Raw Meat ‘zine

Posted on November 11, 2013 by deadthyme

Issue #3 of this little horror film ‘zine came out in 1989 (I think), and featured their first interview (a nice long one with Herschell Gordon Lewis), as well as 2 articles (one on Hong Kong horror films and one on the movies of H.P. Lovecraft), plus a couple of pages of reviews. All the issues of this ‘zine that I saw kept it fairly short and sweet, but was still a pretty good little ‘zine. Not sure how long it carried on, but I have several issues.

Blood Feast came out 50 years ago last July, so enjoy this nice, long interview with H.G. Lewis (and check out some other pages as well)…

Suburban Voice ‘zine

Posted on November 7, 2013 by deadthyme

Suburban Voice was a (mostly) punk ‘zine put out in the ’80s by Al Quint, who is still going strong today, writing a column in MaximumRockNRoll, doing Suburban Voice in blog form, and doing a cool radio show.

Suburban Voice #19 featured interviews with THE DAMNED, INSTIGATORS, DAG NASTY, CRIPPLED YOUTH (prob the main reason I bought this issue- I used to love them), and a pre-MTV popular SOUL ASYLUM. It also featured album and demo reviews, live show and ‘zine reviews, a letters page, and a couple of opinion pieces (on such diverse topics in this particular issue as nationalism and Marvel comics).

There’s no date, but it probably came out in 1986 since both SOUL ASYLUM and DAG NASTY say their new albums are out.

Here are some pages for your perusal:

Doctor Sleep

Link

Here is PMT’s first guest review. Nick Cato (who used to be known as Nick the Yak) published Stink ‘zine throughout most of the ’80s and early ’90s, and he now writes old school horror, grindhouse and exploitation movie reviews for Cinema Knife Fight.

He also writes books and short stories, and book reviews for both Good Reads and The Horror Fiction Review. He wrote this excellent review of Stephen King’s newest book (and sequel to The Shining) Doctor Sleep, and I liked it so much I asked if I could use it on PMT (as I haven’t had time to read the book yet, but it is on my list). He said he’d be glad for me to use it, so here it is:

Doctor Sleep by Stepen King (2013)

King’s sequel to his 1977 classic THE SHINING picks up shortly after the destruction of the Overlook Hotel, then flashes forward a couple of decades to find Danny Torrance working in a hospice in New Hamsphire and dealing with his alcoholism through AA meetings. He still has the ability to “shine,” but not as strongly as when he was younger. His unusual skills do help the dying at his new job to pass over to the other side in peace and feeling redeemed, hence earning him the nickname ‘Doctor Sleep.’

Dan is contacted (spiritually/psychically) by a thirteen year-old girl named Abra, who happens to have the shine, too, and much stronger at that. It seems a group known as the True Knot are after her; they feed off children who have the shine to stay young and healthy, torturing them to death as they absorb their life’s essence (or “steam” as the novel puts it). The True Knot look like your average vacationers, roaming the country in RV’s, but they’re no longer human. Their leader, Rose, has been around a long, long time, and her beautiful features are merely a mask for an ancient creature. And when they learn of Abra’s intense power, they’ll stop at nothing to find her … especially after feeding off a young boy who has infected their ranks with the measles.

Fans will love the many references to THE SHINING here (my favorite being Danny learning how to deal with the female ghost from Room 237), and there’s also some interesting cross-references to Joe Hill’s latest novel N0S4A2. I like that the True Knot have made their home base on the grounds where the Overlook once stood, as it provides a great place for the inevitable final confrontation. But, when Dan, Abra, and Dan’s senior friend Billy finally confront Rose and co., their plans go off a little to easily, and what could have been an epic battle winds up being awfully short. But this is only a minor flaw in what I feel is one of King’s better novels in quite some time.

I don’t think anyone will find DOCTOR SLEEP scary, but I found myself engrossed in Danny Torrance’s struggle with the bottle as well as his mentoring of the young shiner, Abra. There’s also a great scene where Dan speaks with the Overlook’s now deceased chef Richard Halloran through the body of a dying French woman, and the True Knot’s feeding of a young little league player was quite disturbing.

This has the feel of some of King’s older works, and while not perfect, is one of his more satisfying recent novels.

