BOOK/MAGAZINES/DVD: XEROX FEROX by JOHN SZPUNAR, MONSTER!: 2, WENG'S CHOP: 5 (all 2014); CREATURE (2013)

For much of my life I had an uneasy fascination with horror movies which was hindered by my belief that I was too squeamish and often looked at the gory/scary bits over the tops of my glasses which meant everything over two feet away was a blur. That became pointless after two cataract operations about fifteen years ago which resulted in me only needing them for reading and, at first, only just. By then, however, I'd already discovered that I wasn't particularly squeamish anyway and was busy exploring all those films I'd never dared even watch before and discovering joys like The Evil Dead, Re-Animator, and so many more. In the process I also developed an interest in cult and exploitation movies, things with an oddball, offbeat charm, though perhaps 'charm' isn't  the right word.

What I missed out on during that period was the plethora of 'fanzines' (I've put the word in quotes because it has a different much more amateur meaning for me as a once active member of Science Fiction Fandom) dealing with horror/exploitation/cult movies. These fanzines do range from the admittedly, amateur but also include professional magazines like Fangoria and the UK's The Dark Side (i.e. they were printed on glossy paper and could be found in chains like WH Smiths). I did pick up a few related books, however, like the excellent four volume series DVD Delerium to enhance my knowledge and guide me to movies I'd like which DVD D still does even after multiple readings. So, having been a member of what is now called, and more respectfully (just), geek culture, it's no surprise that I'd be interested enough to pick up-

It's a massive 800 page volume consisting of interviews with 42 individuals who played a significant role -usually as editor/publisher/writer of horror film fanzines (with a considerable overlap with cult and exploitation as there's a definite mindset which makes it highly probable you'll be into all three to varying degrees. To be honest, it isn't the sort of book you sit down and read straight through. I did try that but eventually I moved it to my toilet and placed it near the loo seat so I could dip into it while having a crap. This isn't an insult as It's where I go through my DVD Deleriums over the course of a year. 

(It's written/compiled by John Szpunar whose surname I pronounce in my mind as Spooner. Sorry, dude.)

It's interesting to me partly because there are clear links to SF fandom and also to Comics fandom. One of the earliest dabblers was the late SF fan Bhob Stewart and, much later as a reviewer of horror fanzines in The Dark Side, UK SF fan Steve Green. The very first interview is with writer/artist Steve Bissette who was part of the team on DC's Swamp Thing which helped transform Alan Moore into !Alan Moore!   

As you'd expect if you have any knowledge of geek culture, most of the people involved are intelligent, talented, literary, and arty but basically normal ordinary people with a rather specialised interest. They are not weirdo freako neurotic oddballs, except for the handful that are. But shake any tree... So I found it interesting, learned a lot of new stuff and when I've finished this review will pop it on my Amazon Marketplace shelf (literally -I have a shelf in a cupboard of all the stuff I have available for sale on Amazon Marketplace) because while I enjoyed it it isn't the sort of book I'm likely to re-read. 

It may be coincidence or I may be displaying my lack of knowledge, but publication of this has coincided with what may be a minor resurgence of the horror fanzine.

After a series of covers of varying effectiveness, they've hit the jackpot with this slick piece which hits all the right bases, especially in the background. (You'll have to trust me on this because I couldn't find a bigger sharper image.) Can you name all the movies referenced? I think I got about 70% of them, maybe more.

Anyway, Weng's Chop is more broad-based than just being a horror fanzine, though it doesn't short-change the horror fan either, as it covers cult, exploitation and just downright odd movies like the look at Jungle movie babes which is the opening piece in this issue. It also includes, along with a load more, the Johnny Wadd movies (porn starring John Holmes), Mexican monster movies, Indian exploitation, as eclectic a bunch of film reviews as you could find anywhere, and even stranger stuff. And all of it written by knowledgeable people who can write.  Incidentally, the magazine has gone from being a slim smallish paperback to a large-format 260 page monster and it's still quite reasonably priced -I paid £7.47 for this issue (post free as I'm on Prime). Look like it's going to be a wild and crazy ride and I'm clinging on while it lasts.

Monster! is a spin-off from Weng's Chop. It is purely devoted to monster movies. That is MONSTERS pure and simple: monster movies. Got that? No slashers allowed. And this slim 60 page magazine could have been made for me. I loved monsters long before horror. I still remember, age around 9, seeing Ray Harryhausen's giant stop-motion octopus in It Came From Beneath The Sea at a cinema in Scarborough while on holiday. I remember exactly where I was when I saw King Kong (still my favourite all time movie ever) for the first time -in a Liverpool cinema on a double bill with, bizarrely, Don't Lose Your Head (before it gained the Carry On hyphen prefix).

