2013 by deadthyme

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.

Killbaby #2

Posted on March 22, 2013 by deadthyme

Killbaby was a really cool ‘zine that focused on horror/ gore/ exploitation flicks, but also had some music content (mostly old school (’70s) punk). The layout was very appealing- more interesting than most ‘zines done on a computer with a desktop publishing program (they usually tended to be kind of blah), and included a bit of art and humor thrown in randomly as well.

Issue #2 came out Sept of 1989, and featured an interview with Charles Pinion (who did a skate/ splatter movie back then called Twisted Issues), and Donald Farmer (who did several low budget movies including Cannibal Hookers), an Udo Kier biography/ filmography (including reviews of most of the films on the list), an article on Salo: The 120 Days of Sodom, as well as one on a couple of blaxploitation movies, letters, ‘zine and music reviews, and a bunch of long, informative movie reviews including a lot of obscure and hard to find movies. The writing is good and informative without being pretentious or too scholarly sounding, and this is a nice little ‘zine. A fun and informative read…

Gore Gazette #100

Posted on March 18, 2013 by deadthyme

Gore Gazette was a very long running (made it to 110 issues) horror/ gore/ exploitation/ grindhouse ‘zine. Each issue was fairly short, but most o them were free. Editor Rick Sullivan went to all the grindhouse movies in New Jersey and New York throughout the ’80s and early ’90s, and wrote about the movies he saw there in this ‘zine. This was back before most every underground/ cult/ offbeat/ short run gore and exploitation film was easily available on dvd or written about online, and people would read through Gore Gazette then seek out the hard-to-find movies he wrote about. He also wrote about more mainstream movies (really most any movie he went and saw), and the writing style was very down-to-earth and sleazy (and VERY anti-P.C.. You didn’t read Gore Gazette if you were easily offended).

The 100th issue featured the usual assortment of news, reviews, commentary, and insults plus a list of every horror movie that had been released in New York City from 1980 to 1990. It was newspaper sized (4 pages) and printed on newsprint.

Screem #3

Posted on March 14, 2013 by deadthyme

Screem is almost not a ‘zine- as a matter of fact, I think it later became glossy and was distributed through a real magazine distributor. But it always felt like it was assembled in someone’s bedroom with love, and photocopied at Kinko’s.

Tho primarily a film magazine, they also covered music and other mondo topics. Each issue was pretty fun to read and contained a lot of stuff packed in. This issue featured long articles on the Ed Gein movie Deranged, and Alejandro Jodorowsky; an interview with Danny Mills (who played the chicken raper in John Water’s Pink Flamingos); shorter articles on Coffin Joe, the return of Famous Monsters of Filmland, the Chiller Theatre convention, and the 1956 movie The Werewolf; a G.G. Allin obituary; news; book, movie, music, and collectable card reviews; letters, and more. If you ever see an issue of Screem at a comic shop or anywhere, it’s worth picking up.

Deep Red #2

Posted on March 9, 2013 by deadthyme

Chas Balun passed away in December of 2009 at the age of 61, but in the 25 years or so that preceded he wrote and wrote for quite a few horror and gore books and magazines including Fangoria, Gore Zone, and his baby (and I think his first) Deep Red. It only made it to 5 or 6 issues, but they were all great, packed full of well written commentary, exposes, criticism, and in depth analysis of some of the best horror movies that were coming out at the time.

The writing is professional but not dry or pretentious or snobbish- you can tell he just loves horror and particularly gore movies, and his enthusiasm is contagious.

This issue came out in March 1988, and features a very good article on zombie movies; long discussions of the movies Redneck Zombies, Return of the Living Dead (two of my favs), Hellraiser, and Dr. Butcher M.D.; a Sybil Danning biography, an interview with horror make-up artist Mark Shostrom, an article written by Gunner Hansen about being Gunner Hansen; letters; news; movie and ‘zine reviews; and lots of cool pictures. It was only the second issue and it came out firing on all cylinders. It’s really too bad it didn’t last longer, it was a great ‘zine and highly recommended. Try to find some and buy them if you love horror and gore movies.

Stink ‘zine #65

Posted on March 7, 2013 by deadthyme

Stink was a sick fixture in the sleaze/ gore/ exploitation flick ‘zine culture, and was produced quite regularly by it’s creator/ editor Nick the Yak. The issues weren’t very big, but were packed full of tons of reviews and other content lovingly dedicated to all things violent and sleazy.

Nick’s reviews were unpretentious and to the point and written from the point of view of a regular slob who just wants to see entertaining movies with lots of violence and nudity (basically, most of us). He later became a born again Christian and quit doing Stink, but I believe that didn’t last too long (the Christian thing- I don’t think he ever started Stink back up after that).

This was the ‘biggest issue ever’, and at 34 pages, possibly the biggest one they ever did. It features several pages of movie reviews, plus some music and ‘zine reviews; a report on their collection of sick shorts they were shooting/ compiling (I wonder if they ever got finished?); full page articles/ reviews of the movies Basket Case 2, Beverly Hills Girls, and Violent Shit; a report from that year’s ‘Fangoria Weekend of Horrors’ convention, a piece on that issue’s ‘Hellhoney’ Brinke Stevens (who I recently saw in a terrible newer straight-to-dvd quickie called Dead Clowns– don’t get it. Boooooriiinnng!) and former Hellhoney Michelle Bauer (back by popular demand); part 2 of a sicko fictional tale; a comparison of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Nekromantik, and Violent Shit (“which is sicker?”); and a couple of pages of old school grindhouse ads.

I miss old ‘zines like Stink– we could use their candor and non-snobbish approach to reviewing movies and non-apologetic cinematic bottom feeding. It’s fun and entertaining. Now go watch something sleazy and so-bad-it’s-good entertaining for ole Nick the Yak.

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