Brutarian ‘zine #8

Posted on November 1, 2013 by deadthyme

Brutarian was a fairly thick (and fairly sick) ‘zine that evidently ate only brutes. All of the articles were pretty long, in depth, and well written, and focused on whatever suited their fancy (usually music (punk, metal, industrial, and “college rock” type stuff), film, books, fringe culture, and lots of art and comics). They had a lot of contributers (including my old buddy Keith Brewer from A Taste Of Bile ‘zine who mostly wrote music reviews in this) so had a large talent pool to draw from, and that’s why their articles were so top-notch. Some issues even came with a flexi disc record.

If you can get your hands on one, they’re well worth checking out. I have heard conflicting reports that they are still publishing, and I know they put issues out all the way into at least 2008. Their web presence is kind of vague.

This issue featured a humorous interview with THE MENTORS (including El Duce (R.I.P.)), plus a lot of different movie and music review columns, as well as ‘specialized’ columns on many various things that the writers wanted to write about (including sex, New York, Andre the Giant, and others that ramble on about several fascinating topics) and loads of comics (including one by Mike Diana, who got arrested because of his art). There are also quite a few in depth book reviews to round it all out.

Brutarian was an awesome magazine, and I hope it’s still around. Here’s some pages for you to peruse:

The Greatest Albums of All Time: SAMHAIN – “November~Coming~Fire” (1986)

Posted on October 31, 2013 by deadthyme

A lot can be (and has been) said about Glenn Danzig- he’s a douche bag, a big baby, egotist pip squeak, hard to work with, etc. (I’ve also heard he’s a very nice guy), but you can’t really disparage his musical legacy. The MISFITS, SAMHAIN, and DANZIG are all original, subgenre starting or defining bands that were (mostly) ahead of their time.

Of the bands, I like THE MISFITS the best, but my favorite single release of a band he’s fronted has to be SAMHAIN’s November~Coming~Fire.
THE MISFITS were fun and punky, but when they quit making music, he decided to go darker. Much darker. SAMHAIN’s debut Intium takes some getting used to (mainly because of the production), but still has some leftover MISFITS sing-a-long punk in it (particularly on songs like “He-Who-Can-Not-Be-Named”), tho interwovern with a much darker edge (and ended with one of my fav songs from them- “Archangel”, which actually was a MISFITS song that went through tons of revisions, re-recordings and re-mixings (the bass was re-recorded at least 3 times, once by Jerry Only and once by Al Pike of REAGAN YOUTH, who also played some of the keyboards on Intium), which I suppose was an ok trade off since Danzig ‘gave’ some songs he had written for SAMHAIN (“Death Comes Ripping” and “Bloodfeast”) to the MISFITS so their Earth AD/ Wolf’s Blood album could be full length), but it’s a solid first effort, and great intro to the new sound.
Their next release, the Unholy Passion ep, was even darker (and featured another of my most fav songs from them- “The Hungry End”), and had even less of the funner MISFITS feel (even in their version of “All Hell Breaks Loose” (now titled simply “All Hell”)).

But when we get to November~Coming~Fire, that’s where the darkness and atmosphere mix with punk and death rock to make a perfect album- punkier than death rock, but much more atmospheric and dark than punk, it’s the best of both worlds. The guitars are ran through a processor that gives them a haunting, otherwordly feel (I’ve only heard a couple of other bands use this sound, most notably the hardcore band THE SCAM, who only put out one 7″ep and a couple of comp tracks before they broke up), and are laden with spooky sounding feedback. The keyboards are low in the mix, just enough to provide some dark atmosphere and background noise, and the drumming is very rhythmic, almost tribal at times.. Danzig was 30 years old when he recorded this album, and his voice was in fine form- he was beginning to get the croon he would later be famous for, but still with a bit of a younger, punky edge to it. The songs go by almost too quickly, (only three songs are over 3 minutes long), and it leaves you wanting more.

This album introduced a new drummer, London May (who came from the similarly punky death rock band REPTILE HOUSE, who had a 7″ep out on Dischord produced by Ian McKay) who didn’t have enough time to learn the songs, so Danzig programmed the drums for five of the songs on his drum machine (tho it sounds so good you couldn’t tell the difference), as well as playing keyboards and second guitar. It was recorded at Reel Platinum studios (where a lot of MISFITS sessions were also recorded), and produced by Glenn Danzig.