Despite being a slim little cheaply produced (printed by Amazon, as is WC) paperback with lots of photos, there is also plenty of reading material to enjoy. If they can get it out on a regular basis, it may have the honour of being kept in my loo. 

It opens with a five page look at a cheapo 1959 ripoff of Creature from the Black Lagoon called The Monster of Piedras Blancas which I remember showing in Sunderland in the early 60's but never got to see. It's so cheap that you never see the monster in the water despite it being aquatic, though it is quite gory for the time. Needless to say that the piece made me want to see it immediately. And, at the back, is a list of all films mentioned and their availability. Or lack of it in this case. Then there's twelve pages devoted to last year's critical and audience flop, the widely despised Creature  written by Steve Bissette which made me want to get hold of it and so I did from Amazon for the acceptable price of £2.46 (post free cos I'm on Prime) and see review below. There's Hong Kong and Indian monster movies. One of the former took my fancy but I could only find a single copy available for £36.00 so screw that.

Only three quid. Great magazine. More please. Now!

Creature opened just long enough for audiences to decide they didn't want to see it -Bissette was alone in the cinema when he saw it the first time and the audience doubled the second- and for critics to shit on it from a very great height. Bissette, while not pretending it's an undiscovered masterpiece, argues that it aint all that bad. And he's right.

There's is plenty in it to pick fault with if you decide you don't like it. But if you can go with the flow then it's quite reasonable fun. After a prologue in a which a young woman, strips naked and goes for a swim in the bayou and gets her legs bitten off, we meet three young couples who just got lost and shortly thereafter they meet a bunch of seedy and sinister locals, led by cult actor Sid Haig, who it soon becomes apparent have seedy and sinister designs on our six (six?) heroes. It's not long before they're being stalked by the creature who seems to be some kind of human-alligator cross. Who will survive? Spoiler 1: the likeable black dude and his likeable girlfriend. Usually the black guy is notoriously the first to go (standard rule in horror movies). Spoiler2:   it wasn't an accident they got lost, it's a trap. 

It's all done reasonably efficiently and it's certainly competently made in terms of production values, photography, and acting. The monster suit certainly looks good but it's here the budget shows its limitations. The jaw never moves. The headpiece is a complete unit so the mouth has to be open all the time. They also obviously ran out of money by the time they got to shoot the climax because -massive spoiler!- you don't see the hero kill the monster. Talk about breaking the rules of horror movies. You always see the monster die even if it comes back to life just as the credits roll. Oddly enough it kinda sorta maybe works if you've gone with the flow and quite like the movie, which I did. Or, you might want to wrench the disc from the player and jump up and down on it. I could cite other examples of dumb things but I really didn't care while I was watching it. As far as I'm concerned I got my £2.46 worth.

And soon: Godzilla 2014.

I feel faint with excitement.

A COLLECTION OF BRIEF REVIEWS FROM AMAZON

5* Transcends criticism-

But is not beyond it. What I mean by that is that if you've seem Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy then you know exactly what you're getting. More or less. This is lighter in tone -it is based on a children's book after all- and includes songs sung by the characters (like the dwarfs). You know that it's going to be Jackson's version of the book too as he takes additional characters and events from various Tolkein-written sources plus original input from his writers. So to complain, as some certainly will that it's a bad thing to include material that is non-canonical to the original book, is entirely missing the point. He hasn't padded out a shortish kids book, he's extended it and done so extremely well.

What we get here, as we did before, is a magnificent cinematic fantasy experience where Jackson creates a completely convincing magical environment -aided, it has to be said, by the scenery of perhaps the most beautiful country in the world. I avoided seeing this at the cinema because I wanted to wait for the extended edition. Now I'll be queueing at the multiplex door for Part 2.

And, yes, the extras are all you ever wanted and possibly more.

Just a word of advice to buyers who are as dim as me. The 2-D version is on disc 3, Discs 1 & 2 contain the 3-D version only. It took me a few frustrated minutes to figure that out. But I'm old and that's my excuse.

4* Deranged

But in a good way.

Also in an often amateurish way too. But there's a loony enthusiasm pervading the mostly frenetic numbers. There are even some which are actually musically accomplished such as Storm Warning by Mac Rebennack (who would reinvent himself in the 60s as Dr. John, as if you didn't know). This is largely fun dumb music and, hey don't get me wrong, that's praise.