Danzig has written some very cheesy and goofy lyrics, which were fun in the MISFITS but get a little too serious in DANZIG (the band), almost a parody of what would be considered ‘evil’ and sexual, but done completely straight-faced. However SAMHAIN’s lyrics are a different story- minimalist, filled with rage and deviant dark thoughts, there’s very few ‘evil nerd fullfilment’ type lyrics (well, maybe “Human Pony Girl”), and it works well with the darker nature of the music.

This album is a masterpiece, and anyone into goth, dark punk, or death rock should love it. It should be right up there with the darkest of gothy and death rock classics like SISTERS OF MERCY’s Floodland (which came out the same year) and BAUHAUS’ In the Flat Field (even tho it’s much punkier than either of them), but because it came out of a different scene, it was never embraced by the Bat Club crowd (and a good percentage of punks who picked it up just didn’t get it). So it’s a woefully underheard and underrated album, which is a shame.

The only other release SAMHAIN put out was the Final descent ep, which was basically the band DANZIG (for the most part), some of it even recorded after DANZIG had formed. Tho it has a few decent songs on it, it just doesn’t have the feel, the darkness, the atmosphere of their other releases, and for those reasons I find it hard to consider it a SAMHAIN release. But we’ll always have the first album and ep, plus this monumental release, to enjoy from them.

Today is Halloween, so it’s a great day to revisit it, or listen to it for the first time if you’ve never heard it. It’s pretty easy to find on youtube and other places (tho the actual lps and cds are hard to come by), so do yourself a favor and check it out.

The Fearless Vampire Killers

Posted on October 30, 2013 by deadthyme

What can I say about this movie that hasn’t already been said? Also known as Dance of the Vampires, it’s my favorite vampire movie, and I watch it every year around this time. It’s a masterpiece of style and atmosphere, and very clever (particularly for it’s time (1967)). It was written and directed by a young Roman Polanski (with help from his Repulsion co-writer Gérard Brach), and was his first big budget film.

The story focuses on Professor Abronsius (Jack McGowran, who played Burke “Your cunting daughter” Dennings in The Exorcist) a bumbling, elderly scholar who specializes in bats, and who is obsessed with the idea of hunting and confronting vampires. He is aided by his naive young student/ assistant Alfred, played by director Polanski himself. While traveling through Transylvania, they stumble across a cult of vampires living in a castle close to the inn they stop in when the head vampire (Ferdy Mayne) abducts the hotel owner’s daughter Sarah (Sharon Tate).
They follow him to the castle and end up as guests, while trying to figure out how to put a stop to his evil and rescue Sarah.

This movie is so filled with atmosphere it almost caves in on itself. Every frame is chock full if lush, beautiful scenery; the homey country inn, the snowbound countryside, and the spooky, decaying castle, filled with spiderwebs and old paintings and moldy furniture- very few movies have such exquisite set dressing as this. It gives it a fairy tale feel, very whimsical despite it’s horrific nature. It’s almost like a Grimm Fairy Tale by way of Hammer studios (which, tho it’s not a Hammer production, the atmosphere closely resembles. However I would say The Fearless Vampire Killers is a bit more lavish and atmospheric than even Hammer’s gothic horrors) brought to life in sweeping anamorphic widescreen.

The balance between comedy and horror is done very well (it is primarily a comedy), and tho it borders on camp and slapstick at times, it never goes completely over to that level of ridiculousness. The humor is very clever, and a lot of issues that you have about how vampires would actually work in the real world are confronted for the first time on screen (such as whether a cross would affect a Jewish vampire or not, and are there any gay vampires?).

The characters are all slightly bigger than life and very likable (even the bad guys). The acting is old fashioned and superb; Polanski always manages to find interesting looking people to fill his movies with, and this one has them in spades (watch out for Ronald Lacey, who played the creepy Nazi who burned his hand on the medallion in Raiders of the Lost Ark, in a small role as a goose plucking village idiot who almost gives way that there’s a castle in the area). Shagal, the lecherous old innkeeper and his wife are played over-the-top for comic relief, but never become crude stereotypes (tho they are obviously very Jewish). Count von Krolock could easily have been played as a joke, but he’s probably one of the most down to Earth characters in the movie (despite being a vampire, of course). Ferdy Mayne gives a great performance as the aristocratic, deep gravel voiced leader of the vampires. His son (who is homosexual) could also have easily been done quite stereotypically flamboyant (this was 1967), but is handled with some subtlety.

The vampires in this don’t seem to have a lot of special powers, other than living forever, having fangs and drinking blood. They’re almost more like zombies, decrepit and bored, and makeing it seem like being a vampire would be a real drag (and a lot of them look like they’ve literally lived forever).

Besides the incredible cinematography, atmosphere, and set dressings, the music is outstanding as well. Enhancing the dark fairy tale feel, it’s playful and moody and very original.

Tho it was a critical and commercial failure, I definitely recommended it for Halloween viewing. It’s a fun, dark fantasy, and gets better each time you watch it.

Midnight Marquee #48

Posted on October 29, 2013 by deadthyme

Midnight Marquee began in the ’60s as a xeroxed fanzine called Gore Creatures put out by a teenager named Gary J Svehla. After 26 issues he changed the name to Midnight Marquee, and it eventually became a thick, well respected magazine, lasting all the way to 2001. The magazine featured very long, in-depth (much longer than most magazines) and well thought out articles about certain films, actors, or points of view with lots of original art to go with it.

This issue had articles on classic American ghost stories, a Paul Naschy retrospective, a look at the Academy Awards from a genre point of view, a very long (12 pages) article on the evolution of the alien doppelganger subgenre, an examination of film noir horror movies, an examination of the movie Murders In the Zoo, a look at different classic versions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, book and movie reviews, a letters page, and a regular column called “Forgotten Faces of Fantastic Films”, this issue featuring Maude Eburne. Almost a hundred pages chock full of horror and fantastic film content. Here’s a taste for you to peruse:

Buio Omega (aka Beyond the Darkness)

Posted on October 27, 2013 by deadthyme

Also known as Blue Holocaust and Buried Alive (which is the name I first saw it under, when I was a wee teenager), this mean little slice of Eurosleaze comes to us courtesy of Joe D’Amato, one of the more talented masters of Eurosleaze.

The story is about a young taxidermist named Frank who is madly in love with his ailing wife (played by the waifish Cinzia Monreale, who went on to be in The Beyond, The Stendhal Syndrome, and is still making movies to this day) , who is a victim of a Voodoo doll attack carried out by their jealous housekeeper Iris (Franca Stoppi, who went on to be in several nunsploitation movies). Iris wants to be the woman of the (rather large, expensive) house which Frank inherited from his parents. Unfortunately for her, the quite unbalanced Frank is not the type to let things go, including his deceased wife, who he digs up and taxidermies, so he can be with her forever.

Frank and Iris have quite an unhealthy relationship to say the least, however she is happy to clean up after him such as when a hitchhiker sees him embalming his wife (and eating her heart), insuring he has to kill her (after ripping all of her fingernails off). Iris helps give her an acid bath (after dismembering her), and later helps Frank with another girl who he invites over to have sex with while fondling his dead wife in the bed beside them. Eventually Iris grows tired of Frank’s obsession, and that’s when things go downhill for their relationship, culmination in a bloody, eye gouging climax before the cheap, illogical ending.

This movie is the very definition of sleazy Eurotrash gore flick. There are several full frontal nude scenes, tons of blood and guts (I heard that D’Amato actually got ahold of a real corpse to chop up), bad dubbing (and dialogue- in one part, when Frank is running through the hospital to see his dying wife, he runs into an elderly man who shouts at him “Hey! Who taught you how to drive?!”), and nonsensical scenes. It also contains some pretty well done atmospheric cinematography, including some nice shadow work and camera angles (proving that D’Amato is not quite the hack a lot of people accuse him of being, at least not when it came to cinematography), lots of realistic looking gory effects, and an awesome soundtrack by the one and only GOBLIN (which the English Language version calls ‘The Goblins’ in the opening credits). The pace is a little slow at first, but before long it picks up and you don’t go too long without some flesh or gore.

However, at heart this movie is a love story, about a man who loves his wife so much he’ll do anything to be with her forever, and the woman who’ll do anything to marry him. How romantic- it should be a Valentine’s Day movie tradition.

Vincent

Posted on October 25, 2013 by deadthyme

Related to my earlier post (review of Vincent Price- A Daughter’s Biography), I’m sure most of you have seen this, but if it’s been awhile, it’s worth another view (one of the best shorts ever).