4* A feast for Fifties guitar fans.

Um, that was the review, okay? No? A little more then.

It hits most of the high spots so any avid fan of the music is already likely to have the best of the tracks here, though for a dabbler like me, it's excellent. Indeed it was worth getting for my favourite surf instrumental ever -Pipeline by the Chantays. It also highlights just how good The Shadows were in comparison to the competition. Good driving music as all the tracks are pretty short.

3* Not quite so fashionable

Considering that this is set in the fashion industry, of a sort, this is distinctly unglamourous and, in fact, downright ugly thought that, I suppose is part of its intent. Set in a city which reminds me of the perpetual night-shrouded locale of the excellent film Dark City, this is a grim read. The art, while accomplished and effective, is not attractive to look at.

The story, being by Alan Moore, is of course effective, particularly with its motif of illusion and reality which is best exemplified in ambiguity of the sexual identities of two of the story's main characters. However, it's worth remembering that Moore wrote this as a film script and it has been adapted as a graphic novel by someone else -Antony Johnston- so the reader is not getting a graphic novel by Moore as one would normally consider it.

Ultimately it's a bleak depressing piece and one which I believe will come to be considered as one of Moore lesser works. Read it if you must but make sure any sharp objects you own are locked away.

5* The best book about Alan Moore to date.

Okay, I haven't read the academic American texts about the world's most famous graphic novelist but I have read the more accessible ones and this really is the best. Unlike the most recent biography (Alan Moore: Storyteller) by one of Moore's mates, this isn't authorised and author Larkin is prepared to delve into some of the more controversial aspects and in detail.

There's as much about Moore's relationships and attitudes towards the comic book industry as there is about the comics/graphic novels themselves. Just one example: there is a very detailed exploration of Moore's widely publicised dispute with DC Comics which the author looks at from both sides and attempts to evaluate the situation. He also discusses Moore's possible motives for his reactions to a variety of issues. So what makes this book stand out above others published to date is that this is as much about Alan Moore the man as Alan Moore the writer, something very much missing from the other title I cited and which I noted in my review of it here on Amazon. Actually, the two books complement each other quite nicely.

That said, it you only gotta buy one book about Alan Moore then this is one: perceptive, witty, and highly readable it's worth every penny.

Perhaps a little surprisingly, the man himself has given it a tacit nod of approval.

Post Script: Coming Soon.

Maybe. If I feel like it. After I've had a chance to digest them properly.

THE WATERBOYS: Fisherman's Box.

The complete Fisherman's Blues sessions 1986-88. A massive 6-CDs. Expect an effusive review.

BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD: Box Set.

A mere 4 CDs with a shitload of demos and unreleased alternate versions. Previously released in a more expensive edition.

BOOKS: RACHEL CAINE'S MORGANVILLE VAMPIRE SERIES

We seem to be inundated with vampires at the moment. On tv we have the teen-orientated Vampire Diaries (which I rather like) and, very much for adults as it's packed with gore and explicit sex and I love it, True Blood. Both of which are based on a series of books. Look at the horror section in any decent bookshop and the shelves are packed with vampire series, plus assorted other series often featuring werewolves and often as romantic heroes/heroines. And we all know about the Twilight series and the movies which are reaching but not quite getting there Harry Potter heights. I did read the first of the Twilight books after being impressed by the author's adult SF novel but couldn't make the effort to face the second though it was pleasant enough.

I happened upon this series in a remainder bookshop and picked up the first two along with a crime novel for £5.00. I quickly read the first and immediately went back for the rest. To my mild annoyance they had 7 out of the 8 published to date so I had to order the third volume from Amazon for four quid which is still three less than the published price.

The setup is this: Claire, a precociously bright 16 year old girl, could go to Harvard early but her parents want her to try out academia by going to a mediocre college at a town in the middle of nowhere. This was not their best idea as it turns out the town is run by vampire. After being bullied by the town's rich bitch (think young Cordelia Chase from Buffy only without any redeeming features whatsoever), she ends up sharing a house with another girl and two boys who become the main characters next to our heroine. Over the course of the novel more layers and secrets about the main characters, vampire and human, are revealed. The first three books are pretty much standalone stories though they follow each other chronologically and the 8 books published to date cover less than a year. Vols 4-6, however, are one complete story.

All in all this series is a pleasant if hardly earth-shattering read but it is engaging and likeable enough as a time-passing diversion. And if that sounds like damning with faint praise there are a lot worse things to be. 

At the top are US covers, underneath is one from the UK editions which are all in a similar format.