In 1982, Vincent Price received a phone call from an executive at Disney on behalf of an animator (who was a huge fan) who had made a short about a boy who thinks he’s Vincent Price. The executive asked if Vincent would give his blessing to it, and maybe lend his voice. Vincent was happy to do it, and it began a collaboration that lead to his final role in Edward Scissorhands, which came out December 1990 (and in which Vincent plays Edward’s creator, who dies before he can finish him). It also began a friendship with director Tim Burton (who was the animator who made the short) and Johnny Depp that lasted until his death (20 years ago today). But first there was this excellent short, Vincent (1982):

Vincent Price died 20 years ago today. Read his biography to find out what a fascinating person the world lost…

Posted on October 25, 2013 by deadthyme

There are few celebrities who deserve a tell-all biography more than Vincent Price. The man was full of life; he lived big, surrounded himself with wonder and tried to experience everything he could. Vincent Price- A Daughter’s Biography (released in 1999) was written by Victoria Price, who called upon not only her own memories of her father, but also dug through tons of his writings and memoirs and interviewed many of his friends and co-workers.

Price’s life was fascinating, and I’ve read this book several times. Most people know him as Vincent Price, the creepy horror movie villain, but as Victoria points out in her introduction, “…fewer than a third of the more than one hundred pictures he made in his fifty-five year career as an actor were horror movies”. He was so much more than just a horror movie star- an artist, a father, a lecturer, a wordsmith and master letter writer, a fountain of knowledge on all kinds of subjects, a book writer, and a true renaissance man, always trying new things and wanting to learn, experience, and meet new people. In this book we see the highs and lows of his life (and tho she is his daughter, Victoria does not ignore the darker points, including admitting that he could be a ‘mean drunk’, and going over the split between him and her mother and his affair with the woman who would become her step-mother, who she did not get along that well with).

It starts off with Price’s birth on May 27, 1911 in St Louis, after giving a little history on his father who had become fairly wealthy in the candy business (and his grandfather as well, who had experienced financial ruin, which in turn fueled some of Vincent’s depression and continuing fear of his own financial failings).

Vincent was a world traveler and an art collector. He set up his own little art shop in California, and collected art and reveled in it until his death. In the early ’60s Sears, Roebuck and Co approached him to open his own line of art for them to sell in their stores, the Vincent Price Collection. He also became an avid chef, and co-wrote a cookbook with his wife (as well as several books on art).

The biography goes over all of this in detail, as well as his Broadway plays, lecture circuits, and radio show appearances (and monologue on Michael Jackson’s Thriller). All of his television guest spots (including a lot of game shows and eight years hosting Mystery!), and joy of life. Vincent Price loved life. He was a strong animal rights advocate, and loved to eat hot dogs and drink root beer floats and ride roller coasters and have Christmas parties. He lived his life to the fullest, but still was always afraid of losing his popularity and not being able to find work.

But of course that never happened, because along with all of the above, he made movies. A lot of them. Victoria talks about most of them to some extent, telling the stories we want to hear, such as how a camel fell in love with him on the set of one movie, and how he burned his eye lighting a match on another and after it healed had to keep squinting in a certain way for the rest of the movie (for which critics lauded him). About how he didn’t get along with Michael Reeves when they filmed Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm), what he thought of his fellow horror legends like Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre, and how Roger Corman talked AIP into making a movie based on Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, and furthermore somehow talked them into spending twice as much time and money on it as they usually spent on their movies, and getting Vincent to be in it.

She goes through his college days, and the dark times of the Red Scare, where Joe McCarthy was attacking Hollywood and destroying careers. His damaged first marriage and both of his divorces, his battle with Parkinson’s disease, even his unflattering later years (including his joy at working with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp), and his dislike of riding horses (“The horse and I just don’t see eye to eye. In the first place, the top of a horse and my bottom don’t fit. My legs are too long, and my torso too short- in short, I look ridiculous on top of a horse and I suspect it feels ridiculous under me. Maybe the situations should be reversed.”).

Reading this book makes you want to lead a more full life yourself, which I’m sure would delight Vincent. Fascinating and inspiring are the two words which best describe his life, and anyone even mildly interested in horror movie history, Hollywood history, or people who lead interesting lives should check it out. It’s a great read and his daughter writes it in a way that keeps your interest throughout (some biographies can get tedious and boring; not this one). And as a master of horror, reading about him is perfect for this time of year.